System analysis and design vs. requirements analysis Both the systems analyst and the business analyst analyze basically the same problem. However, the business analyst analyzes the problem to determine what to do to solve it from the organizational perspective while the systems analyst analyzes the solution that the business analyst provides to determine how the solution is going to be affected from the technical perspective. While the business analyst works primarily in the problem domain solving the problem, the systems analyst works in the solution domain implementing the solution.

The future state should be understandable by the stakeholders or users as an effective way of solving their problem. It is a good idea to show the solution in prototype, screen shot, storyboard, or diagram before committing to the requirements document.

The designer uses the models to also understand, but from a different viewpoint. She uses the models to look at the trade-offs and segmentation of the solution for eventual disposition in the design. The design itself will be a model that will depict exactly how the solution will be implemented. The communication in the designer’s model is more technical in nature and aimed at the developers who understand the more technical nuances of the implementation.

Both business analyst and system analyst / designer model the same problem. They also model the same solution, but from different perspectives. Each set of diagrams comprising the model is different, even if the same diagramming technique is used. A sequence diagram used by a business analyst will not be the same as the sequence diagram written by the designer and handed to the coder as part of the program specification, even when the business analyst hands the sequence diagram to the system designer as part of the documentation.  ¶ 4:17 PM