Understand and Elicit Requirements with Business Analysis

Gain an understanding of what requirements are. We explore what various business analysis organizations define as requirements and come up with our own combined definition.

Terms: requirements

Learn why requirements are critical to every project and how they can be used to generate value for the organization.

Terms: requirements

Requirements can take many shapes and sizes for projects. Here we explore some of the main formats and mediums requirements can be written and stored in.

Terms: requirements, system perspective, user perspective, use case, mock-up, wireframe

In this lecture, you are provided to some very important links and here you can learn a bit more about your instructor, Jeremy Aschenbrenner, The BA Guide

Here we briefly mention an upcoming Udemy review prompt

It is important to understand the difference between Product requirements and Project requirements. In this lecture, we demystify the terms and explain how and why they should be used differently.

Terms: product requirements, project requirements

Being able to differentiate between various Requirement Levels is very important. In this lecture, we will explore the key differences between business, stakeholder, solution, and transition requirements

Terms: BABOK, business requirements, stakeholder requirements, solution requirements, transition requirements

While organizations define many various types of requirements, there are four that are the most important to understand, and we explain them in detail within this lecture.

Terms: functional requirements, non-functional requirements, business rules, constraints

This activity will help solidify your knowledge around Requirement Levels, Requirement Types, and Product vs Project Requirements. Once complete, compare your answers to the answer key to validate your understanding, and use that knowledge to identify any lectures you should watch again to help clear up any confusion.

In this lecture, we explore what we refer to as the Requirement Process. This process helps to give practical steps to how a requirement is discovered, examined, updated, and utilized within projects.

Terms: elicitation, analysis, specification, validation

Before we finish off this section, we want to round out your understanding of two core concepts:

- User Perspective vs System Perspective
- Elicitation vs Design

Terms: elicitation, system perspective, user perspective, mock-up

In this lecture, you will be introduced to Hollywood Star Lanes. This is a company that we're going to utilize for a number of our projects throughout the remainder of this course. We explain what the company is and what they do and your role within the organization.

In this lecture, we provide you some additional (optional) resources you can utilize to familiarize yourself with the sport of bowling. This may help in your overall understanding of the bowling industry for our Hollywood Star Lanes activities.

Included in this lecture are some optional activities for Hollywood Star Lanes. These activities are optional because the skills and techniques to create them are taught in other courses of The BA Guide. If you've taken those courses or have the knowledge to do so, it is recommended you complete these activities.

Elicitation is one of the most used skills for Business Analysts. In this lecture, we will introduce you to the core concepts of elicitation and give you an overview of how it is used.

Terms: elicitation

There are some key differences between the terms elicitation and gathering. In this lecture, we will explore those differences to help you to distinguish between them.

Terms: elicitation, gathering

The first step, before you even begin eliciting requirements, should be to identify your customers. Let's explore why.

Organizations often have experts that have detailed knowledge about their processes, systems, or services. Identifying these key contacts will help ensure your elicitation gathers the necessary requirements and details to have the end solution be a success.

Terms: subject matter expert (SME)

There are three main roles a beneficiary of a project will have; stakeholders, customers, and users. Knowing the differences (and similarities) between them can save a lot of headaches from misunderstandings in your project. Here we will explain the terms and provide a real-world example to help you keep them straight.

Terms: stakeholder, customer, user

This activity will put your new knowledge of identifying and categorizing stakeholders to the test.

Since our main goal is to provide value to customers, it is important to understand their underlying expectations. In this lecture, we will review some common expectations of our customers and how we can best fulfill them.

Terms: customer

Fear is a very common sensation when being told things will be changing. We, as humans, don't like the unknown. To overcome these fears, we first need to understand them.

Terms: stakeholder

Now that you have a baseline of some of the common fears of Stakeholders, let's discuss some techniques and best practices on how you can mitigate or eliminate those fears.

Terms: stakeholder

In this lecture, we'll teach you how the Requirement Elicitation Process can be used to practically apply the knowledge you've gained so far.

Terms: Requirement Elicitation Process

The first step in the Requirement Elicitation Process is to Plan. This helps you set the stage for the elicitation sessions you will be facilitating.

Terms: Requirement Elicitation Process

The second step in the Requirement Elicitation Process is to Prepare. In this step, we will be defining the details and logistics of your elicitation session.

Terms: Requirement Elicitation Process, scope, stakeholder, risk

The third step in the Requirements Elicitation Process is to Conduct. It is finally time we put all of our planning and preparation to work and facilitate the elicitation session.

Terms: Requirement Elicitation Process, elicitation, stakeholder

The fourth and final step of the Requirement Elicitation Process is to Confirm the results. In this step, we validate that our notes and elicitation results are complete and accurate and we ensure that we've achieved our elicitation goal.

Terms: Requirement Elicitation Process, stakeholder

In this activity, we put your Requirement Elicitation Process knowledge to the test with a worksheet.

Preparing for an elicitation session can be a bit overwhelming so we've created a template to help.

Throughout a project, you will have questions and information come up at times when they cannot yet be further explored. The Parking Lot is a great tool to store those details so they can be followed up on when more convenient. In this lecture, we will teach you about the Parking Lot and provide you a template for your use in projects.

Terms: Parking Lot, requirements

A great tool to keep track of terms you are not familiar with is a Term Glossary. In this lecture, we will explore the tool and provide you a downloadable template you can use in your projects.

Terms: Term Glossary

Here we introduce the upcoming sections where we will begin breaking down and applying the popular elicitation techniques to the Requirement Elicitation Process.

Terms: Requirement Elicitation Process

For convenience, this lecture contains all of the notes templates for the elicitation techniques we will be covering in this course.

Document Analysis is a fairly basic technique but it can be pretty powerful when used in the correct way. In this lecture, we will get you familiar with the technique.

Terms: Document Analysis

Before you engage in Document Analysis, it's important to prepare. In this lecture, we go through the steps you need to go through during the preparation process.

Now that you have fully prepared for the document analysis, it's time to conduct it. Let's go through the actions to conduct a successful Document Analysis session.

Once you've successfully conducted the session, it is time to validate your results. In this lecture, we will explore what steps should be taken to confirm the information learned in the Document Analysis.

Throughout our discussion on the Document Analysis technique, we've covered a lot of details. In this lecture, we will highlight some of the key best practices that will help to ensure your success.

It is time to put your Document Analysis skills to the test with this Cookie Cottage activity.

It is time to put your Document Analysis skills to the test with part two of the Cookie Cottage activity.