Agile Business Analysis Common Agile Analysis Techniques 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An agile BA uses event storming to model a complex domain. What is the PRIMARY artifact produced in an event storming session?
- A UML class diagram
- A timeline of domain events ordered chronologically (Correct answer)
- A sprint backlog
- A stakeholder register
Correct answer: A timeline of domain events ordered chronologically
Event storming produces a shared timeline of domain events (things that happened) that reveals the business process flow and domain boundaries.
Question 2: When writing acceptance criteria using the 'rules-based' format, a BA documents:
- Testable scenarios in Given-When-Then format
- Business rules the solution must satisfy as a list of conditions (Correct answer)
- Wireframes attached to each story
- Negative test cases only
Correct answer: Business rules the solution must satisfy as a list of conditions
Rules-based acceptance criteria list the specific business rules or conditions the story must satisfy, complementing scenario-based criteria.
Question 3: A product team uses dot voting during a backlog grooming session. This technique is primarily used to:
- Estimate story points via planning poker
- Quickly reach group consensus on priority items (Correct answer)
- Assign user stories to specific developers
- Measure team velocity
Correct answer: Quickly reach group consensus on priority items
Dot voting allows participants to place votes on items they value most, rapidly surfacing group priorities without lengthy debate.
Question 4: In agile analysis, a 'spike' is best described as:
- A user story with very high business value
- A time-boxed research task to reduce uncertainty before committing to a story (Correct answer)
- A story that failed acceptance testing
- A dependency between two teams
Correct answer: A time-boxed research task to reduce uncertainty before committing to a story
A spike is a time-boxed investigation or experiment designed to answer a specific question and reduce technical or business uncertainty.
Question 5: Which agile analysis technique creates a visual hierarchy showing how a product's features connect to business goals and user outcomes?
- Feature decomposition tree (Correct answer)
- Cumulative flow diagram
- Burn-up chart
- Kanban swimlane
Correct answer: Feature decomposition tree
A feature decomposition tree organizes themes, features, and stories in a hierarchy that traces back to the business goal they support.
Question 6: A BA notices that two user stories in the backlog have an implicit dependency. The BEST agile approach is to:
- Delete the dependent story and merge it into the other
- Identify and document the dependency so the team can sequence the work appropriately (Correct answer)
- Escalate the dependency to upper management for resolution
- Ignore it since agile teams self-organize
Correct answer: Identify and document the dependency so the team can sequence the work appropriately
Identifying and transparently documenting dependencies allows the team to sequence stories and plan sprints to avoid blockers.
Question 7: The 'INVEST' acronym is used to evaluate user stories. Which of the following represents the 'V' in INVEST?
- Verifiable
- Valuable (Correct answer)
- Validated
- Visible
Correct answer: Valuable
The 'V' in INVEST stands for Valuable, meaning the story must deliver clear value to the customer or business.
Agile Business Analysis Common Agile Analysis Techniques 4
An agile BA uses event storming to model a complex domain.
What is the PRIMARY artifact produced in an event storming session?