Become a Business Analysis Detective

  • Good business analysts figure out what their users really need, and why they need it

What are requirements?

  • Requirements are something that someone needs, in this case, needs as stated by a stakeholder
    • To be a requirement, it must be quantifiable and verifiable
      • Not to make something “prettier” or “more user-friendly,” since this not measurable
  • The stakeholder, not the Business Analyst or Salesforce Admin, owns the requirements

Why do we need requirements?

  • Requirements tell:
    • Salesforce Admin what problem needs to be solved,
    • Test Engineers what to test, and
    • Managers how they can see the progression of a project
  • Requirements document a contract between you and the stakeholder, identifying what needs to happen before a project can be considered “completed

Requirement elicitation

  • Several ways to gather requirements, each with their pros and cons. Ex:
    • Interviews
    • Workshops
    • Using comparable, rival products

Documenting

  • Once you arrive at a comprehensive list of requirements, its critical to document them
    • Documenting creates clarity for the project
  • More requirements do not equal better requirements
    • Try to write each requirement as one short sentence
    • Not necessary to get the wording perfect on the first try - keep them simple and concise
  • Once you think the requirements are in a good place, the next step is to send them to the stakeholders and review together
    • Together, you can then agree on what you’ve discovered and what a complete project will look like
  • When all the stakeholders sign off and agree to the written requirements, you can mark the elicitation project complete