Task Summary
For Assessment 2, you will review and respond to a case study. You will undertake the Agile Business Analysis activities and produce the appropriate artefacts for this process. The assessment will take the form of a 2000-word report.
Please refer to the Task Instructions for details on how to complete this task.
Context
The aim of this assessment is to introduce students to Agile practice and activities in a business context, which serves as foundation for the rest of the subject.
In this assessment, students will develop skills in reviewing a case study, identifying key concepts within the case study which need to be addressed, researching these concepts, synthesising ideas about these concepts and writing a report containing completed Agile artefacts. This will give students an opportunity to develop work-ready skills as an Agile Business Analyst.
Task Instructions
To complete this assessment task, you must:
1.Review your subject notes, essential readings and learning activities to ensure that you arewell prepared for the assessment.
2.Create a report plan and identify all the key components that will be required in your reportto meet the assessment brief requirements.
3.Refer to the Assessment Rubric to ensure you address all the assessment criteria.
Report Structure
•The report is brief and therefore will not require an executive summary or abstract.•Table of contents: Include all key components of this assessment.•Introduction (150-200 words): Also serves as your statement of purpose for the report. This means that you will tell the reader what you are going to cover in your report. You will need to inform the reader of:•Your area of research and its context•The key concepts you will be addressing•What the reader can expect to find in the body of the report
•Body of the report (1300 – 1500 words):
•Design a persona – explain why you have selected this persona and given them theattributes that you have.
•Create titles only for 10 possible user stories – list these user stories.
•Map these user stories and identify which are required for your minimum viableproduct (MVP) – use the story mapping technique and explain why you haveselected some stories to be within MVP and others not.
•Select two of the more complex stories and write up the user stories from theperspective of the user – use the card technique.
•Identify how these stories can each be split into two smaller stories. At the end ofthis exercise, you will have six user stories – the two original and the two split storiesfor each of those.
•Write up the acceptance criteria for the four user stories that have resulted fromyour story splitting exercise – ensure that you have catered for the testing of bothfunctional and non-functional requirements.
•Using the MoSCoW technique, prioritise the four split stories for delivery.•Layout:•The report should use font Arial or Calibri 11 point, should be line spaced at 1.5 for ease of reading and page numbers on the bottom of each page.•With the required diagrams, due attention should be given to pagination to avoid loss of meaning and continuity by unnecessarily splitting information over two pages. Diagrams must carry the appropriate captioning and be referenced correctly if it has been adapted from a resource.•Conclusion (150 - 200 words): Summarise any findings or recommendations that the report puts forward regarding the concepts covered. Link your conclusion back to your introduction.•References: A minimum of four to six references are required for this assessment, with at least three being academic sources. (An academic source is one that has been peer-reviewed or cited in the past). All research and images used must be referenced using APA 7th style.
solution
Title
Page
Agile
Business Analysis and Artefacts for Smart Academy’s proposed online
system
Table
of content
|
Page
|
Introduction
|
3
|
Designing
persona
|
3
|
Creating
title
|
4
|
Mapping
user story
|
5
|
Writing
user story
|
5
|
Splitting
stories
|
6
|
Acceptance
criteria
|
7
|
Prioritizing
|
8
|
Conclusion
|
9
|
References
|
10
|
Introduction
This
is a brief report paper prepared by a business analyst for the team
that would be developing an online education system for Smart
Academy, an Australian education institute. The report's purpose is
to secure the creation and implementation of a high-quality online
education system with novel features for the targeted users. The
system requirements were constructed based on the Smart Academy case
study, which included facts about the business's status and needs.
The business analyst generated the agile artifacts for the necessary
online education system after evaluating the case.
The
following artifacts were used to complete the project: (I) persona,
(II) titles, and (III) user stories, (IV) story mapping, (V) story
writing, (VI) story splitting, (VII) moving through the acceptance
criteria, (VIII) prioritizing tasks, and testing the system by actual
users while making continuous improvements. As a result, the study
will focus on Agile concepts used in "software development and
project management that enable teams to execute work in small,
manageable increments, generating value and responding to changes in
a timely way”(Azanha
et at., 2017).
I)
Designing a Persona
A
persona is a fictional figure who represents a system user. As a
result, the persona will be utilized as a reference point for the
development team to understand the end-users' wants and expectations
(Fergnani,
2019).
They will also assist in prioritizing the finest system features
based on the information gathered. The business analyst conducted
interviews with potential users and generated personas based on
specified characteristics (like occupation, age, gender, education,
interests, goals, and requirements). For
example,
Monica
is a 23-year-old Sydney resident. As she pursues her nursing
internship at a prestigious hospital, she seeks a course in Health
Administration. She wants to enroll online and create an account
from which she may study at her own pace.
Dr.
Swizz is a lecturer at Smart Academy who has physical and digital
copies of the class materials for uploading onto the new online
system.
II)
Creating Titles
A
title is a short description of the user story that describes the
story to the development team. It describes
what a user needs to solve their problem. Therefore,
for this
project the title was
created using the
following template:
As
a <USER>
I
want <SOMETHING>
So
that <SOME REASON>
The
10 possible titles are:
As
a
tutor,
I
want
my online classroom recordings to be available to my students at all
times,
so
that
I don't have to worry about the difficulties of conducting online
lessons in real-time.
As
a student,
I
want
a system that lets me quickly add, update, and delete subjects during
the subject selection phase.
so
that
I have choices when it comes to subject selection.
As
a
prospective student,
I
want
to access a secure education platform where I can enroll and pay for
a course that interests me,
so
that
my money is safely spent for a course that I will be able to complete
without meeting any fraudulent activities.
As
a
distance student,
I
want
to be able to access my user profile and all of my learning needs
from any device, including my mobile phone,
so
that
I don't lose out on my studies even while I'm on the go.
As
a
student,
I
want
a platform where I can learn how to apply what I've learned
realistically,
so
that
I can always put what I've learned at work into practice.
As
a
student,
I
want
the freedom to build a profile and view all of my personal
information, particularly the list of topics and timetable,
so
that
I can readily access this information while planning my studies.
As
the administrator,
I
want
a system that allows me to send reminders and tailored reports to all
of our students,
so
that all
of our messages and alerts are received by all of our students.
As
a tutor,
I'd
want to automatically produce and post marks,
so
that
I don't waste time grading pupils and making mistakes.
As
a
student,
I
want
to be able to access and check my results from my devices,
so
that
I don't travel to the academy's physical site all of the time.
As
a
student,
I
want
to be able to enquire about any questions or concerns I have at any
time,
so
that
my difficulties and obstacles are handled as soon as possible.
III)
Mapping stories
Platform
with the minimum features necessary to solve particular problems will
be released to some users. Thus, the minimum viable product (MVP)
will be released to present users with the idea of a solution to
their problems (Tripathi
et at., 2019).
Example:
Story
3 from section (II) can be mapped out and after a team discussion, an
agreement was made on the user needs and preferences classified as
necessary and included in the minimum viable product that will be
released as a prototype.
Story
5 from section (II) was not included in MVP because from discussions
made, the needs and preference identified in that story were not
necessary and therefore not included in the prototype.
IV)
writing stories
A
user story is a simple, generic explanation of a software feature
written from the user's viewpoint. Its objective is to capture the
user's problem as well as the intended answer (Sedano
et at., 2019).
The
card approach for writing user stories was applied, which entails a)
producing a card with a title and description, b) writing the user
story on the card, c) writing the business value of the user story,
and d) writing the user story collaboratively so that all
stakeholders offer feedback.
Two
user stories from section (II) titles are:
As
a prospective student, I want to access a secure education platform
where I can enroll and pay for a course that interests me, so
that my money is safely spent for a course that I will be able to
complete without meeting any fraudulent activities.
As
a student, I want the freedom to build a profile and view all of my
personal information, particularly the list of topics and timetable,
so
that I can readily access this information while planning my
studies.
V)
Splitting stories
Scrum
and Kanban are the main agile process management framework (Bhavsar
et at., 2020).The
scrum framework is based on the idea that a project is made up of a
series of sprints, which may be extended or shortened depending upon
the needs of the project, while Kanban is a visual management tool
that allows the creation of a continuous workflow for the product
development lifecycle. For example:
Splitting
the first
story from section (IV):
As
a prospective student, I want to enroll in and finish a course so
that I may improve in my job.
As
a prospective student, I want a secure online education platform
where I can make payments with confidence.
Using
the second
story from section (IV) and splitting it:
As
a student, I'd like to create an online profile on the smart academy
portal where I can enter my personal information.
As
a student, I'd want to be able to access my data and the course I'm
enrolled in so that I may organize my studies ahead of time.
VI)
Acceptance criteria
The
Acceptance Criteria is a set of quantifiable characteristics of a
project that are to be measured. The process of measuring the product
tasks and comparing the result to the set Acceptance Criteria is
called Acceptance testing.
The
Gherkin
mechanism
can
be used to
write
acceptance criteria that can be understood and tested easily. It
is in the form:
Given
<SOME
PRECONDITION>
When
<SOME INPUT>
Then
<SOME OUTPUT>
Therefore,
The team will splitting as following:
User
story: As a prospective student, I want to enroll in and finish a
course so that I may improve in my job.
Given:
a student visits
homepage to enroll
When:
by filling in the required details in a form
Then:
system
registers new user
And:
user receives
a notification email
User
story: As a prospective student, I want a secure online education
platform where I can make payments with confidence.
Given:
Student wants to make payment safely
When:
pays using acceptable payment method
Then:
system
accepts payments safely
User
story: As a student, I'd like to create an online profile on the
smart academy portal where I can enter my personal information..
Given:
The student needs
to change details on
profile
When:
fills In required fields
And:
Saves the changes
Then:
an online profile of student updated and visible
User
story: As a student, I'd want to be able to access my data and the
course I'm enrolled in so that I may organize my studies ahead of
time.
Given:
students logs into the profile
When:
clicks to view information
Then:
Up-to-date
information
displays
VII)
Prioritizing
The
MoSCoW technique stands for must
have, should have, could have, and will not have (Anand
& Dinakaran, 2017)..
It is used to
prioritize the project requirements according to resources and return
on investment. Therefore, using this technique the stories were
prioritized as follow:
Most
have:
Are the requirements necessary for the successful completion of an online learning system for instance:
They
are necessary because they bring
paying customers onto
the
platform.
Should
have -The
identifiable requirements under this are:
The
online platform will continue to function even if this condition is
not met, but it adds value if it is met.
Could
have –
A could have requirement is desirable but not that important. For
instance: The desire by the student to have an online profile with
personal information.
Will
not have – These are needs that have no bearing on the final
product since they will not be applied or maybe for the future.
There are no prerequisites among the split storylines that suit here.
Conclusion
Smart
Academy's online learning platform may be efficiently deployed by
utilizing Agile business management artifacts. There were several
artifacts associated with finding end-user personas, titles,
collecting user stories, mapping the stories, writing the stories,
splitting the complicated stories into workable sections, moving
through the acceptance criteria, setting priorities, and testing the
system. End-users who are already using the prototype provide regular
feedback, and modifications are done if they're an acceptable
recommendation. This leads in the project being subdivided into
manageable units, mostly utilizing end-user stories. This can help in
the formation of a high-quality online learning platform with the
functionality that users require.
When
Agile artifacts are used in software development and business
management, testing is dependent on constant input (information/
feedback) from system users. As a result, it solves the development
team's challenges, such as designing incorrect solutions, because all
features will be aligned with the end needs in mind.
References
Azanha,
A., Argoud, A. R. T. T., de Camargo Junior, J. B., & Antoniolli,
P. D. (2017). Agile project management with Scrum: A case study of a
Brazilian pharmaceutical company IT project. International
Journal of Managing Projects in Business.
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJMPB-06-2016-0054/full/html
Anand,
R. V., & Dinakaran, M. (2017). Handling stakeholder conflict by
agile requirement prioritization using Apriori technique. Computers
& Electrical Engineering,
61,
126-136.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045790617318487
Bhavsar,
K., Shah, V., & Gopalan, S. (2020). Scrumbanfall: an agile
integration of scrum and kanban with waterfall in software
engineering. International
Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE),
9(4),
2075-2084.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Krunal-Bhavsar/publication/339042133_Scrumbanfall_An_Agile_Integration_of_Scrum_and_Kanban_with_Waterfall_in_Software_Engineering/links/5e50b7a992851c7f7f4cc52b/Scrumbanfall-An-Agile-Integration-of-Scrum-and-Kanban-with-Waterfall-in-Software-Engineering.pdf
Fergnani,
A. (2019). The future persona: a futures method to let your scenarios
come to life. foresight.
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/FS-10-2018-0086/full/html
Sedano,
T., Ralph, P., & Péraire, C. (2019, May). The product backlog.
In 2019
IEEE/ACM 41st International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE)
(pp.
200-211). IEEE.
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8812076/
Tripathi,
N., Oivo, M., Liukkunen, K., & Markkula, J. (2019). Startup
ecosystem effect on minimum viable product development in software
startups. Information
and Software Technology,
114,
77-91.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950584919301417