How to become a 'specification by example' rocket scientist
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View an article outlining this presentation at http://www.equinox.co.nz/blog/specification-by-example-better-business-analyst. Presented by Kirsten Eriksen and Ben Hughes at the IIBA Business Analysis Developer Day conference in Wellington, New Zealand in November 2015. The presentation focuses on using the 'specification by example' approach as a business analyst.
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How to become a 'specification by example' rocket scientist
- 1. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited How to become a 'specification by example' rocket scientist Kirsten Eriksen, Senior Consultant Ben Hughes, Systems Analyst
- 2. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Equinox IT is New Zealand’s leading independent IT consultancy, delivering software development, consulting and training services. Established in 1995, we inject fresh thinking to solve tough business problems. Equinox IT has over 60 staff based in Wellington and Auckland. About Equinox IT
- 3. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Journey from Tester to Analyst 3
- 4. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited The tester, simplified • Test one thing at a time • A poor test triggers multiple failure states • Enter a credit card with an invalid date and no card holder details 4
- 5. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited The analyst, simplified • Describe one thing at a time • A poor requirement muddies the distinction between features • The system must be responsive 5
- 6. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Finding common ground • Increase focus on early collaboration • Analysis of a requirement taking the form of a test case 6
- 7. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Specification by Example basics 7
- 8. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Why Specification by Example • A way to explicitly discuss assumptions and drive out actual requirements • Just one approach 8
- 9. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Why Specification by Example • The earlier a problem is found, the cheaper it is to resolve 9 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Design Implementation Testing Relative cost to fix Phase Defect is found Data sourced from IBM Systems Sciences Institute
- 10. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Acronym Driven Development 10 Images sourced from freepik.com ATDD Acceptance Test Driven Development BDD Behaviour Driven Development FDD Feature-Driven Development
- 11. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited What is Specification by Example? • Realistic examples over abstract statements • A collaborative approach • A facilitated approach 11
- 12. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited How Specification by Example can help • “We need to give people something complete enough to complain about” • Business Analysts can get caught in a world where they can never be wrong – which leads to them becoming a bottleneck 12
- 13. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Specification by Example approaches • Table • Can be similar to decision tables in format • Scenarios • Given / When / Then format • Can be similar to business rules in format 13
- 14. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Specification by Example approaches • Table, useful for describing inputs and outputs 14 Order total ESA member? Free shipping? $10M Yes Yes $10M No Yes $5M Yes Yes $5M No No
- 15. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Specification by Example approaches • Scenario, useful for work flows Given I have logged in And I have add an item to a consignment WhenI select to proceed to checkout Then the items will be listed for confirmation And I am prompted to select a payment method 15 Preconditions Trigger Outcomes
- 16. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Specification by Example – How it Fits in. 16
- 17. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited How to use Specification by Example • Atomic • Complete • Consistent • Concise • Feasible • Unambiguous • Testable • Understandable • Prioritised 17 • BABOK – 7.2.4 Quality conditions for a requirement:
- 18. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Which approach when? • Table • If it’s a calculation • If showing the impact of one on many • Given / When / Then • If a table would be too big or complex • If you are describing a flow 18
- 19. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Using Specification by Example: Practical Examples 19
- 20. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Calculations – The Bad Way Given that an order has been made by a new customer When the price of the order is over $20 Then a discount of $5 is applied Given that an order has been made by a new customer When the price of the order is over $100 Then a discount of $33.33 is applied 20
- 21. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Calculations - Instead try: Customer Type Value of Order Discount New Customer >$20 25% New Customer >$100 33% Existing Customer >$20 0% Existing Customer >$100 10% 21
- 22. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Tangled Table – The Bad Way Credit card name Credit card expiry Credit card number Credit card type Accepted? A Jones 12/15 1234-1234-1234-1234 Visa Yes K Smith 1/17 2345-2345-2345-2345 Amex No G Williams 4/16 18954254 Visa No R Penfold 8/15 3456-3456-3456-3456 Master Card No M Matthews 2/16 123456789 GE Card No P Andrews 10/15 9876-H582-G156-K157 Visa No D McDonald 11/14 CRED-ITCA-RDSS-UCK! Amex No 22
- 23. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Tangled Table – Instead Try: Given that a credit card has been provided for payment When the credit card is valid Then the payment will be accepted Valid is defined as: - Having a name that is accepted by the credit card service - Having an expiry date that is equal to or after the current month - Having a number that: - Consists entirely of numerals - Is 16 characters long - Contains 4 sets of sequential numbers - Is of a type that is either MasterCard or Visa 23
- 24. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Non-Atomic Given / When / Then – The Bad Way Given that a purchase has been submitted When the purchase has been validated and accepted Then send the customer the details of the order AND update the stock inventory AND send the information to the warehouse for fulfilment 24
- 25. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Non-Atomic Given / When / Then Instead Try: Given that a purchase has been submitted When the purchase has been validated and accepted Then send the customer the details of the order Given that a purchase has been submitted When the purchase has been validated and accepted Then update the stock inventory Given that a purchase has been submitted When the purchase has been validated and accepted Then send the information to the warehouse for fulfilment 25
- 26. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Multiple versions of input result in the same output – The Bad Way Item type Quantity Result Rocket Ship >1 Accept Spacesuit >1 Accept Space Helmet >1 Accept Space Rocks >1 Accept Space Boots >1 Accept Space Food >1 Accept Gravity Belt >1 Accept Anti-matter Ray >1 Accept 26
- 27. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Multiple versions of input result in the same output - Instead Try: Given that a quantity of items have been requested When Validating the quantity Then numbers greater than one (1) are accepted 27
- 28. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Quantities – whole numbers vs partial- The Bad Way Quantity requested Result 1 Accept 1.1 Fail 1.75 Fail -2 Fail 3.89 Fail 1,000,000 Accept 3,768,825.976 Fail 0.876328 Fail 28
- 29. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Quantities – whole numbers vs partial Instead Try: Given that a quantity of rocketships have been requested When Validating the quantity Then only positive whole numbers can be accepted Given that a quantity of rocketships have been requested When the quantity is not a positive whole number Then display an error 29
- 30. Copyright © 2015 Equinox Limited Injecting fresh thinking to solve tough business problems. 30