BA415: Requirements Elicitation Analysis (using Use Cases) Workshop
About this Course
Throughout this workshop, industry best practices are explained and then augmented with professional tips and methods. While working in small groups, participants practice new techniques and discuss strategies to better define stakeholder needs and write complete and thorough requirements.
A case study-driven workshop comprises more than half the course and provides real-world examples, templates, and job aids to reference once back on the job. If your organization is struggling with missing requirements, lack of stakeholder involvement, out of control scope, or the inability to know which tools to apply to elicit the most thorough requirements, you’ll want to consider this workshop.
Part 1 – Requirements Elicitation (Days 1 & 2):
Strong elicitation skills are a ‘must have’ for anyone charged with defining requirements for their project. Success is dependent on a mixture of technical skills (i.e. knowing which technique to use and how to use it) and interpersonal skills (i.e. building relationships, listening, and gaining consensus). Whether you plan to meet with your stakeholders in one-on-one sessions, in a requirements workshop, or remotely, you will need to know how to select and implement techniques to accurately and efficiently identify the needs of your business.
Part 2 – Use Cases Workshop (Days 3 & 4):
Use Cases are an industry best practice for defining, documenting, and analyzing functional requirements. A use case approach is a user-centered approach for developing a solution to your business needs. Unfortunately, methods for developing use cases vary substantially across the industry. What information belongs in a use case? How can a use case be utilized to capture all the desired functionality? Are use cases applicable to all projects? Is there a template for writing use cases that is considered best practice? If you’ve ever been involved in a project involving use cases, you’ve probably encountered some confusing answers to these questions.
Students will receive 28 Professional Development Units (PDUs) after completing this course.
Audience Profile
This course is a must-have for the Business Analyst, Business Systems Analyst, Systems Analyst, Requirements Engineer, or anyone who must perform or understand business analysis on their projects. The Business Sponsor and the Project Manager who are actively involved with specifying requirements for their project will also benefit from this workshop.
Additionally, the Use Case Workshop has been expressly designed for the Business Analyst, Business System Analyst, System Analyst, and/or Requirements Engineer. The Designer, Developer and Tester who are actively involved in utilizing use cases may also benefit from this workshop.
At Course Completion
By taking the Requirements Elicitation course (Part 1), you will be able to:
◾Apply best practices to resolve common problems encountered in requirements elicitation
◾Establish and communicate the scope for eliciting requirements on a project
◾Identify, analyze and manage stakeholders during the elicitation process
◾Determine the appropriate mix of elicitation techniques to utilize on a project
◾Plan and conduct an interview to elicit requirements
◾Plan and conduct several different forms of requirements elicitation
◾Describe the planning, techniques, and partnerships that are vital to the success of requirements elicitation
◾Identify and differentiate between the different types of requirements that need to be elicited
◾Describe the importance of documenting business objectives and product scope before eliciting requirements
◾Utilize a context diagram to scope the solution space
◾Utilize a process, techniques, and templates for stakeholder identification and analysis
◾Apply industry best practices to common issues with stakeholders during requirements elicitation
◾Plan and conduct an effective Interview
◾Introduce standards in process modeling
◾Obtain information about two professional associations that support business analysts
After completing the Requirements Analysis with Use Cases course (Part 2), you will be able to:
◾Employ use cases to document the scope of a project
◾Write use cases in a clear and unambiguous way.
◾Model use cases with workflow diagrams
◾Plan and divide up the project work based on your use cases
◾Manage a use case as it evolves over time and goes through many changes
◾Develop a Business Use Case Diagram
◾Identify system actors and distinguish between a primary and secondary actor
◾Analyze the Business Process Model and System Context Diagram to identify candidate system use cases
◾Develop a System Use Case Diagram and learn to write a brief description
◾Evaluate use case risk, complexity, priority, and dependencies to:
◾Describe how to organize use case packages
◾Write the steps of the main success scenario
◾Identify and develop alternate scenarios and flows
◾Explain how a UML Activity Diagram supports a use case approach
Outline
Requirements Elicitation (Part 1):
Module 1: Introduction
Module 2: Fundamentals of Requirements Elicitation
◾Challenges with requirements elicitation and requirements
◾Best practices to overcome elicitation and requirement challenges
◾Common elicitation techniques
◾Requirement types
Module 3: Understanding the Objectives and Product Scope
◾Strategy Analysis; the start to defining the business need
◾The importance of documenting business objectives and product scope before elicitation
◾Context diagramming to define product scope
Module 4: Identifying and Analyzing Stakeholders
◾The importance of stakeholder analysis and management
◾Factors to consider when determining which elicitation techniques to utilize
Module 5: Interviews, Focus Groups, & Surveys
◾The interviewing technique and when best used
◾Benefits and weaknesses of interviews
◾Questions types
◾Conducting a good interview
◾Benefits and weaknesses of Focus Groups and Surveys
◾Best practice tips for focus groups and surveys
Module 6: Brainstorming and Workshops
◾The benefits and weaknesses of workshops
◾Types of workshops
◾Facilitate a workshop
◾Decision rules
◾Practicing facilitation skills
◾Benefits and weaknesses of brainstorming
Module 7: Process Modeling using Activity Diagrams
◾Purpose and benefits of process modeling
◾Using process modeling to elicit
◾The UML® equivalent – Activity Diagrams
◾Observation as an elicitation technique
Module 8: Prototyping
◾Benefits and weaknesses of prototyping
◾Key prototyping terms
◾Three forms of prototyping; storyboard, wireframes, and HTML (functional prototypes)
Module 9: Document Analysis, Reverse Engineering, and Interface Analysis
◾The role of document analysis in requirements elicitation
◾Benefits and weaknesses of document analysis
◾Reverse engineering to uncover unknown information about an existing solution
◾The value of Interface Analysis
Module 10: Requirement Elicitation Wrap-Up
◾What will you take away?
◾Additional Information
◾Transition to part 2 of the course Use Cases Workshop
Requirements Analysis using Use Cases (Part 2):
Module 11: Introduction
◾Course objectives
◾Understanding of business analysis
◾Knowledge areas of BABOK® Guide
Module 12: Overview of Use Cases
◾Describe the purpose and value of a use case approach
◾Use case terminology
◾Introducing a use case approach
Module 13: Needs Assessment
◾Purpose of Needs Assessment
◾Needs Assessment and use cases
◾Defining and understanding the strategic goals and objectives
◾Understanding the business process
◾Identifying actors
◾Identifying business information
◾Analyzing locations and operations
◾Drawing the business use case diagram
◾Building the business architecture
◾Defining solution options
Module 14: Defining System Scope
◾Product scope/project scope
◾System actors versus business actors
◾Analyzing the business process model
◾Analyzing business use cases
◾Identifying candidate use cases
◾Identifying scenarios
◾Diagramming use cases
◾Draw a use case diagram
◾Create a use case catalog
Module 15: Evaluating, Prioritizing, and Packaging Use Cases
◾Iterative nature of this work
◾Evaluating use cases
◾Use case priority
◾Use case risk
◾Use case complexity
◾Use case dependencies
◾Evaluate and Prioritize use cases
◾Dividing work up between releases
◾Packaging
◾A process for how to perform packaging
Module 16: Writing the main success scenario
◾Use case descriptions
◾Primary and secondary goals
◾Assumptions
◾Pre-conditions
◾Triggers
◾Post-conditions
◾Scenario example
◾Main success scenario
◾Conditional execution
◾Use cases and requirements
◾Best practices for writing a use case description
Module 17: Writing the other scenarios
◾Scenarios and flows
◾Alternate scenarios and flows
◾Alternate vs. basic flow
◾Guidelines for alternate flows
◾Exception flows
◾Failed post conditions
◾Write alternate and exception flows
Module 18: Process Modeling to describe use case flows
◾UML® Activity Diagram Notation
◾Sequencing activities
◾Developing an activity diagram
◾Facilitated sessions
◾Draw a UML® Activity Diagram
Module 19 Using Advanced Diagramming Techniques
◾Commonality
◾Dependency Relationships
◾<<Includes>>
◾<<Extends>>
◾Identify <<include>> and <<extend>> relationships
◾Comparing the different relationships
Module 20: Developing a Requirements Specification
◾Requirements and use cases
◾Detailed requirements
◾Common approaches to specifications
◾Non-functional requirements
◾Write non-functional requirements
◾User interface requirements
◾UI data descriptions
◾Business rules
◾Decision tables and inference rules
◾How to document simple calculations
◾Reporting requirements
◾Data requirements
◾Data accessibility requirements
◾Traceability
Module 21: Course Summary
◾Wrap-up
◾Finding more information
Prerequisites
This course is intended for beginner and intermediate Business Analysts. General knowledge of the requirements process is recommended.