Planning and Analysis
What this domain tests
Planning questions ask how a business analyst decides what work to do, in what order, and to what depth. Analysis questions ask how information is elicited, modeled, prioritized, and turned into agreed requirements. Expect coverage of the business analysis plan, elicitation technique selection, scope modeling, and prioritization methods.
Concepts to master
- Planning the work: the plan states activities, deliverables, stakeholders, and how changes will be handled. It scales with risk, not with organizational habit.
- Elicitation techniques: interviews suit depth; workshops suit consensus; observation suits tacit or unspoken work; surveys suit breadth; document analysis suits legacy context. Choose by information need, not familiarity.
- Scope models: context diagrams and use-case or event lists define what is in and out. A clear boundary prevents scope creep.
- Prioritization: ranking by value, risk, cost, or regulatory obligation. Know that prioritization is a stakeholder decision informed by analysis.
Common traps
Questions often present a technique mismatch: a survey when nuance is needed, or a workshop when participants cannot meet. Another trap treats the plan as fixed; good plans include a change path. Watch for options that prioritize by the analyst's preference rather than stakeholder value.
Rule of thumb
Match the technique to the uncertainty: high uncertainty and few stakeholders favor interviews or observation; broad alignment favors workshops; wide distribution favors surveys.
Worked example: A team must understand a rarely documented warehouse process. Observation plus follow-up interviews beats a survey, because the work is tacit and the population is small.