Analysis
After information is elicited, the BA turns raw information into structured product information.
Typical activities include:
- Creating models
- Elaborating requirements
- Defining acceptance criteria
- Verifying requirements
- Validating requirements
- Prioritizing requirements
- Analyzing product risks
- Comparing solution/design options
Verify vs. validate
A useful distinction:
Verify: Is the requirement written with sufficient quality and clarity?
Validate: Does the requirement actually represent the business need and objective?
A requirement can be clear but still solve the wrong problem.
Acceptance criteria
Acceptance criteria define the evidence that will demonstrate successful completion of a solution component.
Good acceptance criteria help:
- align stakeholders,
- reduce ambiguity,
- support testing,
- make acceptance decisions easier.
Traceability
Traceability connects requirements to related product information and delivery decisions.
A simple traceability chain can be:
Business Objective → Requirement → User Story / Functional Requirement → Acceptance Criteria → Test → Release
Change management
When a requirement changes, consider its:
- business value
- scope impact
- dependencies
- delivery impact
- stakeholder impact
- risk
The goal is not to prevent all change. The goal is to make change visible and make decisions deliberately.
Portfolio artifact
Build a sample Requirements Traceability Matrix with:
| ID | Business objective | Requirement | Acceptance criteria | Test | Status | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | BR-01 | Improve repeat purchase | Subscription capability | Customer can manage subscription | TC-01 | Done |
Use fictional data for portfolio demonstrations unless the underlying client information is public and approved for disclosure.