Mastering Input-Task-Output Diagrams of BABoK v3
To succeed in Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) examination one need to master the 30 task diagrams given in BABoK v3. Task diagrams indicate the value additions made by business analysts. The input information and data are transformed into a usable output. Let us use a hypothetical task diagram of coffee making to understand how the inputs, task and outputs work together.
A task diagram for coffee making will look like this.
DIAGRAM HERE
The name of the task refers to what a business analyst wants to perform or what he wants to do? Here the business analyst wants to make coffee. You can note that most of the task names are following a verb and noun structure. Hence the name of this task is Make Coffee.
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I would request you to virtually talk to these task diagrams. You should ask if the name of the task is make coffee, what should be its output? Provided everything is done correctly. When make coffee is the task the natural output should be coffee. You can find this similarity in all the task diagrams of BABoK. You should get the natural output of the task as the output. So, to master the task diagram, first you need to memorise all the task names. The moment you know the task names, you can easily write the task outputs.
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Now come to the inputs part. Inputs are the recipe required to make coffee. Some of these inputs, I would call them as defining inputs, without which it is impossible to make coffee. What is the defining input in our hypothetical task diagram? Of course, it is coffee powder. You can omit anything among these inputs except coffee powder. Without sugar, you can make black coffee. But without coffee powder you cannot make coffee. Hence, we will call the coffee powder as the defining input, CBAP examination is more interested in such kind of inputs. That is the reason, I am recommending that you need to talk to these task diagrams. One of the main focus of our classroom discussion will be focused on this exercise so that you need not have to memorise these task diagrams rather you will get an innate or natural understanding on these task diagrams.
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