Module 2: Agile Business Analysis and Modeling Techniques

Glossary

Welcome! The alphabetized glossary contains many of the terms you'll find within this module. This comprehensive glossary also includes additional industry-recognized terms not used in the videos. These terms are important for you to recognize when working in the industry, participating in user groups, and participating in other certificate programs.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Term	Definition
Agile	A flexible and iterative approach to project management and software development that focuses on collaboration, customer feedback, and rapid delivery of small, incremental improvements.
Backlog refinement or backlog grooming	Process of reviewing and updating the product backlog to ensure it contains the appropriate items, prioritized correctly based on business value, stakeholder input, and the team's capacity.
Business process management (BPM)	A systematic approach to improving, optimizing, and automating organizational processes to enhance efficiency and achieve business goals.
Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN)	A standardized graphical representation used to model business processes, allowing businesses to visualize workflows, understand process logic, and communicate processes across teams clearly.
Class diagram	A type of UML diagram that shows classes, like customer, order, or product, in a system and their relationships.
Daily stand-up	A short, daily meeting to discuss progress and identify blockers.
Data Flow Diagram (DFD)	A visualization tool that depicts how data moves through a system, highlighting inputs, processes, data flows, outputs, and data storage, thereby helping analysts understand information flow and processing within the system.
Data modeling	A technique that involves creating a data object's visual representation, their relationships, and rules. It helps in understanding data requirements and designing effective data management solutions.
Deployment diagrams	A type of UML diagram that displays components and their dependencies within a system.
Entity-relationship diagram (ERD)	A visual representation of the relationships between entities in a database, illustrating how data is structured and how entities such as people, objects, or concepts interact within a system.
Entry Certificate in Business Analysis (ECBA)	An entry-level certification offered by the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) that validates foundational knowledge in business analysis and is ideal for individuals new to the field.
Flowchart	A visual representation of the sequence of steps and decisions in a process, using diagram shapes connected by lines and arrows to show the flow.
Incremental delivery	A core principle of agile development, where work is delivered in small, usable increments on a regular basis.
Kanban board	A visual management tool that organizes work by displaying tasks as cards on a board, with columns representing the various stages of a process.
Process modeling	A BPM technique that visually represents business processes to help stakeholders understand their current and future states.
Product backlog	A product backlog is a prioritized list of tasks, including features, bug fixes, technical work, and knowledge acquisition, that a team may complete to achieve a specific goal.
Retrospectives in Agile	Meetings held at the end of each iteration or sprint in which a team reflects on their work, plans for improvement, and refine the processes for future sprints.
Sequence diagrams	A type of UML diagram that shows the interactions between objects in a specific order, detailing the sequence of messages exchanged over time.
Sprint in Agile	A short, fixed-duration timeframe during which a team focuses on completing a defined set of tasks.
Sprint planning	A collaborative meeting in which the scrum team defines the sprint goal and selects the work to be completed in the upcoming sprint.
Unified Modeling Language (UML)	A general-purpose visual language that provides standard notations for designing systems through use cases, classes, and sequence diagrams.
Use case	A key component of UML that depicts specific functions or actions that the system performs in response to an actor's interaction. It summarizes the system's users (actors) and their interactions with the system.
Use-case diagram	A type of UML diagram that models system behavior, capturing high-level functions, scope, and interactions between the system and its actors.
User story	An informal, short description of a feature conveyed from the perspective of the user.
Wireframe	A simple visual outline of an app or product layout that shows how it will function and how users will interact with it.