Jira for Business Analysts: The Quick Tour
New to Jira as a business analyst? A short tour of a real Jira project: the space, the backlog, the sprint, a work item with its acceptance criteria, the board, and where to create and search.
Step by step
The tour
- Jira for BAs. Many software teams track their work in Jira. A business analyst uses a few parts every day: the space, the sprint, the backlog, work items, the board, Create and search.
- The space. Each project has its own space. Here the space belongs to an online shop team, and everything that team works on sits inside it. Across the top of the space are its views. You will spend most of your time in two of them: Backlog and Board.
Backlog
- The sprint. On the Backlog, the top box is the current sprint. It holds the work the team agreed to finish in this sprint, which runs for 2 weeks here.
- The backlog. Below the sprint is the backlog. It holds everything not yet planned into a sprint, with the most important at the top. Drag rows up or down to change the order. Helping keep this list in order, often with the product owner, is a big part of a BA's work.
- Work items. Each row is a work item. A story has a green bookmark icon and a bug has a red icon. On the right of each row you see its status and its story points.
A work item
- Work items. Click a row to open that work item.
- The details. This is where you write. Add the user story in the form "As a..., I want..., so that...". Then add the acceptance criteria that testers will check the work against.
Board
- The board. Now click Board in the views across the top. The board shows the same sprint as columns: To Do, In Progress, In Review and Done. The team drags each card from left to right as the work moves, which also changes its status. Your columns may be different, because they follow your team's workflow.
Create and search
- Create. Anything new, whether a story, a bug or an epic, starts with the Create button at the top. You pick the type of work item, then fill in its details.
- Search. The search box finds any work item by its key or by words in it. Later, JQL (Jira Query Language) lets you ask sharper questions, such as which bugs in the current sprint are still open.
Recap
- Space, backlog, board. In short: each project has a space. The backlog is for planning, with the most important work first. Work items hold the story and its acceptance criteria. The board shows the sprint.
Common mistakes
- Putting the acceptance criteria in a comment. Comments get buried as the thread grows. Put the criteria in the Description, or in an Acceptance criteria field if your admin has added one, so testers always find them in the same place.
- Expecting a sprint on every board. Sprints only come with Scrum boards. A Kanban board has no sprint box and shows a steady flow of work, and its backlog may be switched off. Ask which kind your team uses.
- Logging a bug as a story. When you click Create, choose Bug for something broken and Story for new behaviour. Teams often count and handle the two differently, so the wrong type confuses planning and reports.
- Using the search box for lists. The search box is good for finding one work item. For a list such as all open bugs, use JQL in advanced search and save it as a filter you can open again.
When a business analyst uses this
After a refinement workshop, a BA opens each story near the top of the backlog. They write the "As a..., I want..., so that..." and the acceptance criteria the group agreed on. That way the team can estimate the work at sprint planning, and testers know exactly what to check before the story moves to Done.
Questions people ask
What is Jira used for by a business analyst?
Writing user stories and bugs as work items, adding acceptance criteria, and keeping the backlog in priority order. You also use the board to see how the sprint is going.
What does a good Jira story look like?
It has a short, clear title and the story in the form "As a [user], I want [goal], so that [reason]". It also has acceptance criteria a tester can mark as pass or fail. The team adds story points once it has estimated the work.
Is Jira important for a business analyst?
Many software teams use it, so knowing your way around the backlog, the board and work items helps from day one. Some teams use other tools, so check what the job ad or team asks for.
