Business Analysis Approach in 3 Easy Steps

Earlier we have already discussed the prerequisites of organizing an efficient business analysis workflow for your project. In this article, we are going to focus on the best practices that SOLVVE uses to ensure successful project delivery to a client.

Asking the right questions

Before getting down to product development it is important to define as clearly as possible what the result should be. During the early stages, one may have a general idea about a product or a service: what kind of problems it solves, who will benefit from it, what is a key idea behind its functions, etc. Yet, these ideas require testing and verification to make sure that the end product will be viable and useful. That is why any development process starts with a business analysis phase. SOLVVE conducts business analysis in several stages.

Identifying Key Stakeholders

We start by identifying the main figures or groups on the client’s side. These are the key people who will feel the effect of the project the most. And thus, they should be aware of the business development process and take responsibility for making informed decisions. At this stage, we aim to identify three key aspects: business requirements, draft requirements, and project requirements. 

Business requirements should capture the key idea behind the product or service, the main purpose of it, i.e. what kind of problems it will solve. Then we move on to defining the business process behind the product. The point here is to clarify who are the users and what do they expect and need from the application. 

These are requests from the client stakeholders and requirements needed to meet the business goals. We acquire them by either interviewing the stakeholders about their expectations from the upcoming product or by reviewing competitors’ products. At the same time, we assess risks and try to predict all the potential negative flows in the business process.

Draft and project requirements encompass more technical and system-focused aspects of the final product. To set the right goals we work with use cases, non-functional requirements, and page descriptions.

Prototyping

The next stage of business analyses is the creation of mockups or prototypes of a future application. It will be a schematic monochrome rendering of screens with components to give a better understanding of the application structure, functionality, and design. At this stage, we can see if there is a need for improvements due to potential inconsistencies, and how feasible the product is. After the prototypes have been approved, we move on to preparing documents about the requirements. 

Defining and signing off the requirements

Usually, we work with user stories, use cases, or schemes to describe the perspective of each stakeholder. This scenario-based technique allows our clients to see the whole process step-by-step through the eyes of the user. It is one of the best techniques to address functional requirements. SOLVVE uses Confluence or Google Docs to make sure that the client can track the progress and comment on it as well as let us know if there are any additional requirements or wishes from the clients’ side.

However, even though we are open to new ideas during the development process, after the approval of prototypes and settling on the requirements we sign the agreement with the stakeholders. This is to prevent the scope creep and make sure that all the parties agree that the requirements were defined as precisely as possible and reflect the needs of the stakeholders.