The business analyst should clearly communicate project objectives and attempt to defuse tensions

when there is concern that users may not accept a new product that forces them to change existing

practices. Communication is a key skill for business analysts, as it helps to ensure that stakeholders

understand the purpose, scope, benefits, and risks of the project and the solution. Communication

also helps to manage stakeholder expectations, address their concerns, resolve conflicts, and gain

their support and buy-in for the change. By communicating project objectives and trying to defuse

tensions, the business analyst can demonstrate the value of the new product, explain the rationale

behind the change, listen to the feedback and suggestions of the users, and foster a positive and

collaborative relationship with them. Adhering to the project plan to achieve project objectives is not

sufficient, as it does not address the user resistance or dissatisfaction with the new product. Voicing

user concerns to management and recommending that the project be closed is not advisable, as it

may undermine the project success and waste the resources invested in it. Delaying the application’s

deployment until the conflicts have been resolved is not effective, as it may cause delays, rework, or

scope creep in the project. Reference: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination

Content Outline1, page 9; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide2, page 55.

Gap analysis is a technique that contrasts the current and desired business views to analyze possible

business changes. It identifies the gaps between the current state and the future state of the

business and helps to prioritize the actions needed to close those gaps. Gap analysis can be used to

assess the feasibility, scope, and value of a proposed change. Reference: = PMI Professional in

Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline (2019), page 10; Business Analysis for

Practitioners: A Practice Guide (2015), page 52.

A matrix is a tool that can be used to record, organize, and track the requirements throughout the

lifecycle of the project. A matrix can help the business analyst to identify the sources, dependencies,

relationships, and attributes of the requirements, as well as to monitor their status, changes, and

traceability. A matrix can also facilitate the communication, verification, and validation of the

requirements with the stakeholders, and ensure their alignment with the business needs and

objectives. A matrix can be updated and reviewed regularly to reflect the current state of the

requirements and the solution, and to obtain the approval and acceptance from the stakeholders. A

common example of a matrix is the Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM), which is a tool that links

the requirements to the project scope, objectives, deliverables, and test cases12. Reference: PMI

Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline3, page 18; Business

Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide4, page 92.

A traceability matrix is a document that links requirements to their sources and traces them

throughout the project life cycle. It helps to track changes in requirements, assess their impact, and

ensure that they are met by the project deliverables. A traceability matrix is a useful tool for

document control, as it records the version history of each requirement and the rationale for any

changes. A statement of work, a project plan, and a problem or opportunity statement are not

methods of document control, but rather documents that describe the project scope, objectives,

activities, and justification. Reference: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination

Content Outline, page 9 1; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide, page 121 2

User acceptance testing (UAT) is a process that should be done by the business analyst after the

software developers have delivered a completed solution and the quality assurance team has passed

it. User acceptance testing is a process of verifying that the solution meets the requirements and

expectations of the end users and delivers value to them. User acceptance testing involves preparing

test cases, scenarios, or scripts based on the acceptance criteria, executing them with representative

users or stakeholders, collecting feedback, identifying defects or issues, and obtaining sign-off or

approval for deployment. User acceptance testing can help to ensure that the solution is fit for use,

suitable for purpose, and aligned with business objectives. Evaluating the solution against the project

charter is not necessary at this stage, as it does not involve testing or validation by the end users or

stakeholders. Evaluating the solution with the sponsor(s) is not sufficient at this stage, as it does not

capture the perspective of all relevant users or stakeholders who will use or benefit from the

solution. Conducting performance testing is not relevant at this stage, as it is usually done by the

quality assurance team before delivering the solution to ensure that it meets the non-functional

requirements such as speed, reliability, scalability, etc. Reference: PMI Professional in Business

Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline1, page 14; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A

Practice Guide2, page 80.

The best course of action to take when the customer reports defects after implementation of the

product is to compare reported defects with user acceptance test results. User acceptance testing

(UAT) is a process of verifying that the solution meets the requirements and expectations of the end

users and delivers value to them. User acceptance testing involves preparing test cases, scenarios, or

scripts based on the acceptance criteria, executing them with representative users or stakeholders,

collecting feedback, identifying defects or issues, and obtaining sign-off or approval for deployment.

By comparing reported defects with user acceptance test results, the business analyst can determine

whether the defects were already detected and resolved during UAT, whether they were missed or

overlooked during UAT, or whether they emerged after UAT due to changes in the environment,

configuration, data, or usage. This can help to assess the impact and severity of the defects and

decide on the appropriate actions to address them. Escalating the issue to the project manager since

the acceptance was given by the customer is not helpful, as it does not involve investigating or

resolving the defects. Doing nothing since the solution is now the responsibility of the operations

manager is not responsible, as it does not ensure customer satisfaction or solution quality. Involving

the end users and planning a new round of acceptance tests to check the gaps is not feasible, as it

may be costly, time-consuming, and disruptive to conduct another UAT after

implementation. Reference: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content

Outline1, page 14; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide2, page 80.

Stakeholder analysis is a process of identifying and analyzing the stakeholders who have an interest

or influence on the project and its outcomes. Stakeholder analysis helps to ensure that the

requirements are elicited from all relevant sources and that the stakeholders are appropriately

engaged throughout the project. By identifying the user from a department that did not participate

in the requirements analysis as a stakeholder, the business analyst could have avoided the situation

of logging a defect during user acceptance testing and minimized the impact on the

project. Interviewing the user to understand how the user’s work would be impacted, involving the

user in the development and sign-off of the business requirements, and giving the user the

opportunity to review the user acceptance test scripts are possible actions that could be taken after

identifying the user as a stakeholder, but they are not sufficient to avoid the situation and minimize

the impact on the project. Reference: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination

Content Outline1, page 9; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide2, page 55.

A business rule is a statement that defines or constrains some aspect of the business and always

resolves to either true or false. Business rules are intended to assert business structure or to control

or influence the behavior of the business. Business rules describe the operations, definitions and

constraints that apply to an organization. Business rules can apply to people, processes, corporate

behavior and computing systems in an organization, and are put in place to help the organization

achieve its goals. By documenting a business rule, the business analyst can ensure that the business

need can be validated against the criteria that govern the business operations and

outcomes. Reference: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content

Outline1, page 19; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide2, page 97.

Documenting the source of each requirement in the requirements traceability matrix allows for easy

identification of the requestor and facilitates communication with stakeholders. Reference: PMI-

PBA® Examination Content Outline, Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide.

A use case is a technique that describes how an actor interacts with a system to achieve a goal or perform a task. A use case consists of a main scenario and possible alternative scenarios that capture the normal, exceptional, and error flows of events. A use case can also include the acceptance criteria that specify the conditions that must be met for the use case to be successfully completed and accepted by the stakeholders. The test team can review the use cases to help identify the acceptance criteria for the solution, as they provide a comprehensive and realistic view of the expected behavior and outcomes of the system. The test team can also use the use cases to design and execute test cases that verify and validate the functional requirements and acceptance criteria of the solution. Reference: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline1, page 20; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide2, page 99.