Brainstorming is a creative technique used to generate a large number of ideas, solutions, or approaches to address a specific problem, challenge, or opportunity. It encourages free-thinking and collaboration, where participants can openly contribute their thoughts without judgment to explore a wide variety of potential solutions.
This technique is especially useful when a new process needs to be identified and/or for custom development
Purpose:
Stimulates creative thinking and fosters innovative ideas.
Helps uncover new perspectives and unconventional solutions.
Promotes collaboration among diverse stakeholders, encouraging input from all participants.
Generates a wide range of potential solutions to explore and refine.
Common Techniques:
Traditional Brainstorming: A group session where participants quickly share ideas, typically using a whiteboard or sticky notes to capture everything.
Mind Mapping: Ideas are visually organized around a central theme using branches.
Useful for understanding relationships between concepts.
Round-Robin Brainstorming: Participants take turns sharing one idea at a time.
Encourages equal participation and prevents dominant voices from taking over.
Brainwriting or Silent Brainstorming: Participants write down their ideas individually before sharing with the group, ensuring that introverted participants also have a voice.
This also helps reduce groupthink and ensures everyone’s input is considered.
SCAMPER: A structured technique where ideas are generated using prompts:
Substitute
Combine
Adapt
Modify
Put to another use
Eliminate
Reverse
Starbursting: Focuses on generating questions (who, what, when, where, why, how) rather than solutions.
Ensures thorough exploration of a problem or idea.
SWOT Analysis: Structured approach analyzing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
Useful for strategic planning and decision-making.
Rapid Ideation: Participants generate as many ideas as possible within a set time limit.
Encourages creativity without judgment.
Nominal Group Technique (NGT): Each participant ranks ideas individually, then the group discusses and votes on priorities.
Helps in structured decision-making.
Crazy 8s: A design-focused technique where participants sketch 8 ideas in 8 minutes.
Used in UX and wireframing to quickly explore concepts.
Diagramming is a technique that helps visually represent processes, systems, workflows, data flows, and relationships between entities. It provides a clear and structured way to communicate complex information, enabling stakeholders to understand business processes, system requirements, and areas for improvement.
Purpose:
Clarity & Communication – Helps convey complex ideas and relationships effectively.
Process Understanding – Provides insights into workflows, inefficiencies, and redundancies.
Requirement Analysis – Supports identifying gaps and refining business requirements.
Stakeholder Collaboration – Bridges communication gaps among business users, developers, and project teams.
Decision Making – Aids in visualizing impacts and dependencies to support strategic decisions.
Common Diagram Types
Process Flow Diagrams – Depict the sequence of activities in a business process.
Use Case Diagrams – Show interactions between users (actors) and a system.
Entity-Relationship Diagrams (ERD) – Represent data models and relationships.
Swimlane Diagrams – Assign responsibilities to different stakeholders in a process.
Data Flow Diagrams (DFD) – Illustrate how data moves within a system.
Wireframes – Low-fidelity visual structures for UI/UX design.
State Diagrams – Represent system states and transitions.
Common Diagramming Tools
Draw.io (for wireframes, process flows, and ERDs)
Microsoft Visio (for professional process maps and flowcharts)
Lucidchart (for collaborative diagramming)
BPMN Tools (e.g., Bizagi, Signavio for business process modeling)
See Diagramming for a more in-depth look at visual representation types.
3. Document Analysis
Document Analysis is the process of reviewing and evaluating existing documentation to extract relevant information, identify gaps, and derive business insights.
Purpose
Helps understand current processes, policies, and requirements.
Identifies inconsistencies or missing information.
Provides a foundation for requirement elicitation and validation.
Supports decision-making by leveraging historical and regulatory documents.
A Focus Group is a facilitated discussion involving a small group of participants to gather insights, opinions, and feedback on a specific topic, product, service, or process.
Purpose:
Helps understand user needs, preferences, and pain points.
Provides qualitative insights that surveys or data analysis might miss.
Encourages diverse perspectives through group interaction.
Validates assumptions and refines requirements before implementation.
Key Characteristics:
Typically consists of 6 to 12 participants.
Led by a moderator who ensures focused discussion.
Uses open-ended questions to encourage detailed responses.
Participants are selected based on relevant criteria (e.g., end-users, customers, stakeholders).
See Focus Group Guide for step-by-step guidance on facilitating effective focus groups.
5. Interface Analysis
Interface Analysis is the process of identifying, defining, and evaluating the interactions between systems, applications, and hardware to ensure seamless communication and data flow.
Purpose:
Identifies how different systems or components interact.
Ensures data consistency, accuracy, and security across integrated systems.
Helps detect gaps, inefficiencies, or potential failure points in system integration.
Common Types of Interfaces:
Application Interfaces (API) – Communication between different applications or services.
System Interfaces – Integration between software, databases, and hardware components.
See Interface Analysis Guide for step-by-step guidance on conducting effective interface analysis.
6. Interviews
An Interview is a structured, semi-structured, or unstructured conversation between a business analyst and one or more stakeholders to gather requirements, clarify business needs, and explore challenges or opportunities.
Purpose:
Helps gather in-depth qualitative insights directly from stakeholders.
Identifies business needs, expectations, and pain points.
Clarifies ambiguous or conflicting requirements.
Builds rapport and trust with stakeholders.
Types of Interviews:
Structured – Predefined questions, consistent format (useful for standardized data collection).
Semi-Structured – A mix of predefined questions with flexibility for follow-up discussions.
Unstructured – Open-ended, free-flowing conversation to explore topics in-depth.
See Interview Guide for step-by-step guidance on conducting effective interviews.
7. Observation
Observation is a technique where a business analyst studies stakeholders, processes, or systems in their natural environment to understand workflows, identify inefficiencies, and uncover implicit business needs.
Purpose:
Captures real-world behaviors, interactions, and challenges.
Identifies undocumented processes or inefficiencies.
Helps validate stakeholder feedback by seeing actual workflows.
Useful when stakeholders struggle to articulate their needs.
Types of Observation:
Active (Participatory): The analyst engages in the process while observing.
Passive (Non-Participatory): The analyst watches without interfering.
Structured: Uses predefined checklists and objectives.
Unstructured: Open-ended observation with flexible focus areas.
Common Use Cases:
Understanding how users interact with a system or tool.
Identifying inefficiencies in business processes.
See Observation Guide for step-by-step guidance on conducting effective observations.
7. Workshops
A Workshop is a structured, interactive, and collaborative session where business analysts, stakeholders, and subject matter experts come together to discuss, explore, and solve specific business problems, gather requirements, and create solutions.
Purpose:
Encourages collaboration and active participation among stakeholders.
Facilitates creative problem-solving and idea generation.
Helps ensure that requirements and solutions are aligned with business needs.
Fosters a sense of ownership and commitment among participants.
Types of Workshops:
Requirements Elicitation Workshops – Gather business requirements, discuss scope, and identify user needs.
Design Workshops – Collaborate on designing system interfaces, workflows, or processes.
Prioritization Workshops – Prioritize features, functionalities, or projects based on business value.
Process Mapping Workshops – Define and map out business processes and workflows.
Brainstorming Workshops – Generate ideas for solutions or innovations.
See Workshop Guide for step-by-step guidance on facilitating effective workshops.