Analyzing Interfaces:

It is a review of the system, people and process linkages

You review how:

• System and people interact
• System and system interact
• People and system interact

You determine the input and output of the current system and the medium in which you provide the input or obtain the output

Input can be from another system (e.g. inserting data) or people(e.g. typing data)

Output can be reports, dashboards, files, etc

Analyzing interfaces also helps you to understand the automated and manual processes of the current system. This can help you to find areas for efficiency improvement in the current system.

E.g. In the current as-is system you found: System 1 sends data which is received by a person who enters it into another System 2

System1 >> Sends data → Person  >> forwards data → System2

By analyzing the above process you can remove the person from the future system

System1 –Send data → System2

Advantages of Analyzing Interfaces:

• Discovers missed interfaces and their purposes

Things don’t happen automatically in a system. E.g. To send a file an interface is required.  Users forget to mention these kinds of functionality duirng elicitation as they take it for granted. Analyzing interfaces help to discover them.

• Determine regulations or interface standards

You may understand the information like company brand design, conventions and standards used by the software development team, etc

• Provides missed requirements

• Uncovers areas of project risks

E.g. A very common thing we see is the Privacy Policy agreement. We all know it but never mention it explicitly. When we analyze interfaces we can uncover risks like these i.e not having a privacy policy may cause legal trouble in the future.

Disadvantages:

• Not useful as a standalone elicitation activity
• If you are a technical BA you may unknowingly dive into the unnecessary details
• Can be redundant with modeling activities

The post is  based on my notes and understanding from this BA tutorial