Discover 01

Business Analysis

Business analysis identifies and assesses product and service opportunities by comparing a company’s capabilities to the demands of the market. Looking externally, the process determines if people will buy the product, how much they will spend, and what barriers exist for adoption. Internally, the process determines if the company can deliver on a viable proposition that can be produced for a cost that customers are willing to pay.

Business analysis may not be a traditional design practice; however, it is a practice that is useful for designers to be acquainted with. If you’re new to business analysis, find opportunities to observe business team members to better understand their process, priorities, and communication. Seek to support business strategists by visualizing output. Sometimes these visualizations will even highlight new opportunities or areas of inquiry.

If you join a project in later phases, it’s likely that business analysis has shaped many of the decisions made before your arrival. Reviewing business-analysis artifacts can help you understand prior decisions and make better decisions going forward. For projects aiming to create something similar to a successful product that already exists or to iterate on an already-successful experience, you might not even need business analysis.