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Business Analysts versus Business Designers
Analysis is only half the job; the other half is design
The Agile movement is changing how many traditional IT roles operate and the business analyst is one of them. Ten years ago a group of seasoned software developers gathered at Snowbird ski resort in Utah to share experiences and ideas. What emerged was the Agile Manifesto, a statement of values and principles for developing software. In the years since then, it has transformed the way software is developed. Last weekend, on the tenth anniversary of the Agile Manifesto, some of those original people plus an invited group of additional IT professionals gathered again at Snowbird for a conferenced organized by Alistair Cockburn to discuss what has been learned and define areas for further growth.
Starting Friday evening and going through Saturday evening (February 11-12) this group discussed a range of issues in facilitated sessions and smaller one-on-one conversations. Discussions were centered on four main topics: 1) What do we have under control; 2) What problems can never be solved; 3) What problems can be solved with the application of money; and 4) Where can good headway be made over the next few years. I participated in these discussions both as a contributor and a reporter. Over the next several weeks in this blog I’ll present key discussions and conclusions from the Snowbird conference.
[ I do lively presentations on this and related topics - mhugos@yahoo.com ]
Question: What is the Role of the Business Analyst in the Agile World?
Perhaps we need people who are not only analysts but also designers. Analysts collect facts but take no responsibility for what is done with them. Designers use the facts to create solutions that deliver value to end users. This idea came out of a small group conversation; what follows is a transcript of the discussion with participants and what they said (here's the SHORT YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THIS DISCUSSION).
[ What do you think? Leave a comment below or drop me a line at mhugos@yahoo.com ]
Jeff Patton – There’s this business analysis community that talks to users to try to make sense of them, and try to get them to tell them exactly what should be done. They don’t take any responsibility for what gets built. They take responsibility for capturing requirements; they complain because they [the users] change their mind; they talk about tactics to pin them down on what they want and they hold them responsible for making bad decisions. That kind of posture is evil, and that’s what I don’t like.
The design community, on the other hand, although there is a butt-load of prima-donnas and idiots there too, largely they hold themselves responsible for making choices about what should be built. And they’re not complimentary communities; they’re competing communities and competing philosophies. I like the design philosophy (if it wasn’t for the prima-donnas). And wherever somebody uses the word [design], I like the definition of: research is getting out there and seeing what the world looks like; analysis is making sense of it; and design is imagining what we could put into the world to make it different. And it isn’t UI; it isn’t business process; it’s that whenever we’re building software it’s an act of design. When we talk about abdicating responsibility, it’s that analysis community that captures requirements…
Ryan Martens – Gathers…
Jeff – Yes, “gathers” [laughter from group]. You remember that old “Lister’s Dead Fish” stuff… hey there’s a bright shinny requirement; I’ll bring it back to the office. It’s that posture that doesn’t work.
Todd
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