I know I’m preaching to the choir, here, but I just have to tell you – Business analysis is flat-out hard mental work! I was exhausted when I got in today after a day full of requirements elicitation & analysis working sessions. Fortunately, I had already done enough thinking over the past few weeks to accumulate a few more passing thoughts on business analysis to share.

  • As important as it is for a BA to identify and understand business need, understanding exactly what the business/customer needs doesn’t count for much if you can’t specify that need in a way that is easy to understand and use for those that are going to design, build and test the product.
  • On a note somewhat related to the previous…. Time spent re-arranging and re-working requirements to shoehorn them into a particular standardized template is typically time wasted. Designers and developers could typically care less about how well you conform to the template du jour as long as the spec is – again – something they can read and use.
  • I wonder if I’ll ever get bored of business analysis. As of now, I can’t see it happening. It seems like every day presents new puzzles to solve.
  • A business analyst is well-served by developing a functional/working knowledge of a variety of development methodologies. It’s fine to have preferences for one over the next, but versatility increases opportunity.
  • So, I wonder what will be the next “big thing” after agile?
  • I’ve pretty much stopped using the term “Best practices”. To me, it’s mostly a persuasive/marketing term most commonly used by consultants and salespeople. There are lots of good practices that seem to work well enough in a variety of situations, but I am less convinced of “best practices” that are supposed to suit any situation – or of those selling them.
  • … And, finally, why do I *still* occasionally catch myself starting to list use cases for plain “things the actor does” that don’t really represent specific goals? Seriously! I actually do know better!