The Business Analyst: How To Be More Than a Proxy

The Business Analyst:
How to be more than a proxy
Diane Zajac-Woodie
AGILE AND BEYOND 2015
green jeans consulting

Agenda
• Demonstrate the value of feedback
• What is a proxy?
• Identify ways that BAs can help their teams
• Create Story Maps
- 10 min break –
• Write requirements as acceptance criteria
• Close

Product: Origami Flower
Target Users: kids shopping for Mother’s Day
User’s Needs:
• Beautiful
• Colorful
• Handmade
• Inexpensive (one sheet of origami paper)

BA to the rescue…
1.  Assign a BA, rest of team
are developers
2.  Move chairs back-to-back:
so BA can’t see devs work
3.  BA comes up for a
handout. DO NOT SHOW
YOUR DEVELOPERS!
4.  BA verbalizes the
requirements to developers
while the developers build

How did that go?

Folding w/ Feedback
1.  Move chairs back to
normal. You can
collaborate now!
2.  Switch BA roles – get a
new handout - DO
NOT SHOW YOUR
DEVELOPERS!
3.  BA verbalizes the
requirements while the
developers build AND
provides feedback

How did that go?

Definition

 noun: A person who is given power
or authority to act on behalf of
someone else, especially in voting

Proxy Examples

 1. Think of an example where you
acted as a proxy or a time when
someone acted as your proxy.

 2. Share with your neighbor.

What do teams need?

 1. At your tables, silently write down all the things
that teams need – ONE PER INDEX CARD.
BA can
help with
these
BA can’t
help with
these

 2. Take turns reading your cards to the group as
you add them to the center of the table. Remove
duplicates. Add more as you think of them.

 3. As everyone is sharing, organize your index
cards into 2 stacks:

• System Access
• Proper equipment
• Continuous Integration
• TDD training
• Setting up automated
regression test suite
BA can
help with
these
BA can’t
help with
these
• Collaboration
• Feedback
• Facilitation
• Documentation
• Visualizing their
work
• SME’s
• Testing
• User stories
• Stakeholder
management
• Continuous
improvement
• Team Space
• Management
support
• Team agreements
• Release
management

Exercise: Your A & B Story

 1. Using the same color stickies, silently write down all
the conference-related things you’ve done today.
Have
break-
fast
Drive to
Adoba

 2. Take turns reading your stickies aloud as you
add them to the center of the table. Remove
duplicates.

 3. Start grouping the activities into natural groups.
Register
in the
a.m.

Exercise (continued)

 4. Label each grouping with a different color
stickie.
Have
break-
fast

 5. Organize the groupings chronologically, from
left to right.
Register
in the
a.m.
Drive to
Adoba
Registra-
tion

Exercise (continued)

 6. Break down some User Tasks into
smaller User Stories.
Have
break-
fast
Have
coffee
Eat a
danish
Eat a
crois-
sant

Why are Story Maps useful?

Break time
BACK AT 3:55 PM

Coke or Pepsi?

Cat or Dog?

Bank teller or ATM?

Apple or Android?

Requirements
• Ubiquitous language
• Collaborative
• Verifiable (Ideally “automate-able”)
• Just in Time

Feature: As a conference attendee
I want to share my experiences at A & B
So that my peers think I’m cool
Scenario: Tweet a photo that includes a conference reference
Given I am signed in to Twitter
When I tweet a selfie with my conference badge
Then my followers see my selfie
Scenario: Verbally share my conference experience
Given I do not like Twitter
When I tell my neighbor why I like A & B
Then my neighbor smiles and nods
Scenario: Use conference hashtag in a tweet
When I tweet with the #aab15 conference hashtag
Then my tweet is in the #aab15 search results

Acceptance Criteria
• Easy to understand?
• Could you work on it together?
• Easily testable?
• Just in Time

Scenario: Use conference hashtag in a tweet
Scenario: brief description of desired behavior
Given is set up, what has to happen before the test
When is the action, the trigger
Then is the test, the expected behavior
When I tweet with the #aab15 conference hashtag
Then my tweet is in the #aab15 search results
Feature: As a conference attendee
I want to share my experiences at A & B
So that my peers think I’m cool
Feature: brief description of goal, user story clarified

Writing Acceptance Criteria
Scenario: brief description of desired behavior
Given is set up, what has to happen before the test
When is the action, the trigger
Then is the test, the expected behavior
Feature: brief description of goal, user story clarified
As a…
I want…
So that…
1.  Select a User Story & write a Feature
2.  Write 2-3 Scenario descriptions
3.  Write the Given/When/Then’s for your scenarios

Writing (continued)
4. Swap cards with the pair next to you
5. Read their scenarios & provide some feedback
•  Is the goal of the user story clear (Feature)?
•  Is there a set up (Given)?
•  Is there an action (When)?
•  Is there a clear test (Then)?

1.  One Validation: write down one thing that you heard that
validated what you already knew
2.  One New Idea: write down one new idea that you learned
3.  One Next Step: Write down one next step that you will do
because you came to this session.
4.  Share with your neighbor.
Session Feedback
Please write me an index card with any positive comments or
suggestions for improvement. Put it up here on this table or just
leave it on your table & I’ll collect them when I clean up.
Any and all feedback is appreciated!

Thanks for being here!
Diane Zajac-Woodie
@AgileSquirrel
diane@greenjeansconsulting.com
www.greenjeansconsulting.com

Resources

 Story Mapping: http://winnipegagilist.blogspot.com/

 http://www.agileproductdesign.com/blog/
the_new_backlog.html

 Electronic Story Boards: https://cardboardit.com/ or

 https://www.featuremap.co/en

 Cucumber tool: https://cucumber.io/

 History of BDD: http://dannorth.net/introducing-bdd/

 More BDD:
http://lizkeogh.com/behaviour-driven-development/

Image Attribution

  Flower scribble:
http://www.swiss-miss.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/photos/uncategorized/2008/10/08/
isd004o_3.jpg

  Origami gone wrong: http://www.origamisources.com/origami_sightings_comedy.htm

  Couple sitting back-to-back:
https://computing.ece.vt.edu/~santol/projects/zsl_via_visual_abstraction/interact/interact_stand-
alone_dataset/imgs/2SMB2YU98JHSGUO94V6BP9ITU61NBC_09.jpg

  Finger pointing: http://misfitpolitics.co/2012/11/wait-for-it-here-it-come-the-finger-pointing/

  Story Map: http://winnipegagilist.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-to-create-user-story-map.html

  Coke:
http://pizzaforcoins.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/2/_/
2_liter_coke.jpg

  Pepsi:
http://b.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/slideshow/2013/12/3023648-slide-1-pepsi-
can.jpg

  ATM: http://www.marshallstreetcheckcashing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/atm.gif

  Bank Teller: http://cliparts.co/cliparts/Lcd/orE/LcdorELxi.jpg

The Business Analyst: How To Be More Than a Proxy

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