← Back to PortfolioPhase 1Phase 2Phase 3Phase 4Phase 5
Phase 05 of 05
Deliver & Close
Chs 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 & 12
Business Analysis Demystified · Zoomed Phase Map
Process Maps · Project Plans · Use Cases · Journey Maps · Agile Backlog
Approval has been secured. Now the work must be made buildable. Phase 5 is where analytical work becomes delivery artefacts — process maps that document what changes, project plans that sequence it, use cases that specify how the system behaves, journey maps that keep the human experience in view, and a backlog that gives a development team something to pick up on Monday morning. Five chapters, five artefact families, one shared purpose: making the approved change real.
The question this phase must answer
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The fundamental question of Phase 5
Is the work specified, sequenced, and decomposed in sufficient detail that a delivery team can build it — and test it — without making behavioural decisions that should have been made by the business?
Delivery artefacts that leave decisions to the developer's discretion are not delivery artefacts — they are starting points for a conversation that should have happened earlier. Each of the five chapters in this phase eliminates a category of ambiguity before the build begins.
Chapter artefacts & prompts
CH.08
Process Maps & Workflows
Document what changes — and make handoffs visible
Process Map
A visual representation of a process from start to finish — steps, decisions, handoffs, and pain points. As-Is and To-Be versions document the change.
Swimlane Diagram
A process map organised by actor — each lane represents a role or system. Makes accountability explicit and surfaces handoff failures.
Prompts
P01 Orient Me
P02 Show Me an Example
P03a Map As-Is Process
P03b Map To-Be Process
P04 Identify Bottlenecks
P05 Build a Swimlane Diagram
P06 Document a Decision Flow
P07 Review My Draft
CH.09
Project Plans & Timelines
Build a dependency-aware plan — and maintain it
Project Plan
A dependency-aware plan with phases, milestones, tasks, owners, and RAG status. A decision instrument, not a record of intent.
Milestone Timeline
A high-level visual timeline showing phases and key milestones. The earliest reliable planning commitment — explicitly labelled as indicative until the detailed plan is confirmed.
Prompts
P01 Orient Me
P02 Show Me an Example
P03 Create a Project Plan
P04 Identify Critical Path
P05 Build a Risk Register
P06 RAG Status Update
P07 Plot Milestones on a Timeline
CH.10
Use Cases
Specify how the system behaves — including when it fails
Use Case List
A comprehensive list of all use cases for the system, grouped by actor or functional area, with IDs, priorities, and complexity flags.
Use Case Document
A structured specification of a single interaction: actor, goal, preconditions, main success scenario (alternating actor/system steps), alternative flows, exception flows, and postconditions.
Prompts
P01 Orient Me
P02 Show Me an Example
P03 Generate a Use Case List
P04 Convert to Test Scenarios
P05 Review My Draft
CH.11
Journey Maps
Map the human experience alongside the process
As-Is Journey Map
The current experience — stages, touchpoints, actions, thoughts, feelings, pain points, and opportunities. The diagnostic that establishes the case for improvement.
To-Be Journey Map
The improved experience after planned changes — specific, observable differences for each stage. Not an aspiration: a specification.
Prompts
P01 Orient Me
P02 Show Me an Example
P03 Create a Journey Map
P04 Prioritise Improvements
P05 Design the To-Be Journey
P06 Review My Draft
CH.12
Agile Task Decomposition
Break the work into sprint-ready pieces
Epics
Large bodies of work with named outcomes. The portfolio and roadmap planning unit.
User Stories
As a [role], I want [action], so that [benefit]. The sprint planning unit — completable and testable within a single sprint.
Acceptance Criteria
Given/When/Then scenarios covering happy path, edge cases, and error handling. The definition of done for a story.
Sprint-Ready Backlog
A prioritised, dependency-mapped, sized backlog that a development team can pull from on day one of the first sprint.
Prompts
P01 Orient Me
P02 Show Me an Example
P03 Generate User Stories
P04 Generate Acceptance Criteria
P05 Estimate Story Points
P06 Export to Jira / ADO
P07 Review My Draft
Practitioner confidence curve
Phase startPhase end
In motion, uncertain
Complexity peaks
Backlog taking shape
Ready to build
Traps & failure modes
Trap 01
Process maps that show the ideal, not the real
A process map that reflects how the process should work, not how it actually works, produces requirements that nobody can validate in UAT.
Trap 02
Use cases without exception flows
The exception flows are the first thing dropped under time pressure — and the first thing that causes production incidents. If it is not in the use case, a developer will decide it.
Trap 03
Stories without acceptance criteria
A story without acceptance criteria is a request without a definition of done. The developer will interpret it, the tester will invent scenarios, and the product owner will be surprised by the result.
Feeds forward & practitioner signals
→What this phase feeds into
→
Phase 1 — Clarify (next project)
Delivery surfaces new problems and scope questions that become the reverse briefs for the next initiative. Discovery is a posture, not a phase.
💬What practitioners say at this phase
💬
The exception flows in the use cases are taking time — but they're worth it.
💬
The journey map just showed us something the process map missed.
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This backlog is actually ready to start.
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Missing dependencies in the project plan are the most common cause of timeline slippage.
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The stories without acceptance criteria will generate rework.
Business Analysis Demystified
33 prompts · 5 chapters · Phase 5 of 5