Comments on: The Business Analysis “Artist” and the Requirement Tools of the Trade http://practicalanalyst.com/2008/11/13/the-business-analysis-artist-and-the-requirement-tools-of-the-trade/ Practical Insight for Business Analysts and Project Professionals Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:55:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: JB http://practicalanalyst.com/2008/11/13/the-business-analysis-artist-and-the-requirement-tools-of-the-trade/comment-page-1/#comment-4704 JB Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:08:01 +0000 http://jonathanbabcock.com/?p=729#comment-4704 Hi, Laura! Yeah, I've heard of similar stories to the PM example you mentioned in the requirements management space. I think you really have to treat selection of an RM tool the way you would treat any other project. You need to be specific about what points of pain you expect it to alleviate, and realistic about what it can and should be expected to add to the requirements gathering and management process. Hi, Laura!

Yeah, I've heard of similar stories to the PM example you mentioned in the requirements management space.

I think you really have to treat selection of an RM tool the way you would treat any other project. You need to be specific about what points of pain you expect it to alleviate, and realistic about what it can and should be expected to add to the requirements gathering and management process.

]]> By: JB http://practicalanalyst.com/2008/11/13/the-business-analysis-artist-and-the-requirement-tools-of-the-trade/comment-page-1/#comment-4703 JB Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:02:48 +0000 http://jonathanbabcock.com/?p=729#comment-4703 Thanks for jumping in, Ian. You make an excellent point about use of tools to facilitate interaction for distributed teams. Well taken. Thanks for jumping in, Ian.

You make an excellent point about use of tools to facilitate interaction for distributed teams. Well taken.

]]> By: JB http://practicalanalyst.com/2008/11/13/the-business-analysis-artist-and-the-requirement-tools-of-the-trade/comment-page-1/#comment-4702 JB Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:54:35 +0000 http://jonathanbabcock.com/?p=729#comment-4702 Welcome back, Ashli, and thanks for the comment. Funny how "streamlining" works sometimes, isn't it? Welcome back, Ashli, and thanks for the comment. Funny how "streamlining" works sometimes, isn't it?

]]> By: Herman Driessen http://practicalanalyst.com/2008/11/13/the-business-analysis-artist-and-the-requirement-tools-of-the-trade/comment-page-1/#comment-4678 Herman Driessen Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:15:51 +0000 http://jonathanbabcock.com/?p=729#comment-4678 What they don' do... What they are hoping to do... Requirements management tools help. Would we consider additional assistance? NASA IVV recently completed a study on tools that analyze requirements, written in a natural language. A report of the study is available from valerie.s.jones@ivv.nasa.gov One of the results of the study was, that a domain expert found four major issues in a set of requirements. With RA, a junior Requirements analyst found the same four issues, and she found six additional major issues. She found these ten issues in less time than the domain expert needed. Because the study was so successful, NASA IVV is using Requirements Assistant (RA) to analyze requirements for their Orion and Juno programs. A recent GAO report on DOD system development programs concluded that "indepth requirements analysis" left a lot to be desired. Here is a potential answer! The Website provides more information on RA, and when you would like to know more, please let me know. <a href="http://www.requirementsassistant.nl " target="_blank">http://www.requirementsassistant.nl </a> What they don' do…
What they are hoping to do…

Requirements management tools help. Would we consider additional assistance?

NASA IVV recently completed a study on tools that analyze requirements,
written in a natural language. A report of the study is available from
valerie.s.jones@ivv.nasa.gov
One of the results of the study was, that a domain expert found four major issues in a set of requirements. With RA, a junior Requirements analyst found the same four issues, and she found six additional major issues. She found these ten issues in less time than the domain expert needed.

Because the study was so successful, NASA IVV is using Requirements Assistant (RA) to analyze requirements for their Orion and Juno programs.

A recent GAO report on DOD system development programs concluded that "indepth requirements analysis" left a lot to be desired. Here is a potential answer!

The Website provides more information on RA, and when you would like to know
more, please let me know.

http://www.requirementsassistant.nl

]]> By: Laura Brandau http://practicalanalyst.com/2008/11/13/the-business-analysis-artist-and-the-requirement-tools-of-the-trade/comment-page-1/#comment-4676 Laura Brandau Sat, 15 Nov 2008 04:02:48 +0000 http://jonathanbabcock.com/?p=729#comment-4676 I agree that great tools to not make great BAs. I also wonder if the focus on tools can get in the way of great business analysis. I don't know much about requirements workbenches, but if you are expected to work within a tool (in collaboration with business stakeholders, no less) and the tool doesn't do what you expect, I would think there is a danger of the meeting becoming about getting the tool to do what you want instead of eliciting requirements. I've seen this happen in project management, where the team spends more energy figuring out how to get Microsoft Project to do what is wanted instead of actually engaging in project planning. Best, Laura Brandau <a href="http://www.bridging-the-gap.com " target="_blank">http://www.bridging-the-gap.com </a> I agree that great tools to not make great BAs. I also wonder if the focus on tools can get in the way of great business analysis. I don't know much about requirements workbenches, but if you are expected to work within a tool (in collaboration with business stakeholders, no less) and the tool doesn't do what you expect, I would think there is a danger of the meeting becoming about getting the tool to do what you want instead of eliciting requirements. I've seen this happen in project management, where the team spends more energy figuring out how to get Microsoft Project to do what is wanted instead of actually engaging in project planning.

Best,
Laura Brandau
http://www.bridging-the-gap.com

]]> By: Ian Buchanan http://practicalanalyst.com/2008/11/13/the-business-analysis-artist-and-the-requirement-tools-of-the-trade/comment-page-1/#comment-4673 Ian Buchanan Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:04:23 +0000 http://jonathanbabcock.com/?p=729#comment-4673 Largely, I think this post is spot on. However, I beg to differ on your interpretation of "what they're hoping to do". In some limited cases, tool collaboration may enable some interaction that was not previously possible. For example, capturing structured scenarios or UI mock-ups in a tool may enable remote participation. With large, geographically distributed businesses it is not always possible to use more effective in-person communication. More importantly, I consider the "requirements workbench" idea as a supplement to the in-person work of a BA. I fully expect BAs to use paper and whiteboard tools in direct interaction with stakeholders. On the other hand, the traditional RM tools have made it hard to effectively capture the structure and visualization of these techniques. Hence, I see the requirements workbench as the tool the BA uses to digitize the artifacts generated by interaction with stakeholders. As such, I share your concern that BAs should become too reliant on the tools as the mode of interaction with stakeholders. Largely, I think this post is spot on. However, I beg to differ on your interpretation of "what they're hoping to do".

In some limited cases, tool collaboration may enable some interaction that was not previously possible. For example, capturing structured scenarios or UI mock-ups in a tool may enable remote participation. With large, geographically distributed businesses it is not always possible to use more effective in-person communication.

More importantly, I consider the "requirements workbench" idea as a supplement to the in-person work of a BA. I fully expect BAs to use paper and whiteboard tools in direct interaction with stakeholders. On the other hand, the traditional RM tools have made it hard to effectively capture the structure and visualization of these techniques. Hence, I see the requirements workbench as the tool the BA uses to digitize the artifacts generated by interaction with stakeholders.

As such, I share your concern that BAs should become too reliant on the tools as the mode of interaction with stakeholders.

]]> By: Ashli Moore http://practicalanalyst.com/2008/11/13/the-business-analysis-artist-and-the-requirement-tools-of-the-trade/comment-page-1/#comment-4672 Ashli Moore Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:44:11 +0000 http://jonathanbabcock.com/?p=729#comment-4672 I completely agree. We had a product implementation process that was for a highly customized software product and tried to "streamline" the implementation by automating the requirements gathering (first through a MS Word survey and then through an MS Excel workbook). Neither worked and ended up adding to the cost of the process as we had to go back and confirm everything (and find most of it to be incorrect/ill-structured or just blank due to misunderstanding of the question). The face to face/voice to voice requirements gathering just cannot be replaced. It can be enhanced by tools that the BA uses to document the results of the conversation, but you can't "take out the middleman" (ie the BA) by replacing them with a couple of documents...it just plain doesn't work. I completely agree. We had a product implementation process that was for a highly customized software product and tried to "streamline" the implementation by automating the requirements gathering (first through a MS Word survey and then through an MS Excel workbook). Neither worked and ended up adding to the cost of the process as we had to go back and confirm everything (and find most of it to be incorrect/ill-structured or just blank due to misunderstanding of the question). The face to face/voice to voice requirements gathering just cannot be replaced. It can be enhanced by tools that the BA uses to document the results of the conversation, but you can't "take out the middleman" (ie the BA) by replacing them with a couple of documents…it just plain doesn't work.

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