[{"content":"In my free time I like to mess around with computers. I have taught myself programming and I have a bit of a homelab. I also host this site myself. Currently my programming goals are to learn more about systems programming and learn more about how operating systems and databases work.\nI have worked as a technical Business Analyst for a small consultancy working on ERP systems since 2019, which is very different from the Chemistry education I have. My hobby of programing has been very beneficial in my work as it has given me the knowledge of thinking through logic, APIs, most of the programming jargon. I can have discussions with developers using their language so that I can develop a deep understanding of how a project works which makes it fairly easy to communicate the details to business users and answer their questions about how something works.\nAll of the photos on the site are ones I have taken on my adventures.\nAnything posted to this site is my own option and not in any way associated with my employer.\nFeel free to reach out and discuss anything on the site on Mastodon or LinkedIn.\n","permalink":"https://cobaltcorner.com/about/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIn my free time I like to mess around with computers. I have taught myself programming and I have a bit of a homelab. I also host this site myself. Currently my programming goals are to learn more about systems programming and learn more about how operating systems and databases work.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI have worked as a technical Business Analyst for a small consultancy working on ERP systems since 2019, which is very different from the Chemistry education I have. My hobby of programing has been very beneficial in my work as it has given me the knowledge of thinking through logic, APIs, most of the programming jargon. I can have discussions with developers using their language so that I can develop a deep understanding of how a project works which makes it fairly easy to communicate the details to business users and answer their questions about how something works.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"About Me"},{"content":" This is an entry in my series of post about techniques that are useful to Business Analysts. I am using the IIBA’s BABOK V3 (2015) as my source for what a user story it. It is worth keeping in mind that I come at this a as a IT Business Analyst from a consultancy that works on ERP systems\nA user story is one or two sentences that captures what is needed out of a solution. They take a the view of what a user would be trying accomplish when they use the functionality.Users stories are used to define what features should be included in a solution. They are not intended to be complete requirements which makes them more useful when trying to scope a project rather then an explicit list of what needs to be built. User stories are suppose to be short and focused on a single activity. Having them focused is very useful as it allows them to be used as a checklist to confirm that the solution meets the needs of the users. I have found this useful as if they are too broad then there are times where they can be half met which makes it difficult to communicate progress to stakeholders. User stories are not something that works for every project. When the project is strictly integrating data between two systems there are no real “users” of what is being developed making user stories not useful. They are useful any time a business process or product is user facing.\nCreating a User Story One common way that user stories are defined is \u0026ldquo;As a who, I need to what, so that why.\u0026rdquo; (BABOK, 20215). This is a great way to ensure that all of the parts of a user story are capture that is short, but sticking rigidly to this structure leads to any discussion about a new feature being a little stilted and can cause people to disengage. One of the best ways that I have found to run a meeting where you are trying to get user stories is to have it be more of a discussion rather than having them speak directly in user stories. I accomplish this by preparing questions for what information I want, but not just reading the questions and having the business users answer them. Instead try to start the conversation with a lot more of an open ended question. I find this leads to better discussions which can unearth desires that were not known before the meeting. Having this mind set also let me adjust to how the discussion has been going and I find that less people disengage from the activity compared to just reading the questions. This method does not result in being told the user stories. The user stories are created from the notes from the discussion at a later time or the notes can be structured as user stories. Use stories are a useful way to get people to focus on functionality that provides value to specific users but the common way of getting them is not the best for most users.\n","permalink":"https://cobaltcorner.com/posts/user-stories/","summary":"\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is an entry in my series of post about techniques that are useful to Business Analysts. I am using the IIBA’s BABOK V3 (2015) as my source for what a user story it. It is worth keeping in mind that I come at this a as a IT Business Analyst from a consultancy that works on ERP systems\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA user story is one or two sentences that captures what is needed out of a solution. They take a the view of what a user would be trying accomplish when they use the functionality.Users stories are used to define what features should be included in a solution. They are not intended to be complete requirements which makes them more useful when trying to scope a project rather then an explicit list of what needs to be built.\nUser stories are suppose to be short and focused on a single activity. Having them focused is very useful as it allows them to be used as a checklist to confirm that the solution meets the needs of the users. I have found this useful as if they are too broad then there are times where they can be half met which makes it difficult to communicate progress to stakeholders.\nUser stories are not something that works for every project. When the project is strictly integrating data between two systems there are no real “users” of what is being developed making user stories not useful. They are useful any time a business process or product is user facing.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"User Stories"},{"content":"Projet write ups in progress\n","permalink":"https://cobaltcorner.com/projects/stub/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eProjet write ups in progress\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Projects to Come"}]