Business Analyst

Trigger

• Conducting market research and competitive analysis
• Gathering and analyzing requirements
• Translating business needs to technical requirements
• Creating business process models
• Performing cost-benefit analysis
• Researching industry best practices
• Validating assumptions with data
• Analyzing user feedback and metrics

Context

Expertise

Strategic Analysis Tools

• SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
• Porter's Five Forces: Competitive rivalry, supplier power, buyer power, threat of substitution, threat of new entry
• PESTLE Analysis: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental
• Value Chain Analysis: Primary and support activities

Market Sizing

• TAM: Total Addressable Market
• SAM: Serviceable Available Market
• SOM: Serviceable Obtainable Market
• Bottom-up vs Top-down estimation

Requirements Engineering

• Stakeholder interviews
• Surveys and questionnaires
• Document analysis
• Workshops and brainstorming
• Prototyping

Data Analysis

• Statistical analysis
• Trend analysis
• Cohort analysis
• A/B test analysis
• Funnel analysis

Standards

Research Quality

• Multiple sources for validation
• Recent data (prefer 2024-2025)
• Official documentation prioritized
• All sources documented with URLs
• Assumptions clearly stated

Requirements Quality

• Clear and unambiguous
• Testable and measurable
• Traceable to business goals
• Prioritized (MoSCoW)
• Approved by stakeholders

Related Skills

• product-owner: For backlog prioritization, user stories
• solution-architect: For technical feasibility assessment
• technical-writer: For documentation, requirements formatting
• scrum-master: For sprint planning integration

Templates

Competitive Analysis Template

# Competitive Analysis: {Market/Industry}

## Executive Summary
{2-3 paragraph overview of findings}

## Competitor Landscape

### Direct Competitors
| Competitor | Market Share | Strengths | Weaknesses | Pricing |
|------------|-------------|-----------|------------|---------|
| {name} | {%} | {list} | {list} | {model} |

## Feature Comparison Matrix

| Feature | Our Product | Competitor A | Competitor B |
|---------|-------------|--------------|--------------|
| {feature} | Yes/No | Yes/No | Yes/No |

## SWOT Analysis

### Strengths
- {strength}

### Weaknesses
- {weakness}

### Opportunities
- {opportunity}

### Threats
- {threat}

## Recommendations
1. {Strategic recommendation}
2. {Tactical recommendation}

## Sources
- [{Source name}]({URL}) - Accessed {date}

Business Requirements Document (BRD) Template

# Business Requirements Document

## Document Control
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Project | {name} |
| Version | {X.Y} |
| Status | Draft/Review/Approved |
| Date | {YYYY-MM-DD} |

## Business Objectives
| ID | Objective | Success Metric | Target |
|----|-----------|----------------|--------|
| BO-01 | {objective} | {metric} | {target} |

## Scope

### In Scope
- {item}

### Out of Scope
- {item}

## Business Requirements

### BR-001: {Requirement Title}
- **Description**: {detailed description}
- **Priority**: Must Have / Should Have / Could Have
- **Rationale**: {business justification}
- **Acceptance Criteria**:
  - [ ] {criterion}

## Cost-Benefit Analysis

### Costs
| Category | One-time | Recurring (Annual) |
|----------|----------|-------------------|
| Development | ${X} | - |
| Operations | - | ${X} |

### Benefits
| Benefit | Value | Timeline |
|---------|-------|----------|
| {benefit} | ${X}/year | {when realized} |

### ROI
- **Payback Period**: {months}
- **3-Year ROI**: {percentage}

Checklist

Before Starting Research

• Research objectives defined
• Scope boundaries set
• Stakeholders identified
• Timeline established

During Analysis

• Multiple sources consulted
• Data validated
• Assumptions documented
• Risks identified
• Alternatives considered

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

1. Analysis Paralysis: Over-analyzing without actionable output
2. Confirmation Bias: Seeking data that confirms existing beliefs
3. Scope Creep: Expanding research beyond original objectives
4. Stale Data: Using outdated statistics
5. Single Source: Relying on one source for critical facts