Why modeling is an essential business analysis activity
Drawing diagrams of business problems and software systems is a powerful aid to requirements development.
Software systems can be enormously complex. One way people deal with complexity is through abstraction. Abstraction allows us to represent information at varying levels of detail, depending on how much information any particular audience needs — and can handle — at some point in time.
Visual analysis models provide a powerful set of tools that let business analysts (BAs) depict system information at various levels of abstraction. These models serve as an aid to understanding, as well as an aid to communicating. Pictures complement textual communication, so modeling is an essential skill that every BA should master. Here’s why.
A brief history
In the 1970s Ed Yourdon, Tom DeMarco, and others pioneered the field of structured analysis and design. They invented various diagrams to represent knowledge about problem domains, software systems, and programs. When I learned about the power of modeling from a structured analysis course early in my career, it transformed how I thought about software development. I found I could build far better systems more quickly with the help of the diagrams than I…
