BA Responsibilities in the Software Life Cycle

The overview

BA Responsibilities in the Software life cycle

The life cycle I draw is slightly different from the SDLCThe modified version makes more sense from BA’s point of view.

BA responsibilities in each phase

Information gathering phase

At this stage, there are no requirements yet. What we have are questions, problems, statements and discussion. BA needs to work with all stakeholders, PMs, UX to gather as much information as possible without judgement. This is a diverging process. However, don’t forget to group your information. Otherwise, you can’t generate your focus. This part of the work is a converging process.

The BA techniques we use here may include,

• User interviews
• Market research
• Stakeholder workshops
• Competitor Analysis
• Grouping and voting
• etc.

Analysis and Design Phase

This phase is one of the most important works of a BA. With the focus generated from the last stage, BA needs to work out all the valid requirements. Also, BA needs to work with team members on the solution. Be careful that we as BA provide requirements, conditions, and business context as BA. The whole team should build the solution together, not only the BAs.

The BA techniques we use here may include,

• Persona and user journey
• Business process mapping
• UML diagrams, like concept maps, activity diagrams, etc.
• Wire-frames (or work with the UX to generate hi-fi and mock-ups)
• user story mapping
• etc.

However, the requirement is not documented yet at this phase.

Documentation Phase

With the output from the last phase, we need to document all the requirements to be recorded. There are multiple ways to write requirements,

• User stories are widely used in Agile teams.
• Requirement specifications used to be the way in waterfall projects. However, we can modify a light version in Agile teams.
• Scenario-based requirements
• etc.

Planning Phase

With the documented requirements, BA needs to work with Product M (if you work in a product team), Project M (if you work in a project team), and the architect or tech lead on the planning for the sprints or the sprints the release date.

The BA techniques we use here may include,

• Backlog refinement
• Prioritization (Mosoco, etc.)
• Sprint planning
• Kanban board
• etc.

Implementation Phase (Development, Testing and Deployment)

In this phase, BA needs to support in any way to make sure the deliverable meet the business needs. Including,

• Write detailed Acceptance Criteria for each requirement.
• Work with stakeholders to clarify any questions that the engineer might have.
• Engage stakeholders in team rituals to gather feedback and align with the business value
• etc.

Maintenance Phase

Once the function is released, BA needs to work with the Support team or DevOps team on,

• Tackling production bugs
• Manage changes that are going back to the specs
• Run reports to show the stability of the product
• Find root causes and come up with improved processes.
• Etc.

Don’t be afraid about all the responsibilities. BAs may not need to do everything by themselves. Always remember to collaborate with your teams to get everything done.