Welcome to the post-text future, a world where visuals are the common language. Movies, Netflix, social media, selfies — this is the visual era, where what we are is what we see. Research shows that 65 percent of us are visual learners, indicating that diagrams, graphs, and images influence learning outcomes more than the written […]
Tag: Visual Requirements Models
PM Podcast – How to Write Excellent User Stories
Recently, I was able to speak at the Project Management Institute (PMI)® Global Conference 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. During the conference I participated in an interview for a PM Podcast; it was recently published. Here is the introduction to the podcast, with a link to the podcast at the end. I hope you enjoy it! Episode […]
Requirement Models for System Replacement Projects
We recently received an “Ask Joy” question around what models can be helpful for a system replacement project. Below is our answer, slightly modified to give proper context for all. System replacement projects can be a challenge, since many times the systems being replaced are old and obsolete from a technology perspective, but our business […]
“Just Enough Documentation” for Agile Projects
Companies that make the switch from Waterfall methodologies to Agile struggle with requirements documentation. How much documentation do we need? What kind? When should this documentation be created? Who is creating this documentation? Our experience shows that companies have swung the pendulum too far in terms of both the quantity and quality of documentation when […]
RML Model: User Interface Flow
I recently needed to show how the pages of a log-in process interacted. I started writing a process flow, then switched to a system flow, but in both cases was fighting the model—I wanted to show both what the user was doing and the system decisions. I also wanted to make it clear which pages […]
The Power of Screen Mock-Ups
I’m helping a customer on their first agile project, and at the moment we are focused on getting the backlog into a state that development can get started. I’m a little late joining the team, a lot of work had already been done, so I’m helping ensure that all of the pieces are in place. […]
What Models Should be Used to Create Requirements in an Agile Project?
This is a question that came up repeatedly in the classes I have taught these past few months. My answer is always the same: “Any and all models that are needed to define the problem space and derive the requirements.” The reaction to this is almost always identical: “But I thought we ONLY needed to create […]
An Exercise in Documenting Current State: Reddit and the Decision Tree
An exercise in documenting current state: reddit and the decision tree In an earlier post I detailed how you can use RML models to document the current state of your systems and processes by using a Business Data Diagram to illustrate the hierarchy and relationship of objects on the popular content website Reddit.com. In this […]
Business Analysts need to ask “Why”?
I attended BA World – Atlanta a few weeks back, and attended a wonderful presentation by Paul Mulvey, “Why Should a Business Analyst Care About Essential Processes?” Paul started off his session with a story about his daughter, and how she asked for a new iPhone. His first question was “why?” Why did she need […]
From Visual Models to Requirements
If you are familiar with ArgonDigital, then you are aware that we are big proponents of using visual models to help understand requirements. I even wrote a blog post about the case for visual models, which you can find here. But once you have your models, how do you go from the model to requirements? […]
Cart before the Horse? Retrofitting Models to Requirements
Because incomplete requirements have led to many a failed IT project, it has become an article of faith around the halls of ArgonDigital that visual models must be created before any requirements statements can be drafted. But what happens when you inherit requirements as part of a past project, or in collaboration with another dependent […]
Tell a Story Through Your Requirements, Part I
Most of the projects that we work on here at ArgonDigital involve producing some sort of coherent documentation to describe what a given piece of software needs to be able to do and how it will work. Of course, software requirements are a crucial part of this documentation, but by themselves they aren’t enough. For […]