Why a BA is critical to your project

We are sometimes asked by customers what a Business Analyst (BA) does, or why a BA is involved in a particular phase of a project. Once the website designs have been created and approved, shouldn’t the development team just be able to develop it? One might think that, but have you ever asked someone to do something, but when they completed the task, it wasn’t what you had expected at all because they had interpreted your vision differently than you had? Let’s review the BA’s role through the lifecycle of a project.

Advise Phase

During the Advise Phase, the BA will document the business requirements of the website/project. As a simple example let’s say we’re designing a car instead of a website, and the business requirements state the car must have the following:

• 4 wheels
• 4 doors
• A steering wheel
• Seat at least 4 people
• Has the ability to be controlled by a driver using a gas pedal and brake pedal
• Has a luxury look and feel

The Customer pictures a Lexus, the UI Team designs a Rolls Royce, and the Developer builds a Porsche. These are all high-end, luxury cars that meet the agreed-upon business requirements, but the result is not the same. The BA’s role is to ensure that this does not happen.

You may be thinking, well that’s why we go through a design phase and agree on the design of the car. That’s true, but will the developers know how all aspects of the car and how it should function based on the designs alone?

Design Phase

Once the UX and UI teams start their work, additional requirements are bound to start coming to light. Let’s look at one piece of the car – the driver’s seat. The UI Team has designed a beautiful leather seat for the car, but without instruction on what the seat does, the Developer could build the seat without the ability to move. Or maybe it only moves by the driver lifting a lever below the seat and scooching. It works, it moves, but it’s not quite what the customer had imagined. The BA’s role here would be to ask all of the necessary questions about how the seat should work – should it have buttons; should it move up and down as well as forward and backward; is it heated; is it cooled; does the car need to save the settings for multiple drivers; does the functionality need to be a little different based on the model of the car – and then document what is agreed upon.

But doesn’t the Architect do documentation? Well, yes, but not the same type of documentation. The Architect is going to come at it from a different perspective. The BA will document what the functionality will be, whereas the Architect will document how the functionality will be accomplished. So, while the BA is documenting what the functionality of the seat is, the Architect will be documenting how to build the motor that will provide those functions. The developers will need the design, as well as both types of documentation, to correctly build the seat.

Implementation Phase

During the Implementation Phase of the project, because the BA has documented all the features of the website/project, they become the de facto liaison between the various disciplines and teams. As questions arise, the BA is the point person for question resolution. This may include simply clarifying the documentation, and brainstorming resolutions with the team, or it could mean going back to the customer with additional questions. While the BA is involved during this phase, their time commitment to the project is reduced as their role becomes one of support.

UAT Phase

As the implementation comes to completion and it is time for the customer to begin their acceptance testing, the BA is involved in two ways.
1) The BA can train the customer in using their new website – particularly any content management pieces that may have been built for them. This training may come in the form of a written training manual, in-person or online training sessions, training videos, or some combination of methods.

2) As the customer begins to test the site and runs into issues or has questions, the BA will often be their go-to for answers.

The BA is an integral part of the team, performing tasks that must be completed for a successful project. Without a BA, the project documentation is often lacking, which leads to confusion and misalignment of functionality within the development team, and then with the customer when the project is handed over for UAT. The value of the BA role is not one that should be underestimated.