IT Business Analyst tools for Business/System analysis and specification — Part II.

IT business or system analysis is a varied and challenging role where you can use a lot of professional tools to improve the efficiency and quality of your deliverables.

In the first part of this article, I talked about the fifth most common tool in the business analyst pocket. This article contains another fifth on the elementary level to help you start on your professional journey.

So this article contains the following:

1. State machine diagram
2. Activity diagram
3. User interface flow
4. Functional decomposition diagram
5. High-level architecture diagram

Let’s deep dive in!

1. State machine diagram

In IT system design, a group of attribute values and links of an element* together is a state. The state machine diagram is a graph that describes how these states are changing based on the rules and conditions of the IT system.

*every element can have a state which has behavior: Object, actor, subsystem, etc.

Using state machine diagram advantages are:

• Give a high-level overview of the system behavior
• Makes the object lifecycle visible

The essential parts of a state-machine diagram

1. State. A group of attribute values and links of an element together.
2. Event. An event triggers the change in one or more state(s). It can be a specific time, a procedural call, a signal from another system/module or a condition.
3. Transition. Showing the connection between two or more states. It is the line between transitions on the diagram, labeled with an event.
4. Action. An action is a component from the user’s point of view to interact or work together with a state.

State-Machine diagram — Source: Sparx Enterprise Architect

2. Activity diagram

Activity diagrams are often used during business process analysis. It is like a data flow or flowchart, defining a series of actions in a system.

So, basically, the activity diagram is like another business analysis diagram, but from another different viewpoint.

The essentials parts of an activity diagram

1. Start and end point.
2. Activity state. There is no need for an explanation. Visually represents a single activity step.
3. Action paths. Illustrating the flow of the actions with lines.
4. Objects. Objects are parts that can be influenced by action or vice versa. An action can modify or creates an object or an object can modify the state of an action.
5. Decision. If an action has more than one next move, then you have to draw a rectangle before the alternative action paths.
6. Synchronization. Fork node or joint node. Fork node splits a single incoming path into multiple paths. A joint node joins multiple paths into a single one.
7. Time events. If an event takes time or stops the flow for a time, use an hourglass symbol.

Activity diagram for business analysis — Example vending machine — Full resolution: https://ibb.co/WD6k2Pc

3. User interface flow (task flow, wire flow) diagram

User interface flow is a very simple type of diagram. It focuses on user interactions and shows how different GUIs are connected to visualize a specific use case or user journey.

Advantages of using UI flows:

• Present the product paths to the client from the enduser’s perspective.
• UX/UI designers can easily understand the connection between different software parts to make prototypes easier. The prototype has much better visualization and interactivity than any diagrams below.

User interface flow will help you:

• Communicate the path that the user travels.
• Finding missing essential steps in the process.
• Get feedback from the stakeholders.
• Support UX/UI designers.

If you are looking for a more complex guide on drawing proper user interface flow, consider seeing the article on this link.

User interface flow — User login example — Full resolution: https://ibb.co/DwYF3sF

I have to mention, this above example is a simplified version that you can create, but there are more professional and detailed user flow diagrams. It depends on the client’s taste, the deadline, your competence, and your visualizing style to create more sophisticated versions.

To cover every aspect, here is another example of a user interface flow diagram, created with Wireflow (instead of UML or BPMN for a change):

A more sophisticated user flow — Source: https://www.justinmind.com/blog/user-flow-tools/

4. Functional decomposition diagram (FDD)

Personally, I like this kind of diagram in preparation, design, and complex troubleshooting periods. It is simple to understand, easy to use, and very informative for all project stakeholders.

Functional decomposition is an analysis method that dissects a complex process into smaller, individual elements. The FDD is the visual representation of the individual element hierarchy.

Before you start the project/system design, you have to be clear about the tasks which are expected. What tasks your system or component has to do?

Where can it be applied?

• Business process analysis
• Functional analysis
• Complex, multi-layer problem solving
• IT Project design and preparation

and many more.

The functional decomposition diagram has several advantages during an IT software development project:

1. For project managers: It allows scaling, tracking, and measuring work efforts.
2. For analysts: Helps simplify a design problem.
3. It helps specify and organize the requirements and features which the system has to execute.
4. Easy to overview the system’s functional requirements and find any expectations that may have been left out of the interviews/workshops.
5. For developers: Helps break down the system into smaller pieces.

Functional decomposition specifies the functions, activities, processes or actions that the component or module of the software has to perform. -https://binaryterms.com/

Functional decomposition is simple but can be tricky. Start with the most important, general function of your application, then break down it into sub-components. Repeat until it shows you the proper details.

Functional decomposition diagram example — Full resolution: https://ibb.co/DGMX0sD

5. High-level IT architecture diagram

High-level or conceptual IT architecture diagrams are often used to present the proposed solution to the clients.

This is not a typical IT Business Analyst task, but as a consultant and first contact with the business (not to mention IT Advisory), you are likely capable to understand and present not just processes, but technical system concepts, project plans, and almost anything from information technology systems, at least on a conceptual level. You are working in the field of information technology. So make sure you understand the basic concepts of IT networks, software architectures, and IT security principles to present the requested solution’s technical background to your customers in a digestive format.

Depending on the nature of the solution, it can be an IT infrastructure architecture or an IT software architecture diagram.

High-level application architecture example — Oreilly

Summary

I hope you found this article useful.

Finally, I will end with one piece of practical advice: It is not important to use these tools by the book. Use them if it is reasonable, required by the client, or can help you understand something better with visualization.

It’s not the use of the tools or knowing them in detail that makes a good
IT business analyst. That makes you a good “trainer”.

At the end of the day, the most important thing is the added value, the quality of the product, and customer satisfaction.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Do not forget to subscribe or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to find me on LinkedIn.