Business Analyst

A business analyst's main job function is to become familiar with an organization's processes and procedures (their business) and identify opportunities for improvement. In organizations that build technical products to support or replace business processes, such as software, business analysts gather requirements for the product.

In product develpoment environments (such as software development), the business analyst also:

• Writes requirements documents, user stories, or use case
• Helps identify the priority of product features
• Works with product designers to make sure the designed product will meet the business needs

Importance for the Technical Communicator

Business analysts are important resources for technical communicators. While writing documentation and training materials, the TC can interview the business analyst to understand the situations and environments in which users work. Business analysts can be effective reviewers of the materials to make sure processes are described accurately and examples are realistic.

Helpful References

Article Information:
Created by Ben Minson, 4/2011. Any other ways the BA is important to the TC? Any helpful references?