The Test Automation Reference Model
The Test Automation Reference Model (TARM) is a conceptual framework for understanding, comparing and selecting test automation tools. It identifies the common features and components of a test automation framework and can also be used as a reference architecture for developing in-house frameworks.
How Can Agile Teams Capture Non-Functional Requirements?
Most agile teams are familiar with a Product Backlog. In this post, I propose teams should maintain "Constraint Backlog" of non-functional requirements alongside their Product Backlog.
Test Driving the Requirements Discovery Canvas
Its been over a year since I first published my "Requirements Discovery Canvas". Since then, I have learnt a lot from applying the canvas and sharing it with various groups in Australia and Asia.
The Requirements Discovery Canvas in a Nutshell
My original post describing the Requirements Discovery Canvas is quite lengthy and requires a fair investment of time to read. This post is for those wanting to get a quick overview of the canvas and how it is used.
Describing Software Features
In this post, I am going to focus once again on the "Features" column of the canvas which prompts a team to answer the question, "How could the stakeholders use software as a tool?". The other columns of the canvas provide the context for answering this question with the canvas as a whole providing a visual framework for organising what the team discovers.
Product Backlog or Wishlist?
In this post, I am going to focus on the "Features" column of the canvas which prompts a team to answer the question, "How could the stakeholders use software as a tool?". The other columns of the canvas provide the context for answering this question with the canvas as a whole providing a visual framework for organising what the team discovers.
BABOK Version 3 and the Requirements Discovery Canvas
Business Model Canvas and Collaborative Games are among the new business analysis techniques introduced in BABOK Version 3. This makes the Requirements Discovery Canvas an ideal companion for the latest version of BABOK.
Strategies For Requirements Discovery
The Requirements Discovery Canvas guides teams through the discovery process in two ways. First, it prompts the team to consider some fundamental requirements questions. Secondly, it serves as a visual framework for organising what the team discovers.
The Requirements Discovery Canvas
The Requirements Discovery Canvas is a visual tool that helps teams discover and organise software requirements.
Extreme Architecture Framework
The Extreme Architecture Framework answers two critical architectural questions - “Which elements of the enterprise do I need to be aware of and understand?”, and “Which elements am I responsible for, and which do I need to manage?”
Lotus Agenda Training Courses
Lotus Agenda was a remarkable product and amazingly still has an enthusiastic band of devoted followers. Given that this is basically a late 80's DOS product this is no mean feat.
The Feature Funnel: More On Ambiguity
I ended my post on qualifying the wishlist by promoting the benefits of a glossary of terms. This post will continue to explore the problems of ambiguity associated with natural language.
The Feature Funnel: The Big Picture
A full visualisation of the Feature Funnel.
The Feature Funnel: Qualifying the Wishlist
In this post I will introduce a series of questions that can be used to refine and filter the wishlist.
The Feature Funnel: A Tool for Managing User Wishlists
The feature funnel represents the systematic process by which an unqualified wishlist of software requirements are gradually refined into a consistent set of product features.
Comics and Infographics
Words are often not the best way to present complex or tedious material. Because I don't draw well, I often discuss the benefits of engaging a professional graphic designer during our Essentials of Business Analysis courses.
Radar Charts
I have always been a fan of Ron Jeffries’ Big Visible Charts, “Charts on the wall are many times more effective than charts on a web site or in a fancy slide show. A web site doesn’t push information at us; we have to go look. A slide show always comes with a meeting and a lecture. A wall chart is there when we are, in our face, always visible. Bigger is better.
Creating a Glossary of Terms
The most difficult aspect of creating a glossary of terms is writing a clear definition for each entry. WordNet is a database of the English language that can help simplify the task. As well as providing definitions of English words, WordNet also lets you explore relationships between terms such as “part of”, “kind of”, "member of" and “composed of”.
Business Analysis and Process Modelling
The classic sequence of developing process models, favoured by academics and advocates of structured analysis, is - current physical; current logical; proposed logical; and proposed physical. However, I have never seen it successfully applied in a project setting. The reason for this can be summed up in a single word - time!
The UML Collaboration Element
The collaboration element can be used to highlight a collection of UML elements that collaborate in a way that is not immediately obvious