Agile Business Analysis Common Agile Analysis Techniques 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A BA creates a context diagram for a new agile project. What does the context diagram primarily show?
- Internal system components and their relationships
- The system boundary and its interactions with external entities (Correct answer)
- Sprint timelines and team capacity
- Data flows between microservices
Correct answer: The system boundary and its interactions with external entities
A context diagram defines the system boundary and illustrates how the system interacts with external actors, systems, and data flows.
Question 2: In agile analysis, 'thin slicing' a feature means:
- Breaking a large feature into the smallest end-to-end deliverable that provides value (Correct answer)
- Reducing the scope of testing for a feature
- Assigning the easiest stories to junior team members
- Splitting stories by technical layer (front-end vs. back-end)
Correct answer: Breaking a large feature into the smallest end-to-end deliverable that provides value
Thin slicing cuts a feature vertically so even a small piece delivers end-to-end functionality and real user value.
Question 3: Which of the following BEST describes the purpose of a Definition of Ready (DoR) in agile analysis?
- Confirms that a story has been accepted by the product owner after testing
- Sets the criteria a backlog item must meet before it can be pulled into a sprint (Correct answer)
- Defines the team's process for conducting retrospectives
- Specifies the deployment pipeline steps
Correct answer: Sets the criteria a backlog item must meet before it can be pulled into a sprint
The Definition of Ready ensures backlog items are sufficiently understood and refined before the team commits to them in sprint planning.
Question 4: A BA wants to identify which product features will delight customers versus which are expected. Which technique is MOST appropriate?
- SWOT Analysis
- Kano Model (Correct answer)
- Risk-adjusted backlog
- Cynefin Framework
Correct answer: Kano Model
The Kano Model categorizes features into must-be, performance, and delight categories to guide prioritization based on customer satisfaction.
Question 5: During a sprint review, the product owner rejects a user story. According to agile best practices, the BA should FIRST:
- Immediately reopen the story and assign it back to the developer
- Understand the gap between what was built and the acceptance criteria (Correct answer)
- Escalate the rejection to the scrum master
- Remove the story from the backlog permanently
Correct answer: Understand the gap between what was built and the acceptance criteria
The BA should first understand why the story was rejected by reviewing the acceptance criteria gap to inform proper backlog refinement.
Question 6: Which agile technique uses 'jobs to be done' framing to understand what users are trying to accomplish, rather than focusing on features?
- Story Mapping
- Job Story format (Correct answer)
- Kanban board analysis
- Velocity tracking
Correct answer: Job Story format
Job Story format captures user motivations using 'When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome]' to focus on outcomes over features.
Question 7: A BA is conducting a retrospective analysis technique called 'sailboat.' The wind in this metaphor represents:
- Obstacles slowing the team down
- Forces helping the team move toward its goal (Correct answer)
- Risks on the horizon
- The team's velocity target
Correct answer: Forces helping the team move toward its goal
In the sailboat retrospective, wind represents the positive forces or practices that propel the team toward its goal.
Agile Business Analysis Common Agile Analysis Techniques 3
A BA creates a context diagram for a new agile project.
What does the context diagram primarily show?