Stop 08 · Systems & Technical UnderstandingTopics · 6/9

Working With Developers & QA

In short

Developers and testers will spend more hours with your requirements than anyone else. If they trust your stories and you respect their constraints, the whole project gets faster and calmer.

Bringing clear, well-scoped requirements and being open to technical constraints you didn't anticipate — a healthy BA-engineering relationship is collaborative, built on mutual trust over time.

The purple blob holds a rolled-up blueprint next to a half-built brick wall with a trowel and a bucket of cement.

Think of it like this

You and the mason

You bring a plan for an open kitchen. The mason taps a wall and says, 'This one holds up the floor above. We can open half of it.' A good owner listens and adjusts. A bad one says 'just do it'. The best ones ask first.

Watch it happen

One story, three people, fewer surprises

Developer

Draft: OTP login

1/6Before refinement, the BA shares a draft story and asks the developer to poke holes in it.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Involve them early

Show draft stories to a developer and a tester before refinement. Ten minutes then saves days later.

Constraints are information

'That's hard' usually means there's a trade-off you don't see. Ask what would make it easier.

Share the why

Explain the business reason, not just the rule. Engineers often suggest simpler solutions once they know the goal.

Answer fast

A quick reply to a question keeps work moving. Slow answers lead to guesses and rework.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Telling developers how to build it: 'add a dropdown that calls the API'.

Do this instead

Describe the need and the rules. Let the team choose the technical solution.

Oops

Treating QA as the people who come in at the end.

Do this instead

Bring QA into story reviews. Testers are great at finding missing cases before code is written.

Your mission

Get your story roasted

~25 min

Quick check

A developer says your story will take three sprints because of how data is stored. What's the best response?

Go deeper

1Ask a developer what makes a BA's requirements easy versus difficult to implement.
2Practice presenting a requirement's intent and constraints, not a rigid over-specified solution.
3Learn to say 'let's find out together' instead of guessing on a technical question.