Using an example, Ellen Gottesdiener and Tomas Björkholm explain how business, customer, and technology partners can mobilize their brainpower to discover MVPs and make smart choices about product development….Read On

Michelina DiNunno explains how to minimize the risk of bloated backlogs by optimizing how you define and refine product priorities….Read On

When is a so-called requirement really required? And is it the “right” requirement? The answers depend on many facets: stakeholders, value, planning horizon, and so on. This article explores using options as a means to identify….Read On

On time. On budget. Error free. These are crucial delivery goals for any organization. Yet they are rendered almost meaningless if the product fails to deliver value. That’s why successful delivery teams work hand-in-hand….Read On

Today, the user story is often front and center in development projects, according to EBG Consultingco-principals Ellen Gottesdiener and Mary Gorman. That said, they are seeing development teams creating many unnecessary user stories….Read On

What is the most common risk of Agile software development? The biggest risk of any technology project is creeping user requirements. Feature creep, also known as scope creep, is common in most software projects….Read On

The success of any business analysis effort hinges on effective stakeholder collaboration. To engage and equip stakeholders from diverse disciplines, good business analysis uses an artful mix of techniques to identify business needs….Read On

Changes to scope are inevitable, but they aren’t created equal. Good scope changes occur as you discover requirements that serve project goals and align to product vision. Here are three tips for systematically managing product scope….Read On

Recently we worked with an Agile team that was building an FDA-regulated medical device. Some team members were worried about how to produce the required verification and validation documents. “What do we do?” they asked us….Read On

In a recent interview in the New York Times, Panera Bread co-CEO Ronald M. Shaich talks about the importance of developing an organization’s “discovery muscle” as well as its “delivery muscle.” [1] Most companies have worked hard….Read On

Who is the person in Agile who drives the software requirements process, particularly the software requirements analysis and planning? It really varies. In a Scrum environment, for example there may be someone who is the Scrum Master….Read On

Many teams are good at delivering working software throughout the Agile process, but not so good at building software that meets business needs. Often, tight deadlines spur teams to start coding before fully identifying business….Read On

Every agile or Scrum team knows the dilemma of organizing the backlog of project requirements. It’s like cleaning out the garage. You know you’ll have to handle everything sooner or later, but where do you start? How do you organize….Read On

In agile development, what happens to the traditional business analyst? Consider Scrum, currently the most popular agile method. In Scrum, there is no “business analyst” role. In fact, there is not an explicit role for tester, project manager….Read On

In September 1977, the TV sitcom “Happy Days” had über-hip Fonzie, clad in leather jacket and swimshorts, water-ski over a shark to prove his mettle—and at that moment even diehard fans knew that the show was past….Read On

Adult children. Jumbo shrimp. Seriously funny. I’m sure you recognize these expressions as oxymorons—self-contradictory phrases, often with an ironic meaning. Should we add “Agile requirements” to the list? Does Agile development fit….Read On

If you’ve struggled to find collaborative ways for your team and customer to understand evolving product needs while delivering value on a steady basis, you’re not alone. Challenges include accurately estimating….Read On

Whoever claims that work has no room for play or play might not be a form of work may not know about the serious purpose of agile games.You can learn from games, use them to instigate change, innovate, and make product decisions….Read On

We recently heard about an agile project that implemented four user stories. The first story began, “As a sales associate…”; The second story began, “As a sales rep …”; and the third and fourth stories began, “As a sales consultant …” These stories….Read On

The patterns, workshop design guidelines, and collaboration techniques I describe in Requirements by Collaboration are agnostic to product or software development method. When I wrote the book, agile methods were beginning….Read On

Agile is here, and it’s coming soon to an organization near you-if it’s not already there. As a business analyst, are you ready to make the transition to this value-centered development approach? How will your role change?….Read On

In Part 1 of “Business Analysis in Flow – The Work of the Agile Analyst ,” I talked about the new skills and attitudes business analysts need to bring to agile development. When your organization adopts this value‐centered approach….Read On

As an agile analyst, you know how easy it is to get lost in a blizzard of project details. The way to keep focused is to remind yourself of the chief reason for using agile processes: to deliver business value for your organization. With that in mind….Read On

To build a positive project team it is essential to make self-reflection and continuous learning a part of your organization’s culture. Perhaps the single most efficient way to do this is by incorporating ongoing team retrospectives….Read On

There is plenty of hard and anecdotal evidence that the most critical factor for your product’s success is your stakeholders’ involvement in defining requirements. Put another way, in-sufficient stakeholder involvement is often cited….Read On

Of all the legacies of the 1986 Challenger space shuttle explosion, perhaps none is more chilling than the words of the Rogers Commission’s report, the official analysis of what went wrong. “There was a serious flaw,” says the report….Read On