Resources for
Business Analysts

Recently I have been posting about an online game. The game has ended, and I have written a report about the experience and how you can use it with your clients.

Actually, I have written 2 reports from slightly different points of view.

If you are a Business Analyst and want to know how to use it in IT, go here:

http://www.writingusecases.com/gamereport/

If you are the owner/manger of an Internet Business and want to know how to use this technique with your clients, go here:

http://www.realizeyourbusiness.com/gamereport/

Enjoy!

Geri

I promised you more information on the game. I am working on an article, but here is some partial feedback.

One of the purposes for the game was to find out what the problems are in the industry. The point was not to get ideas for products, but to find out what problems the products were solving.

Some of the product descriptions I received were pretty far out there technically. Given enough time and money, they could maybe be created in a few years (anyone have a few spare million around to experiment with?) That’s OK. They told me what hurts, and that was the point.

So here I will summarize for you the products and problems we uncovered with the game. And you can participate in the followup survey. Post a comment telling me which (if any) of the products or problems apply to you or the company you work for. Then, tell me how important it is for you to solve the problem by assigning a dollar value. How much would you be willing to spend to buy such a product?

$10, $50, $100, $500, $1000, more than $1000.

(I could just use a 1-5 scale, but I have found in the past that the results are pretty meaningless. It has to do with the fact that each individual person has a different definition of average.)

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So post a comment by April 6, 2007 at midnight EDT - the name of the product you want or need, and what you would be willing to spend to have it. You can list more than one product in your comment.
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Don’t worry about whether or not the product is technically feasible. We are exploring where the problems are in the industry and how big the problems are.

Products
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Smart Pretty Printer for Use Cases
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Give the tool some text and it does its best to format the use case. Every sentence is numbered, compound sentences are broken in two, verbs are changed to active form, and sentences are rearranged into subject predicate object format. Anything the tool can not figure out is highlighted for a BA to review and fix. The output is a use case that is formatted according to a consistent, easy-to-read standard.

Problems that it solves: Removes the tedious nature of writing use cases. Presents use cases in a common structure and format, making them easier to review. Smooths out the differences in writing abilities among a team of analysts.

Template Use Cases for Insurance (same idea could be done for many industries)
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The product consists of a set of Microsoft Word documents that contain use cases common to the insurance industry; sample interview questions for stakeholders to elicit information needed to refine the use cases for a specific project; use case diagrams, activity diagrams, and class diagrams for all the use cases and domain model in XML format.

Problems that it solves: Decreases project time by providing a set of common business processes for an industry. Shortens the requirements definition phase of a project. Increases the possibility that project requirements will be complete and correct.

Holistic View of Requirements
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The tool inputs all of the various project requirements, such as goals and objectives, business requirements, business rules, supplementary requirements, user interaction design, process flows, data dictionaries, glossary, miscellaneous artifacts, and the relationships between all these parts. It then formats them into a whole view of the problem. This allows the project team to demonstrate to stakeholders, just what it is that the project is trying to solve, what is needed to solve it, and how the solution will be broken into its technology, process and organizational change elements. It allows the team to quickly move one element of an event flow from process change to technology, get an estimate from technology and make a better decision on cost versus benefit. It allows the team to model a process and visualize which parts are manual, which parts are automated, and flip these with a mere drag and drop.

Another feature is the ability to turn the system from black box to white box, allowing the team to see the different levels of the system from requirements to design to implementation. The white-box view can be output to update application and business architectures.

Problems that it solves: Better ability to communicate between business and technical team members. Ability to visualize all requirements and their relationships. Ability to see the impact of change on the system. Ability to see the relative merits of technology vs process.

Cohesive Requirements Tool
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This tool is capable of capturing multiple types of Requirements artifacts and integrating them to produce a cohesive and non-redundant definition of all the Requirements.

Problems that it solves: Consistency among different requirements sources.

B2S (Business-To-Software)
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This software allows business people to input their requirements by voice, keyboard, scanning, or any other input devices. It interacts with the person to collect their thoughts, wishes, business rules, vision and any other requirements.

The software facilitates global internet interactive sessions by listening to business users talk and gleaning all of the requirements from the speech. It’s facilitator module can prompt the participants at the right times with meaningful insights and questions for the domain.

The analyzer module interprets all that seemingly random input and makes sense of it using a form of artificial intelligence, a new kind of neural-2-neural network learning and analyzing system, that was adapted from some original software for detecting fraud.

The output of the software is requirements in a form ready for the programmers to use to produce code.

The software also manages and organizes the requirements, making it easy for business users to review and update the requirements.

Problems that it solves: Less time and effort spent to elicit, organize, specify, manage, look after and care for all of the requirements for a new product or system. Better communication with programmers. Removes dependence on unskilled requirements analysts. Better requirements documents.

There are just a few hours left for the game. Entries have to be posted by midnight EDT tonight (March 31). The game has been running on two separate sites, so not all the entries are here. I must say I have been impressed with the creativity I have seen.

Watch the blog for a followup posting giving a summary of the entries and your chance to vote on your favorite.

I am working on an article which will describe the game, the purposes, and the results. That will take about a week, so look for it the second week of April.

Geri

Hey Geri!

What a great idea! It didn’t take me too long to come up with something because I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

I did remembering the future. Here goes:

I am really happy we bought the Smart Pretty Printer for Use Cases product. It made the job of producing good use cases so much easier. I no longer had to hound my business analysts to use active verbs, use numbered lists, or put sentences in a subject predicate object format. We just ran the smart pretty printer over the text of the use case, and it did its best to format the use case. Every sentence was numbered, compound sentences were broken in two, verbs were changed to active form, and sentences were rearranged into subject predicate object structure. Anything the tool could not figure out was highlighted for a BA to review and fix. This made the work of writing use cases so much faster and less stressful. It gave us consistent formatting for all the use cases which made the reviews go faster. And I got to spend my time doing my job rather than telling everyone else that their use cases were still wrong. This has made the work environment so much less stressful for all of us, and gained us some extra time in the project schedule. I can go and enjoy my Thanksgiving holiday with no worries.

Best!

Laurie

Here is my remembering the future entry.

The set of Template Use Cases for Insurance was the best thing I ever found for my job. For this new insurance project, all I had to do was copy all of the Microsoft Word documents into a new directory, remove the use cases I didn’t need, add a few new ones for some special things we do, then edit everything to add the specifics for my company. The interview questions for stakeholders were just what I needed to get the information to refine the use cases.

My boss is really happy too because my use cases are so much better than they used to be, and completed faster as well. The templates also came with template use case diagrams, activity diagrams, and class diagrams in XML format so I could import them into the UML tool we are using here. Then I could just edit them to match the changes I made to the use cases. Not only is the project going really well for me, my relationship with my boss and the project team is better, and I am getting a company “Best Idea of the Quarter” award, with a nice bonus for Christmas.

Cool! Make it so Number One!

Jason

As I look back to the struggles I was having up to October, it’s amazing to me to think of the difficulties we were having with capturing a holistic view of the project space. We had our goals and objectives in our Vision document, our business requirements in the form of use cases, business rules and supplemental specs, our user interaction design in the form of wire frames, and process flows for those parts of the solution that involve process redesign, data dictionaries, a glossary and tons of other miscellaneous artifacts here and there. It was a mess and so difficult to get a good view of the whole picture, let alone be able to take different views of the same information.

But since we were able to use Holistic View, we’ve been able to enter all of these various forms of information, tie them together to take a whole view of the problem, the requirements and the whole solution: process as well as technology. We’re finally at the point where we can demonstrate to stakeholders, business owners as well as technology, just what it is that we’re trying to solve, what we need to solve it, and how we’re going to break that solution into its technology, process and organizational change elements. We’re able to have much better conversations with all the parties, to quickly move one element of an event flow from process change to technology, get an estimate from technology and make a better decision on cost versus benefit. It’s amazing to see the dynamics change in a meeting when we’re able to model a process and visualize which parts are manual, which parts are automated, and flip these with a mere drag and drop.

One of my favorite features is the ability to turn the system from black box for conversations with business stakeholders, to white box for technical design discussions. As you move from black to gray to white, it mirrors perfectly the different levels of discussion as we move from requirements to design to implementation. And that final, white-box view helps us automate outputs to update our application and business architectures.

We’re no longer having three discussions at once while all thinking that we’re talking about the same thing. We can visualize as well as create text documents. We can have more productive discussions of the boundaries of technology versus process, and, in the end, make better decisions. We’re going to have much better projects from now on.

Hi Everyone -

Want to play a game with me?

My friend Luke Hohmann wrote a book called Innovation Games. These are games he plays with his customers to develop products and ideas for products.

I think it can work with a online community, but he is not so sure.

So to prove him wrong, I have started an online Innovation Game. And everyone who plays gets a special bonus described at the end of this message.

The Game

There are two different ways to play the game, because people like to work differently. One way to play is for people who like to work with their hands, the other is for people who like mind games. You may create an entry for either or both.

If you are a physical person and like to do things with your hands, try this version of the game.

The product box: Think of the ideal product that would help you most in your job as a Business Analyst. Take a plain white box up to 12 inch x 5 inch x 13 inch in size and create the packaging for your ideal product. Use some colored markers, crayons, pencils, stencils, stickers, colored paper, glue, pictures from magazines, or whatever you like to decorate the box showing the name of the manufacturer, product name, and main features. Include colorful characters or symbols to appeal to a professional market, target slogans, coupons or points to encourage repeat purchases, offers of free stuff, or ideas for other products the person can buy.

Look at a cereal box or other product packaging for ideas.

Photograph your box.

Write a post to the blog with your name and some text “selling” the rest of us on your product. What are the benefits of your product? Why would someone else want your product. Upload your pictures in that post. (Note you have to be registered on the blog and signed in to be able to write a post. The register button is on the right of this page, near the bottom of the sidebar.) Pictures should be 200 x 300 pixels or smaller. Make sure that the details of your product box can be seen in the pictures.

If you are having trouble writing the text, have someone interview you about your product while you record the conversation. You can write the text based on what you have in the recording.

If you are a mental person and like to work with your mind, try this version of the game.

Remembering the Future: Imagine that today is November 21, 2007. (Here in the United States, this is the day before the Thanksgiving holiday, a 4 day holiday that we spend with family and friends.)

You are sitting at your desk about to leave for home for the 4 day holiday. You lift your arms to stretch your tired back muscles, then pick up your cup to drink the last of your cappucino (or hot chocolate if you prefer). The weather has been cool, so the hot drink tastes very good. You are feeling very satisfied because your current project is going very well. You think back three weeks ago to October 31, 2007 when you were working really hard to write the requirements for this project. You think about what this new product has done that made your job so much easier.

Now write a description. What is this product that you like so much? What has it done to make your job easier? Draw pictures to go along with your text if that helps you to describe the product and what it has done for you.

Write a post to the blog with your name and product description, and upload any pictures in that post. (Note you have to be registered on the blog and signed in to be able to write a post. The register button is on the right of this page, near the bottom of the sidebar.) Pictures should be 200 x 300 pixels or smaller.

If you are having trouble writing the description, ask a friend to role play this scenario with you, and record the conversation. Then you can write the description from your recording.

Keep Playing

Once you have posted something, be sure to post comments on other people’s entries - what you like about them, or questions you have about a product. Keep the comments positive.

The game will continue until March 31, 2007 at midnight US Eastern time. I will lock the blog after that time, and no more entries will be accepted.

Bonus

• Each person who plays the game, by posting a sensible entry of a Product Box or Remembering the Future, gets a one hour one-on-one telephone (or Skype) consultation with Geri Schneider Winters, on a Business Analysis topic of your choosing. Note, I get to decide if something is nonsense. (If you make a serious effort to post something, then I am sure it will be fine.)

Have Fun!

• Be creative, futuristic, visionary.

• Or be practical, grounded, down-to-earth.

• Describe a product that suits your style, something you personally would really like.

• Above all, have fun with it!

Some of you may guess there is more to this game than meets the eye. After the game, I will post more information on some hidden aspects to the game. Until then, just enjoy participating in this on-line game.

Let the game begin!

Geri

Rules

• Note there are spam filters on this blog and all entries are moderated. All entries with profanities or “adult” pictures will be deleted and will not be considered for the game. All nonsense entries will be deleted and will not be considered for the game.
• Wyyzzk, Inc. is not responsible for any system, computer, network, blog, etc. problems that might prevent you from posting an entry. We suggest you post your entry well before the deadline to avoid problems. If you do not see your entry within 24 hours of posting it, please contact us: information @ wyyzzk . com
• Your entry must be your own work.
• You may not submit an entry that is an existing product.
• You may submit multiple entries, but one person gets one hour of consultation, no matter how many entries he or she makes.
• If a group of people want to make one entry together, then the group of people get a one hour consultation as a group.
• Entries remain the property of Wyyzzk, Inc.
• Bonuses will be distributed after April 1, 2007.