At the Meridian Loyalty project, a sponsor tells the business analyst that the organisation should build a mobile rewards app because a competitor just launched one. Before any solution is chosen, what should the business analyst do first as part of the needs assessment?
- ADraft the solution requirements for the mobile app so developers can begin estimating the build effort.
- BIdentify and document the underlying business problem or opportunity the organisation is trying to address. Correct
- CSchedule the competitor's app for a feature-by-feature teardown so the new app can match it exactly.
- DEstimate the project budget and timeline so the sponsor can approve funding at the next steering meeting.
Why A is wrong: Writing solution requirements assumes the mobile app is the right answer, which skips the needs assessment and commits to a solution that has not yet been justified by a defined business need.
Why B is correct: A needs assessment begins by defining the business need, the actual problem or opportunity, before any solution is considered, so the response is grounded in a real gap rather than a copied competitor feature.
Why C is wrong: Copying a competitor feature by feature is tempting when a sponsor names a rival, but it substitutes imitation for analysis and never establishes whether the organisation shares the same business need.
Why D is wrong: Budget and timeline estimates matter later in the business case, but producing them before the business need is defined prices a solution that has not been shown to address a genuine problem.