Andersen, an international IT company, invites an experienced Product Owner/Business Analyst to work for a large-scale e-commerce project. The customer is a leading international tobacco manufacturer headquartered in Switzerland.

📍You have:
▪️Experience as a Product Owner/Business Analyst for 5+ years;
▪️Proven experience in developing e-commerce platforms (e.g., Magento, Shopify);
▪️Hands on with Agile methodology;
▪️Strong leadership, coordination, negotiation, and presentation skills;
▪️English: B2+.

📌Nice to have:
International certificates (e.g. PSPO/PSM/PSU/PAL/SPS/ICP/IQBBA/IREB)

📍Reasons to join us:
▪️Salaries at Andersen are pegged to the EUR, and our employees are provided with a benefit package and an extensive set of bonuses;
▪️We give our employees an opportunity to attend and participate in the company’s BA meetups, as well as offer a compensation program for international professional certificates;

📎You can find out more about the vacancy here: https://people.andersenlab.com/ru/vacancy/business-analyst-and-product-owner/1679


✏️Feel free to contact:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-vinnikova/
Telegram: @Katerina_Vinnikova
Email: mailto:k.vinnikava@andersenlab.com

Andersen, an international IT company, invites an experienced System Analyst to work for a large-scale project of our partners from the Netherlands.

📌You have:
▪️Experience as a Business/Systems Analyst for 3+ years;
▪️Excellent functional and technical skills in software development (Driven Design, UML Diagrams, Design Pattern);
▪️Strong knowledge of DevOps methodology and good knowledge of an Agile Project Management Tool (Azure DevOps, JIRA);
▪️Knowledge in AI/ML or possibility to learn new information in that field right away.
▪️English: B2+.

📌Nice to have:
International certificates (e.g. PSPO/PSM/PSU/PAL/SPS/ICP/IQBBA/IREB)

📌Reasons to join us:
▪️Salaries at Andersen are pegged to the EUR, and our employees are provided with a benefit package and an extensive set of bonuses;
▪️We give our employees an opportunity to attend and participate in the company’s BA meetups, as well as offer a compensation program for international professional certificates;

🖇You can find out more about the vacancy here: https://people.andersenlab.com/ru/vacancy/system-analyst/1676

✏️Feel free to contact:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-vinnikova/
Telegram: @Katerina_Vinnikova
Email: k.vinnikava@andersenlab.com

Hi professionals!😎
Long time no see, and great to publish a new post.
Here are a nice article "42 Reasons To Start a Business Analyst Career".
🌟Could you share you own experience in the comments below why do you choose this profession?
🌟Was it an easy decision?
🌟How long did it take you to reach this noscript?
https://www.bridging-the-gap.com/42-reasons-to-consider-starting-a-business-analyst-career/

Hi professionals!⭐️
How about to read article about ER-model: what it is and how to create it?
☝️Modeling, as a cognitive activity of the highest level, is considered to be the very tool that through simplification of all the relevant project elements makes stakeholders not only aware but also calm about the design of the product, as well as about the processes the project involves and the course of the project realization.

Among many different models that can help all the subjects agree about the product/project, an ER-model is the one that conceptualizes relations between the elements in a system. In simple BA language, an Entity-relationship model describes entities and the relationships between them using graphical notation. In what follows we are going to look up closer at what ER-models comprise and what is the most problematic issue while creating them.

🌟Once the purpose of ER-model is to describe the structure of a database in software engineering and business information systems so as to simplify the database design process, it is clear that one of the major problems with developing an ER-model arises when choosing a notation system. There are several notations and no single standard, which means that every BA is free to use any to their liking, with other stakeholders having a chance to not understand it. With this in mind, I recommend turning to Crow's Foot Notation which is one of the most commonly used notations when creating/designing ER diagrams (ERDs).

The major parts of ERDs are:
🔸Entities - a person, place or thing about which we want to collect and store multiple instances of data - is represented by a rectangle with a noun as the name of the entity (e.g. ‘Patient’, ‘Hospital’, ‘Doctor’).;
🔸Relationship - that connects the two entities involved in some relationship - is represented by a line;
🔸Attributes - the information about an entity which distinguishes the data we intend to store (e.g. doctorid, doctorname) and about the type of the data (e.g. string, integer, etc.) - are written inside an entity (inside a rectangle).

To describe different types of relationships that can take place in an ERD the notion of cardinality is of use. Cardinality is treated as the number of times an instance in one entity can relate to instances of another entity. Cardinality is depicted by the styling of a line that connects instances and its endpoint. The major types of cardinal relationships are:
🔸one to one - relationship means that one entity has only one event shared with another entity (for e.g. An appointment can have one and only one receipt);
🔸one to many - one of the related entities has an event that occurs one time, while the other entity can have more than one repetition of the event (for e.g. A hospital can have one or many doctors, while the doctor can have one and only one hospital);
🔸many to many - both entities have the same event or relationship happening more than once (for e.g. Many patients can have many appointments.).

Here is brief tutorial for ERD creation (in Crow's Foot Notation) with the help of such simple tools as Draw.io and Lucidchart:
👉Identify the key entities with particular names and label rectangles with these names. Don’t forget that they should be represented as nouns.
👉Think about the attributes of each entity and its data type.
👉Place attributes and their data type inside the rectangles with relevant entities.
👉Think about all relationships between the entities.
👉Choose and set an appropriate type of relationships between entities using lines.
Some of your entities may have only one relationship, some may have multiple relationships. That is okay.

What if ChatGPT were a cat?🤔
https://catgpt.wvd.io/

Hi professionals!
How about to discuss topic "User Stories vs Use Cases"?

📝 User Story is a short statement describing some functionality to be implemented from the perspective of a user.
US typically includes:
🔸Story Title written in the format: As a <role> I can <capability>, so that <receive benefit>;
🔸Acceptance Criteria;
🔸Attachments (links to mock-ups, diagrams, check-lists, content, etc).

👍🏻 US’s Pros:
✔️User-centered (e.g.enables developers to determine the way of implementation)
✔️Simple format, which makes it easy for a business owners to understand and (dis)aproove
✔️Quick to change (e.g. changes often affect certain criteria rather than the whole US)

👎🏻 US’s Cons:
➖Unclearly defined criteria make testing difficult
➖Difficult to check the comprehensiveness of the criteria
➖Narrow vision (as US focuses on one single requirement)

📝 Use Case describe how a user should interact with the system in order to achieve a specific goal.
UC typically include:
🔸Titles;
🔸Actors;
🔸Preconditions;
🔸Main scenario;
🔸Alternative scenario;
🔸Exceptional scenario;
🔸Expected result.

👍🏻 UC’s Pros:
✔️Behavior-centred (e.g. describes interaction between a user and a system)
✔️Focus on the functionality (e.g. describes different scenarios and, what is more important, system’s behavior)
✔️Form the basis for writing test cases

👎🏻 UC’s Cons:
➖Changes take much time, as all the scenarios must be refactored
➖Non-functional requirements are not expected to be included

❓What do you prefer US or UC?

How is yours productivity today?🤓
#BAmeme

Hi professionals!
What do you think about "Risk identification techniques"?
Risk identification in business analysis is one of the steps of risk analysis and management. If you don’t identify a risk, you can’t manage it.
According to the BABOK the failure to identify risks may negatively affect the value of the solution. Risk identification consists in identifying potential risks and analyzing them to learn about their effects on the business.

☝️As part of the risk identification process in business analysis you may look at the following sources:

🔸Brainstorming is the gathering of team members to speculate on ideas, discuss problems with people who work on the project. Team members may have a better understanding from the ground level and can share their own perspectives of the project's risks.
Advantages: Brainstorming is an effective method because it allows everyone to speak and practice their critical thinking skills. The output of a brainstorm is a list of risks, each described by a phrase or sentence indicative of the risk source.
Limitations: the facilitator has to maintain control, involve all teammaters, even extroverts.

🔸Interviews are used when it is not practicable to commit a team to a single meeting. Moreover interviewing stakeholders may help you better understand what they believe are the biggest risks. Also their viewpoint can help learn what concerns investors and how to address it.
Advantages: some people are more comfortable with expressing themselves
openly in a one-to-one situation.
Limitations: the process consumes more of the facilitator’s time and that opportunities afforded by the cross-fertilisation of ideas are more limited.

🔸NGT, or nominal group technique is the variation of brainstorming. Participants write their own ideas without discussing it directly with other group members. Then, the team discusses each item to ensure everyone understands them, and a facilitator can work to prioritize each one.
Advantages: provides a more comprehensive approach than brainstorming.
Limitations: depends on honesty and teamwork.

🔸Delphi Technique is a method of group decision-making and forecasting that involves successively collating the judgments of experts. A group of experts exchange views, and each independently gives estimates and assumptions to a facilitator who reviews the data and issues a summary report.
Advantages: it can be carried out remotely and/or anonymously – for example, by e-mail. The output is the work breakdown structures, opportunities identified, and compiled report of lessons learned.
Limitations: time-consuming. Predicting the future is not an exact science.

🔸Technology readiness levels (TRLs) are an approach to the assessment of technological maturity developed by NASA and adopted by other industries working in conditions of rapid technological change. The TRL are determined and characterized for each system and subsystem. If the system components are relatively low TRL and the maturation plan is uncertain, it points to technology risks.
Advantages: helps enhance risk management from the early stages of product development, helps aid decision making on research and development actions and innovation actions.
Limitations: the technology evolution is technology-centric and not user-centric.

🔸Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis is useful for considering how the strengths and opportunities can be used to reduce weaknesses and threats.
Advantages: combination of quantitative and qualitative information, no need for training or technical skills to complete this process, an expensive piece of software or consultant to come
Limitations: subjective analysis of an issue.

In conclusion it would say there is no one scientific method that will guarantee you will identify all risks. As a project progresses, risks evolve and new risks emerge. Risk identification should be a continuous process, and, if this is not recognised, the output from risks identified previously can dominate further the risk register at the expense of new risks.

Hi professionals!
How about discussing Sequence diagrams?
In this article we will look closer at Sequence diagrams: what are they, when are they used, and how to read them.

🔍 What is Sequence diagram
Sequence diagram illustrates how objects interact within a process or a use case to get something done. It is used to show the order of actions that are taken between elements.

🔍 When are Sequence diagrams useful
Sequence diagrams can help to visualize any scenario, use case or a process. They could be attached to a Use Case or a Use Story, thus complex processes could be described in a single diagram and development team won't have to read a five-page Use Case.

🔍 How to read Sequence diagram
Here are the main rules of any Sequence diagram:
🔸 The sequence is represented from top down
🔸 Each object or actor is placed on a separate lifeline - a vertical dotted line - going across the top of the sequence diagram
🔸 A message from one instance to another is represented with a solid line (for an initial message or outgoing call), and dotted line (for a return value)
🔸 When a system has to perform a process that takes some time to complete, use a vertical box on the lifeline (an activation box). The box ‘starts’ when it first receives a message, and ‘ends’ when all messages have been sent/received and the process has been completed.
🔸 Frames can be used to show alternate sequences - ones that only execute if a certain condition is true. They can also be used for parallel sequences.
🔸 Additional information could be posted in a Comment shape labeled to a message.

Understanding the principles and key elements of the notation, you can further on build it yourself.

Hi professionals!
What do you think about Kano model?
The Kano model is a framework used for product features prioritization that is based on customer emotional reaction towards the features. The customer emotional reaction might range from utter satisfaction to total disappointment.
According to the Kano model, customer reaction to the features allows us to group them into 5 categories:
🔸Basic - the features the product can’t perform its core functions without. The customer expects to have them and takes them for granted.
E.x.: send text message feature in a messenger.
🔸Excitement - the features that make your product stand out, its killer features. The customer is excited to have them.
E.x.: convert audio messages into text feature in a messenger.
🔸Performance - the features that increase customer satisfaction. The customer is happy to have them.
E.x.: an increase in a single voicemail duration in a messenger.
🔸 Indifference - the features that don’t evoke any customer emotion. The customer doesn’t care about these features.
E.x.: displaying application logo decorated with holiday attributes on holidays in a messenger;
🔸Dissatisfaction - the features that upsets the customer .The customer doesn’t want to have these features in the application.
E.x.: a message history is cleared once the user closes a messenger app.

⭐️How to use the Kano model?
📎make a list of features that need prioritization;
📎create a questionnaire for customers which will include a list of features and customer potential emotional reaction options that should correspond to 5 feature categories mentioned above;
📎send out a questionnaire to the target audience;
📎collect the questionnaire results;
📎tally for each feature which customer reaction option(feature category) has the biggest number of points;
📎match the reaction options with Kano feature categories;
📎prioritize the features based on the results:
➖include all Basic features into the scope
➖add as many Performance features as you can
➖add a few Excitement features;
➖remove the Indifference and Dissatisfaction features from the scope.

How to effectively communicate with customers in writing?

It’s no secret that communication with customers is one of the biggest and valuable parts of a job BAs do. Unfortunately, being involved in many (not to say all) aspects of their business, customers can often dedicate little time to the live communication with the team, still the development is expected to be performed smoothly and this is where writing effective emails comes in place. A good email is a way to:
🔸establish trustworthy relationships,
🔸keep everyone posted,
🔸show your involvement and care,
🔸propose a solution,
🔸highlight a problem,
🔸remind of an agreement and much more.

If you have faced some of the following problems while trying to resolve working issues via emails, you might want to learn some tips to make your emails what they are meant to be:

🔺Your email is simply ignored
It might happen either because your email is lost among hundreds of others, or because the addressee didn’t get the message.
👉How to resolve:
Remember, writing communication is all about saving customer’s time and effort. Show them you care and do your best to keep your email precise and concise:
📎Use a short and clear subject
📎Clearly state what the addressee is required to do, e.g. attend a meeting, provide information, grant access, etc. If no action is required and the email is sent just to keep them informed - clearly state that too.

🔺You list several issues and the customer replies to only part of them
As it has been said before, lack of time doesn’t leave any chance for your customer to go deep into the details of your letter, even less to switch between the issues.
👉How to resolve:
Use one email (thread) for only one topic which is introduced in the Subject. For a different issue, start another thread.

🔺The customer replies as if they haven’t got the idea
There’s always a risk of misunderstanding, even more if you communicate in writing. Digressing a little is ok if it doesn’t get you far from the important issues that need to be discussed. Still, a well-organized structured information is half of the work done.
👉How to resolve:
📎First things first. Show the very purpose of your email in the beginning and then provide more details/arguments if needed.
📎Use short and simple words/phrases. Divide your text into logical parts and separate them with blank spaces.
📎Explain what’s there in the attachment (if any) and why it’s worth opening if this is not exactly what the addressee is waiting for from you.
📎Use numbered lists instead of bullets as this allows both parties to refer to a specific part of the text with just a number instead of quoting the whole point and propagating a mess.

Tomorrow we will continue discussing this topic⭐️

🔺No progress in actions
Sometimes you may think you have got out your message as clear as possible and the ball is on their side, but no actions are made and after a while your customer gets annoyed and blames you for the lack of progress.
👉How to resolve:
📎Never impersonalize actions described. Instead of “The decision needs to be made” say who exactly has to make the decision. Name the responsible and/or accountable people.
📎Spot for your customer and send them a kind reminder after a while.
📎Mind your tone. Avoid blaming someone and don’t push. Suggest any help they may need instead.

🔺Your agreements and plans are violated due to misunderstanding
Working in distributed teams with foreign customers scales up the risk of miscommunication, especially when talking about schedules.
👉How to resolve:
📎Make sure you’re on the same page when talking about time and dates. Specify time zones where needed.
📎Sometimes writing the dates in format 02/03 is confusing (is it February, 3 or March, 2?), so spell the month in full.
📎Visualize. If you just say ‘We’ll work on this scope from December 1st till January 31st’ it may not be obvious that it would take 2 months. Insert a screenshot of a calendar, timeline, etc.

Writing effective emails is a powerful tool that cannot replace live communication, though. Use it when appropriate, back up your words with letters, capture important things, show your involvement, be transparent and save your customer’s time.
Good luck!⭐️

​​Business Analyst and System Analyst community!
👥
We invite you to a classic meetup at Andersen’s office in Krakow!
🤝
This is a great opportunity to meet, exchange experiences, and communicate with each other.
🎤
The speaker is Anna Yakush – Middle Business Analyst at Andersen.
🔍
The topic of her speech: How AI Can Be Useful for BAs and PMs in the IT Industry.
📊
Anna will talk about common terms, give some examples, and share other details related to using ChatGPT in your daily work.
💬
Do not miss this unique opportunity to learn new things, meet your counterparts, and spend time in a friendly atmosphere.
🗓
Date: 30 March
⏰
Time: 18:00 (CET)
📍
Place: Andersen Office Krakow
💡
Registration: https://forms.gle/1jN2sAxxSLwoXXsD9