Welcome back to the 'Learn What You Share' series, and I'm Tuyen. Today, I will share about a new field that I have learned, which is Business Analysis. One of the most challenging parts of the course is writing tasks in a template: Description, Requirement, Acceptance Criteria. The difficulty here is to write the "Acceptance Criteria" accurately and correctly. What is 'Acceptance Criteria'? How can we write it accurately and correctly?
Acceptance criteria, also known as acceptance tests, are the conditions that software must meet to satisfy the needs of the user as described in the user story. So, what is a user story? How can we analyze a user story accurately and include all the necessary details in an acceptance criteria?
A user story is simply understood as the needs of customers or users for a product or service, focusing on user needs and value. For example, if you are someone who likes to travel and is looking for a service on smart devices (laptops, iPads, phones) that is both beautiful and easy to use, with simple operation, intuitive interface, and all information clearly expressed, with sufficient user needs provided. A fast, efficient and convenient application.
From these needs in the user story, developers will have an overview and understanding of user needs, and then create a product or service that meets those needs.
Fundamentally, when practicing, many people can easily realize that it is actually similar to personal experience needs rather than customer needs. If you were in the role of a customer, what would your expectations be? You would want to learn about a good technology solution that meets your personal needs. These are the issues that every BA needs to consider. Analyzing problems and writing acceptable standards is a method that helps us generalize and synthesize these requirements into many cases and optimal solutions. To facilitate smooth teamwork, you are the bridge between the user and the development team.
When it comes to analyzing and writing tasks, each BA will have their own writing style, but fundamentally, it is based on a common method: description, requirement, and acceptance criteria. As for myself, after researching and learning, I have summarized a quick and concise way to write a task that is correct, standard, and meets user requirements, specifically:
Step 1: Receive the requirement, thoroughly research and describe the problem (description). Step 2: Explore, analyze and divide the problem into many situations to find the optimal solution based on the requirements that the customer has given (requirement). Step 3: List the necessary steps to be taken, describe them specifically and in detail, and illustrate them with images to facilitate the completion of the task while providing the desired result (acceptance criteria).
An example for this process: User Story: As a customer, I want to order online to buy products from the store, to save time and be more convenient. Acceptance Criteria: Customers can access the store's website and log into their account. Customers can view the list of products and details of each product including: prices, images, descriptions, and the quantity of remaining products. Customers can add products to their cart by clicking the "Add to Cart" button. To purchase the product, customers can click "Buy" and choose the appropriate payment method, or go to the cart section to confirm the quantity and total cost of the order and choose the appropriate payment method, then enter their information and confirm the order. Customers receive an order confirmation and the quantity of products ordered via email or text message. The system reduces the quantity of remaining products in stock after the customer has successfully placed an order.
In addition to analyzing user requirements for the dev team, a Business Analyst (BA) also helps suggest solutions or provide advice on the best solution for the customer. There will be many customers who come to you wanting a website but they may not have a lot of requirements or they may not know what they want, just that they want a website that can promote their brand, improve business productivity and gain more visibility. In this case, you will be the one advising and helping them. As for customers who already know what they want, your task will be to understand their needs and see if the dev team can meet those needs. If not, we propose an optimal solution that satisfies the customer and is also convenient for the dev team. In summary, a BA can help the dev team develop products by understanding customer requirements, creating and analyzing requirement documents, coordinating between the customer and the dev team, testing and evaluating products, supporting data analysis, and adjusting requirements as necessary. The role of a BA is very important in every project, not only as someone with broad knowledge but also with many other soft skills. If you don't have a lot of knowledge or skills, don't worry, the environment will train you. When you enter a work environment, you don't want to be good at it or you don't want to learn, but you can't refuse it. The way you can do well and maintain your performance in that environment is to constantly strive to improve your knowledge. Everyone has a first time, so just keep going, even if you stumble, getting up is the way to mature after each lesson.
That concludes all the knowledge I've gathered from writing tasks. Hopefully, it will be helpful for you.
Thank you for reading this far. See you in the next blog and I'm Tuyen.
This article was created by ChatGPT and has been edited.