With a recent day of education and lightning talks at Hippo focused on the value of user-centred design (UCD), I thought I’d put a blog together about how bringing a UCD focus to business analysis can really help give value to ‘the business’.

As a Lead Business Analyst at Hippo, I’m keen to show that by bringing user needs and business goals together, a BA can:

  • help organisations really understand the root of business problems
  • have more chance of defining requirements that will be valuable and viable in the real world.

This idea started when I attended an event with RISE UP earlier in May, where we talked to a group of young people at the start of their career journeys. 

As part of the event, we introduced the attendees to several digital and design-related disciplines:

  • Business analysis
  • User research
  • UX design
  • Content design
  • Data analysis
  • Product management
  • Delivery management

What young people think a Business Analyst (BA) does

A lot of them thought a BA was someone who helps organisations work through their business problems and find a solution.

Now they were not wrong, but whenever the word ‘user’ came up, they thought that was handled by other professions such as:

  • User research
  • UX design
  • Content design

This view that a business analyst focuses solely on the business side, with design professionals dealing with user needs, is one that is still fairly commonly found throughout a lot of organisations outside Hippo. 

A story to illustrate the point

I gave one of the attendees of the event this example:

Imagine you are the sales manager of a company selling cars and a person comes in wanting to buy.

They say that their new vehicle should:

  • be cheap to run
  • be easy to park
  • have low insurance costs

They look around the showroom and see two vehicles that the company is promoting as highlights of the month – a new moped and a second-hand saloon car.

These items will deliver the most profit, so they’re the main business goals for the month.

The customer decides to buy the moped as it meets all their needs. They go ahead with an immediate purchase, and they love the fact that it’s brand new and in their favourite colour.

As the sales manager, you tick each item off their must-have list and feel pleased that you’ve delivered what they need.

Key business goal delivered, and user needs met. Win/win! 

Or is it that simple? 

Understanding the full picture

At first glance, it may seem like both the business and the user’s needs are satisfied.  However, by delving a bit further into the situation, you might have found that the customer:

  • had a family of three other people waiting outside
  • was so focused on the moped meeting their key needs and did not mention they needed to take their children to activities twice a week
  • also needed to collect a large supermarket shop once a week

The moped they have bought is not ideal for this.

So, the customer returns to ask you to exchange the moped or insist you build a custom sidecar to handle their needs.

Both options would cost additional time and money for the company. Something that could have been avoided with more focus on user needs.

Why this matters

This example, although deliberately simple, helps to show that business goals and user needs are not mutually exclusive. 

In fact, more effective and valuable solutions emerge when they are considered together. 

Business success is not compromised by taking a user-centred focus.

Solutions grounded in real user needs are more likely to:

  • succeed
  • be adopted
  • reduce rework or costly changes later in delivery. 

BAs are uniquely positioned to hold perspectives of both business and the user – understanding the priorities in business drivers while advocating for strong user experience.

As a BA with a UCD focus, it’s about:

  • looking at more than what is presented to you
  • delving deeper
  • asking why
  • considering all the what ifs

Spending a bit more time understanding both business goals and user needs, will help you deliver more long-term value for your organisation.

It may take longer up front but it will save time and effort in the long run.