Documentation

Why Documentation Matters for Business Analysts

Strong documentation turns ideas into deliverable, testable, and maintainable solutions. As a Business Analyst, your docs align stakeholders, reduce rework, accelerate development, and enable QA and support. You’ll capture decisions, scope, workflows, edge cases, and acceptance criteria so teams can move with clarity and confidence.

• Unlocks: predictable delivery, smoother handoffs, and auditable change history.
• Direct impact: fewer misunderstandings, faster onboarding, higher product quality.
• Scales with you: good structures and templates let you do more in less time.

Who this is for

• New or aspiring Business Analysts who want to create clear, actionable documentation.
• Analysts and Product folks who need better specs, traceability, and change control.
• Engineers/QA transitioning into hybrid BA roles.

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of the product or domain you work in.
• Familiarity with user stories or simple requirements (must/should/could).
• Comfort writing concise, objective text.

Learning Path (Practical Roadmap)

1. Set up your foundations
   • Pick a simple, consistent document structure (overview, scope, user stories, acceptance criteria, flows, risks, decisions).
   • Create a glossary and start a decision log for your project.
2. Write clear specifications
   • Practice user stories with unambiguous acceptance criteria (e.g., Gherkin).
   • Add non-functional requirements (performance, security) when relevant.
3. Trace requirements end-to-end
   • Build a lightweight traceability map (Requirement → Ticket → Test → Status).
   • Link changes to decisions and to versioned documents.
4. Control changes
   • Version your docs, keep a change log, and summarize impacts on scope and timelines.
5. Handoff like a pro
   • Prepare dev/QA handoff packages with just-enough detail and clear ownership.
   • Keep docs updated as reality changes (ship what’s true, not what was planned).

Worked Examples

1) Clear user story with acceptance criteria (Gherkin)

Story: Save payment method
As a registered customer
I want to save a credit card to my profile
So that I can checkout faster

Acceptance Criteria
Scenario: Save a valid card
  Given I am logged in
  And I am on My Payment Methods
  When I add a Visa card with valid details
  Then the card is tokenized and stored
  And I see the masked last 4 digits

Scenario: Decline invalid card
  Given I am on My Payment Methods
  When I add a card with an invalid number
  Then I see an error "Invalid card number"
  And the card is not saved

Non-functional: Tokenization must complete in < 800ms p95.
Security: No PAN or CVV persisted in our systems.

2) Lightweight requirements traceability

RTM (Requirement Traceability Map)
R-101: Save card → Tickets: FE-45, BE-72 → Tests: T-201, T-202 → Status: In QA
R-102: Delete card → Tickets: FE-46 → Tests: T-203 → Status: In Dev
R-103: Default card → Tickets: FE-47, BE-74 → Tests: T-204 → Status: Backlog

Tip: Keep this list short, update after each refinement or sprint review.

3) Change log and decision log entries

Change Log
2025-02-10 • Added "Default card" scope to MVP • Due to merchant demand • Impact: +2 pts • Owner: BA • Version: v0.3

Decision Log
D-12 • Tokenize via PSP-X instead of self-hosted vault
Options: PSP-X, PSP-Y, Self-hosted
Rationale: Lower PCI scope, fastest integration
Date: 2025-02-05 • Owners: BA, Security, Eng Lead

4) Version control for docs

Branch names: docs/save-card-spec-v0.3
Commit examples:
- docs: add error states for invalid card (R-101)
- docs: clarify tokenization p95 target to 800ms
- docs: update glossary with "tokenization" entry

5) Meeting notes that drive action

Meeting: Checkout Discovery • 30 min
Goals: Confirm flows, identify non-functional needs
Decisions: Use single default card; No guest save
Actions: [Alice] map error codes (E-1) by Fri; [Dev] estimate BE-72 by Thu
Risks: PSP-X sandbox unstable; plan fallback
Parking lot: 3DS2 edge cases for next session

6) Glossary snippet

Glossary
Tokenization: Replacing sensitive data with a non-sensitive token
PAN: Primary Account Number (never stored)
Default Card: Payment method automatically selected at checkout

Drills and Micro-Exercises

• Rewrite a vague requirement into a user story with 2–3 acceptance criteria.
• Create a one-line RTM for three requirements you own.
• Add two entries to your change log and one to your decision log for your current work.
• Draft a handoff checklist for your next dev/QA review.
• Take yesterday’s meeting notes and extract decisions and actions with owners.
• Define five domain terms in a glossary; replace them in your spec where used.

Common Mistakes and How to Debug Them

• Vague language: Words like “quickly” or “robust” aren’t testable. Replace with measurable thresholds.
• Missing edge cases: List error states and unhappy flows; confirm with QA.
• Version chaos: Use a version label at the top of your docs and commit messages referencing changes.
• Docs drift: Update docs after each decision or scope change; schedule a weekly 10-minute doc sync.
• Audience mismatch: Executive summaries for leaders, detailed acceptance criteria and flows for delivery teams.
• No owner: Every doc needs an owner and last-updated date. Make this visible at the top.

Mini Project: Document a Small Feature End-to-End

Goal: Deliver a concise, implementation-ready spec set for a small feature (e.g., “Set default payment method”). Timebox: 2–4 hours.

1. Kickoff (15 min)
   • Write Goals, Scope, and Out of scope.
   • Start a glossary and decision log entries (even if empty).
2. Scenarios and acceptance criteria (60–90 min)
   • Write 2–4 user stories with Gherkin-style criteria.
   • Add unhappy paths and validation errors.
3. Traceability and handoff (30–45 min)
   • Create an RTM mapping requirements to tickets and tests.
   • Prepare a handoff checklist for Dev/QA.
4. Change/Version (10–15 min)
   • Assign version v0.1, log at least one hypothetical change and decision.

Subskills

• Writing Clear Specifications — Turn stakeholder goals into precise, testable requirements.
• Maintaining Requirement Traceability — Map each requirement to tickets and tests.
• Document Structure And Templates — Use consistent, repeatable formats for speed and clarity.
• Version Control Practices — Track changes, compare versions, and recover confidently.
• Change Log And Decision Log — Record what changed, why, and who decided.
• Meeting Notes That Drive Action — Capture outcomes, owners, and deadlines.
• Glossary And Definitions — Standardize language to avoid ambiguity.
• Diagram Documentation Standards — Describe flows and states consistently (even text-first).
• Keeping Docs Up To Date — Make “docs as truth” part of the workflow.
• Writing For Different Audiences — Adjust depth and framing by reader needs.
• Linking Requirements To Tickets — Keep delivery aligned with intent.
• Handoff Documentation For Dev And QA — Provide just-enough detail for implementation and testing.

Next Steps

• Apply the mini project to a live or simulated feature this week.
• Adopt one template set and stick to it across your current work.
• Schedule a weekly 10-minute doc review to keep specs accurate.