Selleo Labs spółka z o.o.

I am a React Tech Leader with a holistic approach to crafting code. Thanks to my years of experience I build clean and maintainable software solutions for our clients. I always take ownership of the application and put extra effort to improve the UX and assumptions behind the features I implement.

Arkadiusz Machalica

My role as a Business Analyst is to get the best understanding of the client's business and its surroundings. Focusing on end-users' needs and pains along with analyzing the market trends allows me to help you with mitigating any related risks.

Maciej Hubert

\[TOC\]

In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, the role of an IT business analyst has become increasingly crucial for organizations striving to stay competitive and thrive in the digital age. A skilled IT business analyst serves as a bridge between business operations and technology, translating complex requirements into innovative solutions that drive growth and efficiency. In this article, we will explore who exactly an IT business analyst is, their pivotal role within organizations, and how they can contribute to the growth and success of your company.

*After reading this article, you will learn about:*

* Who is a business analyst and what is their role in business process analysis?
* What are business analyst skills and what may your company gain?
* What are the risks when you perform a detailed business analysis?
* What are business decisions that a business analyst can make?
* Case studies of the business analysis process
* Problems regarding business performance

## Who is an IT business analyst

A business analyst is a professional who plays a vital role in organizations by serving as a liaison between business operations and technology. They possess a unique set of skills that allows them to understand both the business side and the technical aspects of a company as well as to collaborate with various stakeholders to gain insights into the organization's objectives, challenges, and processes. By analyzing this information, a business analyst responsibilities are to identify areas for improvement and propose effective solutions that align with the company's goals.

The business analyst job description highlights individuals who bring a diverse skill set that includes a deep understanding of business processes and the ability to navigate the technological landscape. They act as facilitators, ensuring effective communication between business stakeholders and technical teams. This enables them to bridge the gap between different departments, fostering collaboration and ensuring the successful implementation of IT projects. Overall, business analysts are essential in driving organizational growth and helping companies navigate the ever-changing business environment by leveraging their combined knowledge of business and technology.

### What is a business analyst role?

A business analyst takes part in creating your digital product from the very beginning to the very end.

Starting from the moment when your idea is still just an idea - it is the best time to make any changes at this point. Later on, it is just going to cost you more, so it is crucial to take a deep breath and rethink each aspect of your business idea once more.

![business analysis process does not just happen in the beginning](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/850x523/cf672a9a57/business-analysis-does-not-just-happen-in-the-beginning.jpg)

Business analysis does not just happen in the beginning - it is a continuous process of verifying whether:

* The product that we want to build has a good chance to succeed
* We are actually building the product that we agreed on

The first point is covered by all the research done in the beginning. There is no better way to build a digital product, than based on users’ feedback. Nothing can replace solid qualitative and quantitative research.

A business analyst supports the second point as well. Acting as a liaison between business assumptions and technology, they are involved in the development process. Every functionality needs to be implemented by developers, which means they need to understand it exceptionally well. It is a common struggle that there is no 100% understanding between a product owner and developers. Often that turns out too late and the job needs to be redone. And make no mistake - those discrepancies are costful ones. A business analyst supports the product owner and makes sure that developers are working on the right product by writing proper acceptance criteria for their tasks.

## How Can a Business Analyst Help Your Company Grow?

[42% of start-ups failures](https://www.embroker.com/blog/startup-statistics/) happen because of misreading market demand. This is the greater risk standing on your way to success - there are a few more and they are explained later. Therefore, understanding business needs and making sure that the value we plan to deliver will actually help someone is crucial. Once you have a product on the market, it is very important to gather feedback from your users and make sure they are taken care of and their needs are addressed. There is usually no single way to solve a problem and a business analyst helps you with the solution design and its evaluation.

They will also support you with labor statistics, market research and identifying any potential threats or opportunities, for example utilizing AI in your solutions, targeting a new market or adjusting your solutions to current domain trends. Every business is based on a number of processes, which can often be simplified or optimized.

### What risks you should consider when conducting a detailed business analysis?

![professional business analytics and risks wich you should consider ](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/850x404/538d300189/the-most-important-product-risks.jpg)

The most important product risks that you should consider are:

* value risk - whether customers will buy your product
* usability risk - whether they will figure out how to use it
* feasibility risk - whether it is possible to build it.
* business viability - whether the solutions will work considering various aspects of your business

A business analyst communicates with all the parties to help you mitigate those risks. UX designers will help build a usable product, while developers will tell you what is possible to build and what is not.

## Examples of IT Business Analysts in Action

Here you can find two examples of how a business process analyst can contribute to your digital product. Certain business analyst skills allow to enhance internal processes crucial to the business. Below are examples from a specific domain (LMS and HRM but, of course, they can be applied to any case).

### Case 1 (LMS)

![certified business analysis case 1 about LMS](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/850x404/9679a8059f/case-1.jpg)

Scenario: There is an existing LMS platform, and the founders are experiencing challenges with user engagement and course completion rates. They are concerned about the low adoption and want to improve the learning experience.

**Problem Identification**

The BA conducts interviews and discussions with key stakeholders, including the client, instructors, and learners, to understand the underlying issues. Through this process, they identify the following problems:

* Lack of personalized learning paths: The LMS does not provide customized learning paths based on learners' skills, interests, and goals.
* Ineffective course design: Some courses have low quality or outdated content, making them less engaging and relevant to learners.
* Limited learner interaction: The LMS lacks features that encourage learner collaboration, such as discussion forums or virtual classrooms.

**Requirement Gathering and Data Analysis**

The BA collaborates with the client and development team to gather requirements for improving the LMS. They conduct market research to identify best practices in the e-learning industry and collect feedback from learners and instructors. Based on their findings, they define the following requirements:

* Personalized learning paths: Develop an algorithm that recommends courses and learning resources based on learners' profiles and preferences.
* Course quality assurance: Establish a process to review and update course content regularly to ensure it remains relevant and engaging.
* Enhanced learner interaction: Integrate features like discussion forums, live chat, and virtual classrooms to promote learner collaboration and interaction.

**Solution Design and Documentation**

The Business Analyst works closely with the development team to design a solution that addresses the identified problems. They create wireframes and prototypes to visualize the proposed changes in the LMS interface. Additionally, they document detailed functional and non-functional requirements, ensuring clear communication between the business and technical teams.

**Stakeholder Communication and Alignment**

The BA facilitates meetings and workshops to present the proposed solution to the client, instructors, and other stakeholders. They gather feedback, address concerns, and align expectations to ensure everyone is on the same page. This iterative process helps refine the solution and ensures that it meets the needs of all parties involved.

**Solution Implementation and Testing**

The Business Analyst, with their technical skills, plays a key role in collaborating with the development team during the implementation phase, providing clarifications and addressing any emerging requirements. They work closely with quality assurance teams to define test cases and verify that the implemented solution meets the desired goals. They also assist in user acceptance testing to ensure the changes align with the expectations of the client and learners.

**Results and Optimization**

Once the improved LMS is deployed, the BA tracks key performance indicators, such as user engagement, course completion rates, and learner feedback. They analyze the data to measure the impact of the implemented changes and identify any areas that require further optimization. This iterative process ensures continuous improvement and maximizes the effectiveness of the LMS.

### Case 2 (HRM)

![Case 2 about business analysis HRM](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/850x404/b828e0d4e0/case-2.jpg)

Scenario: In this example, we will focus on another digital product - a multi-sided job search website, that connects acoustic engineers specializing in designing concert halls and recording studios with clients who require their services. However, they are facing the challenge of low user adoption and insufficient traffic on the website.

**Problem Identification**

The investors identify the following problems related to low user adoption and website traffic:

* Limited awareness: The target audience, comprising both acoustic engineers and clients seeking their services, is unaware of the existence and benefits of the job search website.
* Insufficient marketing and promotion: The website has not been adequately promoted or marketed to reach the intended audience, resulting in low user engagement.
* Ineffective user experience: The website may have usability issues or lack features that make it compelling and user-friendly, hindering user adoption and retention.

**Requirement Gathering and Analysis**

The IT business analyst collaborates with the investors and conducts further analysis to gather requirements for increasing user adoption and improving website traffic. They identify the following requirements:

* Marketing and promotion strategy: Develop a comprehensive marketing plan to create awareness and reach the target audience, utilizing digital marketing channels, social media campaigns, partnerships with relevant industry associations, and targeted advertising.
* User experience improvements: Identify and address usability issues, enhance the website's design, streamline the registration and profile creation process for both acoustic engineers and clients, and provide a visually appealing and intuitive interface.
* Content strategy: Develop and curate high-quality and relevant content, such as blog articles, case studies, and success stories, to attract and engage the target audience, demonstrating the value and benefits of using the platform.

**Solution Design and Documentation**

Business process analysts work is to closely collaborate with investors, marketing experts and UX designers to design a solution that addresses the low user adoption and website traffic challenges. They create a marketing strategy outline, wireframes/mockups for website improvements, and documentation highlighting the content strategy and recommendations for user experience enhancements.

**Results and Optimization**

Once the marketing initiatives are deployed and website UX improvements are implemented, the business analyst monitors key performance indicators such as website traffic, user registrations, job postings, and user feedback. They analyze the data to measure the impact of the changes and identify areas that require further optimization. The business analyst collaborates with the marketing team and development team to continuously refine the marketing strategy, website features, and content to increase user adoption and engagement.

## Summary

A business analyst plays a crucial role in the creation of a digital product, interacting with stakeholders throughout the entire process. Their extensive knowledge of the business idea and its surrounding environment makes them suitable for various tasks. Their most important responsibility is to mitigate avoidable risks. By involving a business analyst early on in the process, the organization can minimize the costs associated with potential mistakes and challenges. This highlights the significance of their role in ensuring the success of the digital product development journey.

A business analyst plays a crucial role in growing and scaling your business. Learn more about it.

What Is A Business Analyst And How They Can Help Your Company Or Startup Grow

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In this article, I would like to present the problem I have encountered along my programming way, its solution and the refactoring results. 

Have you ever had an experience like this? Quite often there are situations when part of the **application appears multiple times, most of the usages are the same but they require different logic here and there.** Sounds familiar? I have also faced a similar problem and decided to take a closer look at it. 
The photo shows exemplary usages of **Metric Forms** with different levels of complexity.

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/a.storyblok.com/f/86602/960x540/5a08f3a728/problem.png)

As you can see some of them are pretty easy and some are more complex.
In my case, such forms appeared about **20 times** in the app and most of them were more or less unique. They were handled by one poorly configurable component and a dozen of “one-off” components. 
While working on such form one has to dig through custom or spaghetti code and the changes which don’t apply to other forms. This often leads to inconsistencies in design and lots of bugs.
But the most important issue was, that with every new feature, number of Metric Forms in different shapes and forms grew. The problem was getting worse and worse. 

## You won’t hit the target unless you aim for it

So I got down to work and extracted **3 main requirements** that new solution should fulfil. It should be done because refactoring of code used so many times should be done with caution. 
Firstly, the new solution must be **configurable** - should allow the developer to build the form structure he needs at the moment. 
Secondly, it must be **modular** - should allow functionalities to be easily extended and added in the future.
Thirdly, it must be **feature-rich** - should contain shared logic so it does not need to be duplicated every time. This one can be dangerous because more and more logic increases complexity in a highly reusable component which can get out of hand. 

With Lead Developer Tomasz Bąk, who is my workmate, we came up with a solution to extract Metric Form fields to separate Field Modules so we could build forms out of them similar to LEGO’s. 

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/a.storyblok.com/f/86602/960x540/7653e86ce9/journey-trophy1.png)

The photo shows the Field Modules in the first part of the process. 

What is very good about it, the selection of fields and their order takes place by **passing an array of objects**. Every field contains only its **own logic**. We are not restricted to extract fields, but can also extract groups of fields. Adding new field across the app is just the matter of creating its component and defining in the configuration that it should be used in the given place. Metric Form itself handles lots of stuff which is not assigned to a specific field like saving, reordering or building the form from the blocks. 

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/a.storyblok.com/f/86602/960x540/5f73efcb7b/journey-trophy2.png)

The photo shows the Metric Form list - the second part of the solution.

## Pros and cons of my solution

Like everything, the implemented solution has got its advantages and disadvantages. Let me focus on pros first.\
**Configurability** which can be described as building any form one wants by just providing configuration object. 
**Separation of responsibilities** which means that every field component contains only its own logic. 
**Shared logic done once**. Forget about repetitions. Changes will be available everywhere. Saving, reordering or validation is done automatically which can save a lot of time. 
**Modularity** should be mentioned here. A new field can be added without problems whenever it is required. 
**A decrease in the codebase**. In my case, it was something like **5000 lines of code less**. Not to mention, countless bugs prevented along the way. 

However, there are of course some negative aspects as well.
**Quite long and time** - consuming process. As for me, planning the whole process, implementation and replacing usages took about 3 weeks. Taking into consideration the effort one has to make, it should be clearly stated that it is not an easy task. 
**Complex field interactions** which sometimes can interfere and cause infinite loops or another unexpected behaviour. 
**Require caution when extended**. One has to remember that any change working in one place might break others. It is because of the fact that it is used in many places.
**Does not cover all use cases**. Abstracting out logic increases complexity and handling edge cases will add a lot of it for minimal gain.
**Harder to test and check by Q&A**. Metric Form List being abstracted out and used in many places require QA to check all of them. 

## Summary

A feature which appears many times in the app and needs different logic tends to be problematic. The solution to divide **Metric Form fields into separate Field Modules** and wrapping them into one **Metric Form list** not only does it significantly speed the development but also makes the code shorter.

If you need help with your Front-End development, check out our [experienced team](https://selleo.com/front-end-developers)!

PS. Here's a link to the presentation on YouTube :)
<YouTube id="bxx32fQb3IU" />

Quite often there are situations when part of the application appears multiple times, most of the usages are the same but they require different logic here and there. In this article, I would like to present the problem I have encountered along my programming way, its solution and the refactoring results. 

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What Is A Business Analyst And How They Can Help Your Company Or Startup Grow

Case Study Of Metric Form List Refactoring

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Make better products with us.