Role-Playing

Correct Answer: Assigning real business roles that match participants' expertise

Assigning real business roles that match participants' expertise is the best approach because: 1. It leverages existing knowledge and experience, making interactions more natural and credible 2. Participants can draw from their actual work experience to provide realistic responses 3. The authenticity comes from genuine understanding of the role's responsibilities and challenges 4. It creates meaningful engagement based on real-world expertise Why other approaches are less effective: - Creating complex scenarios with multiple failures can overwhelm participants and reduce focus on meaningful interactions - Rotating roles frequently disrupts the flow of the exercise and prevents participants from fully developing their character understanding - Memorizing scripts leads to mechanical, artificial interactions that lack spontaneity and genuine stakeholder dynamics The best role-playing exercises allow participants to leverage their real expertise while maintaining natural, authentic interactions that reflect actual business scenarios.

Correct Answer: To understand how users interact with a system by simulating real-world scenarios

The primary purpose of role-playing in requirements elicitation is to understand how users interact with a system by simulating real-world scenarios. This technique allows business analysts to uncover user needs, pain points, and process flows in a practical, experiential way. Role-playing helps identify hidden requirements and assumptions by putting participants in actual user situations, making it easier to understand the context and challenges users face. The other options are incorrect because: - Documenting technical specifications is not the main purpose of role-playing; this is better achieved through technical analysis and documentation methods. - Validating system architecture through acting out components is not an effective use of role-playing, as architecture validation requires technical review and testing. - Establishing formal communication protocols between team members is not the purpose of role-playing; this is better achieved through formal communication planning and team management practices.

Correct Answer: Document the scenario as a potential requirement and continue the role-play

The best response is to document the unexpected scenario as a potential requirement and continue the role-play. Rationale: Role-playing sessions are valuable opportunities to uncover real-world scenarios and requirements that may not have been considered in initial planning. When participants discover unexpected scenarios, this often reveals genuine business needs or edge cases that should be captured. Exploring these unplanned scenarios can lead to valuable insights and more comprehensive requirements gathering. By documenting the new scenario while allowing the session to continue naturally, the business analyst maintains an open and collaborative environment that encourages discovery. The other answers are incorrect because: - Stopping and restarting the session would suppress valuable discovery and potentially miss important requirements - Limiting participants to pre-defined scenarios reduces the effectiveness of role-playing as a requirements discovery technique - Restricting focus to only planned interactions defeats the purpose of role-playing, which is meant to simulate real-world situations and uncover unexpected use cases