Difficulty: Medium
Correct Answer: Vision or business requirements document, detailed functional specifications or user stories, and supporting models such as use case and process diagrams
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
The Business Analyst plays a key role in bridging business stakeholders and technical teams. One of the main responsibilities of a Business Analyst is to produce clear, structured documents that capture what the business needs and how the proposed system should behave. These documents guide design, development, testing, and deployment. The question asks you to identify which combination of documents is typically delivered by a Business Analyst to communicate system requirements effectively.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
A Business Analyst usually produces a hierarchy of requirements documents. At the top level there is often a vision document or business requirements document that explains the business problem, goals, and high level scope. More detailed documents such as functional specifications, user stories, or use case specifications describe what the system should do in specific scenarios. Supporting models such as use case diagrams, process flow diagrams, data models, and user interface mockups help visualize requirements. Together, these artifacts ensure that stakeholders share a common understanding of the solution and that developers have enough detail to implement it correctly.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall the standard deliverables of a Business Analyst, including business requirements, functional requirements, and supporting models.
Step 2: Identify that a vision or business requirements document sets the context and objectives.
Step 3: Recognize that detailed functional specifications or user stories translate business needs into implementable features.
Step 4: Note that models such as use case diagrams, process flows, and data models provide graphical views to clarify requirements.
Step 5: Choose the option that combines these elements instead of unrelated items like building plans or marketing flyers.
Verification / Alternative check:
Industry methodologies such as BABOK, Agile practices, and traditional software development life cycle models all describe similar sets of BA deliverables. They emphasize business requirements, functional requirements, and supporting diagrams. None of them treat holiday calendars, hardware voltage diagrams, or random email threads as primary requirement documents. This cross check supports the selected answer.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B is wrong because holiday calendars are administrative, not requirement specifications. Option C is incorrect, as hardware voltage diagrams and floor plans are relevant for facilities or hardware engineering, not typical BA outputs in software projects. Option D refers to marketing flyers, which aim at promotion rather than specifying system behavior. Option E is not acceptable because unstructured emails lack the clarity and structure expected from formal BA deliverables.
Common Pitfalls:
One pitfall is relying too heavily on informal communication, such as email, without consolidating decisions into formal documents. Another is producing only high level vision statements without refining them into detailed, testable requirements. Good practice is to maintain a consistent set of living documents that evolve as the project learns more, while keeping them structured enough to support design and testing effectively.
Final Answer:
A Business Analyst should normally deliver a vision or business requirements document, detailed functional specifications or user stories, and supporting models such as use case and process diagrams to capture and communicate system requirements.
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