20 Solution Practice Questions & Answers

Every Solution practice question from the ECBA Practice Test, with the correct answer and a short explanation.

1. A business analyst reviews a draft requirements package and checks whether each statement is atomic, unambiguous and testable. Which activity is the analyst performing?
- A.Tracing, because the check confirms each requirement links to a solution component
- B.Prioritising, because the check confirms the requirements are ordered by importance
- C.Verifying, because the check examines the quality of how the requirements are written✓ Answer
- D.Validating, because the check confirms the requirements will deliver stakeholder value
Verification asks whether the requirements were built right: it is an internal quality check against characteristics such as atomic, complete, consistent, concise, feasible, unambiguous, testable, prioritised and understandable, and it makes no judgement about business value. Validation is the separate question of whether they are the right requirements, judged against business objectives, potential value and solution scope.
Source: BABOK Guide — Verify Requirements (quality characteristics of requirements and designs); ECBA blueprint, Solution domain: basic solution validation conceptsReport a problem with this question
2. A team's requirements are consistent, concise and testable, but the sponsor asks whether delivering them will actually meet the agreed business objectives. Which activity answers that question?
- A.Verifying the requirements against the characteristics of well-written requirements
- B.Tracing the requirements to the components and releases that will deliver them
- C.Baselining the requirements so that any later change is assessed before approval
- D.Validating the requirements against the business objectives and the solution scope✓ Answer
Validation confirms alignment with the business requirements, the future state, the potential value and the solution scope, which is exactly what the sponsor is asking about. Requirements can pass every quality check and still be the wrong requirements, so verification alone cannot answer a question about meeting business objectives.
Source: BABOK Guide — Validate Requirements (alignment with business objectives, potential value and solution scope)Report a problem with this question
3. While reviewing a requirements package, a junior analyst finds two requirements that contradict each other. What is the most appropriate action?
- A.Rewrite the two statements into one requirement so the review package can be closed
- B.Record the conflict and the review result, then raise it with the requirement owners✓ Answer
- C.Approve the package now and list the conflict as an item for the post-release review
- D.Delete the lower-priority requirement so that the remaining statements stay consistent
A foundational practitioner records what validation and verification found and routes the finding to whoever owns the requirement; the analyst does not resolve a stakeholder disagreement by editing or deleting requirements on their own authority. Documented findings also preserve traceability, so the eventual decision can be linked back to the requirement it changed.
Source: BABOK Guide — Verify Requirements and Trace Requirements; ECBA blueprint, Solution domain: recording validation findingsReport a problem with this question
4. Before implementation, stakeholders agree on the measures they will later use to judge whether the delivered solution was worth building. Which part of requirements validation is this?
- A.Confirming that each requirement is stated in a testable form
- B.Defining measurable evaluation criteria for the expected result✓ Answer
- C.Identifying the assumptions on which the expected benefits rest
- D.Evaluating the alignment of each requirement with solution scope
Defining measurable evaluation criteria establishes, in advance, how success will be judged once the solution is in use, which is what gives the organisation a baseline to compare against later. Confirming testability belongs to verification, and it concerns how a statement is written rather than how business success will be measured.
Source: BABOK Guide — Validate Requirements (define measurable evaluation criteria)Report a problem with this question
5. A sponsor states that the new solution will cut handling time because staff will adopt it immediately, though nothing has been tested. How should the analyst treat this statement during validation?
- A.As a business requirement to be added to the approved requirements package
- B.As a validated benefit, since the sponsor owns the business objectives
- C.As a recorded assumption, with the risk it carries if it proves untrue✓ Answer
- D.As a constraint that limits the design options available to the team
An assumption is a belief held to be true but not confirmed, and expected benefits are a common place for assumptions to hide. Recording it makes the belief visible and lets it be carried into risk analysis, because an assumption that turns out to be false has a consequence for the value expected.
Source: BABOK Guide — Validate Requirements (identify assumptions) and Assess Risks (constraints, assumptions and dependencies)Report a problem with this question
6. A requirement reads: 'The system shall notify the customer of the shipment and archive the order record.' Which quality characteristic does this statement most clearly fail?
- A.Prioritised, because the statement gives no indication of relative importance
- B.Consistent, because the statement contradicts another approved requirement
- C.Atomic, because one statement carries two separate requirements that stand alone✓ Answer
- D.Feasible, because the statement cannot be delivered within known constraints
An atomic requirement is self-contained and capable of standing on its own, so a statement joining two independent behaviours with 'and' cannot be traced, prioritised or tested as a single unit. Splitting it lets each behaviour be verified and allocated separately.
Source: BABOK Guide — Verify Requirements (atomic characteristic of requirements and designs)Report a problem with this question
7. A commercial package covers most of an organisation's needs, but one regulated process it must support is unique to the organisation. How should the analyst describe this option?
- A.As a buy approach, because the package supplies most of the capability
- B.As a build approach, because the regulated process must be built in house
- C.As an outsourced approach, because a supplier is delivering the package
- D.As a combined approach, buying the package and building the unique part✓ Answer
Solution approaches are described as building, buying, or a combination of the two, and the approach chosen shapes how requirements are then allocated to components and releases. When a purchased product meets most of the need but a distinctive capability must still be created, the option is a combination rather than either extreme.
Source: BABOK Guide — Define Design Options (define solution approaches: build, buy or combination)Report a problem with this question
8. Three options have been analysed: the cheapest, the fastest to deliver, and the one that best meets the agreed business objectives. On what basis should the analyst frame the recommendation?
- A.On the lowest cost, since the funds released can be spent elsewhere
- B.On the potential value each option delivers against the agreed objectives✓ Answer
- C.On the shortest delivery time, since benefits start accruing sooner
- D.On the preference of the stakeholder who requested the analysis
A solution recommendation weighs expected benefits against expected costs to determine potential value, and the option carried forward is the one with the most potential value rather than the cheapest, quickest or most technically appealing. Value is judged against the agreed business objectives, not against one stakeholder's preference.
Source: BABOK Guide — Analyze Potential Value and Recommend SolutionReport a problem with this question
9. A manager tells the analyst to drop 'keep things as they are' from the option comparison because it is not a real option. The sponsor has not been consulted. What should the analyst do?
- A.Keep the current state in the comparison and say why it serves as the baseline✓ Answer
- B.Remove it and replace it with a second vendor option to keep four choices
- C.Keep it but mark it as rejected so the comparison shows only real options
- D.Remove it as instructed, because the manager is closer to the delivery work
Doing nothing, or keeping the current state, is a legitimate option because it is the baseline against which the potential value of every other option is measured. Removing it before anyone has compared the options hides the cost of inaction and weakens the evidence behind the recommendation.
Source: BABOK Guide — Define Design Options and Analyze Potential Value (the current state as a comparison baseline)Report a problem with this question
10. An option is technically sound and affordable, but the staff who would run it lack the skills and current working practices cannot absorb the change. Which feasibility concern is this?
- A.Technical feasibility, covering whether the technology can be made to work
- B.Economic feasibility, covering whether the expected benefits justify outlay
- C.Schedule feasibility, covering whether delivery fits the time available
- D.Operational feasibility, covering the ability to run and sustain it✓ Answer
Operational feasibility asks whether the organisation can actually run and sustain the option once it exists, which includes the skills of the people involved and the fit with current working practices. An option can be perfectly buildable and affordable and still fail this test, so the concern is recorded and carried into the risk analysis.
Source: BABOK Guide — Define Design Options and Assess Risks (feasibility dimensions considered when evaluating options)Report a problem with this question
11. Analysis shows the proposed solution will rely on a data feed owned by another department, and that department may replace the feed. How should this be carried into the risk analysis?
- A.Stated as a risk naming the event and its consequence for expected value✓ Answer
- B.Left out, because the other department owns and manages that data feed
- C.Stated as a confirmed assumption, because the feed exists and works today
- D.Stated as a constraint, because the feed is outside the team's control
Constraints, assumptions and dependencies can each be restated as a risk by naming the uncertain event and the negative impact it would have on value. Writing the dependency as an event with a consequence makes it something that can be assessed and monitored, rather than a fact recorded and forgotten.
Source: BABOK Guide — Assess Risks (constraints, assumptions and dependencies; negative impact to value)Report a problem with this question
12. Given two options, a sponsor chooses the one with a smaller expected benefit because its outcome is far more predictable. Which risk tolerance posture does this show?
- A.Risk neutrality, a willingness to weigh gains and losses evenly
- B.Risk seeking, a preference for the option with the wider spread
- C.Risk aversion, a preference for certainty over a larger uncertain gain✓ Answer
- D.Risk acceptance, a decision to proceed without any further action
A risk-averse posture trades expected gain for predictability, so the decision maker will accept a smaller benefit in return for a narrower range of outcomes. Knowing the stakeholders' tolerance matters because the same set of risks supports different recommendations depending on how much uncertainty the organisation will accept.
Source: BABOK Guide — Assess Risks (risk tolerance: risk aversion, neutrality and risk seeking)Report a problem with this question
13. A team working in short iterations asks how much design documentation to produce. Which statement reflects how that level of detail is determined?
- A.It is agreed when the business analysis approach is planned with the team✓ Answer
- B.It is fixed by the organisation and is the same for every initiative
- C.It is unnecessary in short iterations, where conversation replaces it
- D.It is set by the developers, since they are the users of the documents
The formality, level of detail and notation used for requirements and design artifacts is a planning decision made with the team and stakeholders as part of the business analysis approach. Predictive approaches tend to front-load detailed artifacts and adaptive ones keep them lighter and produced closer to the moment of need, but in both cases something is documented and agreed.
Source: BABOK Guide — Plan Business Analysis Approach (formality and level of detail of business analysis deliverables)Report a problem with this question
14. A newly assigned analyst is asked what the solution scope of an initiative states. Which answer is correct?
- A.The stakeholders who will use the solution once it has been put into use
- B.The capabilities the solution must deliver, with what is in and out of scope✓ Answer
- C.The list of features stakeholders asked for during the elicitation sessions
- D.The technology components the supplier has agreed to install and support
Solution scope is the set of capabilities a solution must deliver to meet the business need, together with boundaries that state what is inside and outside, including interfaces and external entities. A list of requested features is an input to scope, not the scope itself, because scope also records what has been deliberately excluded.
Source: BABOK Guide — solution scope and Scope Modelling (capabilities and boundaries, in-scope and out-of-scope items)Report a problem with this question
15. Midway through delivery, a stakeholder asks for a capability that is not in the agreed solution scope. The analyst has no authority to change scope. What should the analyst do first?
- A.Assess the request against the business objectives and record the result✓ Answer
- B.Tell the stakeholder it is out of scope and close the request as refused
- C.Adjust the scope statement to cover it and inform the sponsor afterwards
- D.Add it to the work items so the team can size it in the next iteration
A proposed change is assessed for its benefit, cost, impact and urgency and the assessment is documented, so that whoever holds the authority can decide with evidence in front of them. Neither absorbing the request silently nor refusing it outright is the analyst's call, and quietly rewriting scope is how scope creep starts.
Source: BABOK Guide — Assess Requirements Changes (benefit, cost, impact, urgency) and solution scope managementReport a problem with this question
16. Six months after release, stakeholders disagree about whether the solution is performing well because no one agreed what good performance would look like. What should have been done?
- A.Performance measures should have been defined and validated first✓ Answer
- B.The design artifacts should have been archived at the end of the build
- C.The requirements should have been verified once more before the release
- D.The solution scope should have been widened to include more capability
Solution performance measures, whether quantitative or qualitative, are defined and validated with stakeholders before implementation so there is an agreed baseline to collect against afterwards. Without that agreement there is nothing to compare actual performance with, and any later discussion of value becomes a matter of opinion.
Source: BABOK Guide — Measure Solution Performance (define and validate performance measures before implementation)Report a problem with this question
17. A dashboard shows many measures of a new process. The sponsor asks which of them are key performance indicators. What distinguishes a key performance indicator from other metrics?
- A.It is a metric reported to executives rather than to the delivery team
- B.It is a metric expressed as a number rather than as a qualitative rating of the process
- C.It is a metric chosen because it tracks progress toward a strategic goal✓ Answer
- D.It is a metric that can be collected automatically rather than by hand
A metric is a quantifiable level of an indicator, while a key performance indicator is the subset of metrics deliberately tied to a strategic goal or to the value the change is meant to deliver. How a measure is collected, formatted or reported does not make it key; its link to an objective does.
Source: BABOK Guide — Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (a KPI is a metric tied to a strategic goal)Report a problem with this question
18. Four statements appear in the same document. Which one is a design rather than a requirement?
- A.The user must be able to choose the language in which notices are sent
- B.Support staff need to see a customer's recent orders while on a call
- C.The organisation needs to reduce the cost of handling returned goods
- D.The user picks the delivery language from a drop-down list on the screen✓ Answer
A requirement expresses the need, the what; a design expresses a way of meeting it, the how, and naming a specific screen control is a design decision. The two are related recursively rather than in phases, since requirements inform designs and designs prompt further requirements.
Source: BABOK Guide — requirements and designs (the what versus the how; their recursive relationship)Report a problem with this question
19. A design decision changes two steps of a process that an approved process model still shows in the old form. Another team will reuse the model next quarter. What should the analyst do?
- A.Replace the model with the developer's notes, which reflect the built process
- B.Leave the model as approved, because it records the decision made at that time
- C.Note the change in the meeting minutes and let the other team ask if needed
- D.Update the model and its version record so the artifact stays accurate✓ Answer
Maintaining requirements and design artifacts keeps them accurate, current and reusable over time, which is what allows another initiative to rely on them later. Leaving a superseded model in place breaks traceability, because the links from the requirement to the design no longer describe what the solution actually does.
Source: BABOK Guide — Maintain Requirements (accuracy, currency and reuse) and Trace RequirementsReport a problem with this question
20. After release the solution works as specified, but value is not being realised because affected staff were never trained and a standing policy discourages using it. How is this best described?
- A.A verification failure, since the delivered solution was not built as specified
- B.An enterprise limitation, since the blocking factors sit outside the solution✓ Answer
- C.A validation failure, since the requirements were never checked for alignment
- D.A solution limitation, since the solution is not producing the value expected
Enterprise limitations are factors outside the solution that prevent value from being realised, such as culture, operations, stakeholder readiness or policy, while solution limitations are defects and constraints internal to the solution itself. The distinction matters because it decides where a recommendation to increase value should be aimed.
Source: BABOK Guide — Assess Enterprise Limitations versus Assess Solution Limitations; Recommend Actions to Increase Solution ValueReport a problem with this question

Practice questions based on the IIBA ECBA Exam Blueprint, The Business Analysis Standard and the BABOK Guide. ECBA, IIBA and BABOK are marks of the International Institute of Business Analysis; this site is not affiliated with or endorsed by IIBA. The exam was restructured around nine domains, so older preparation material organised by the previous knowledge areas is out of date — study the current blueprint on IIBA's site. IIBA publishes no passing score, so the threshold used here is our own practice target, not an official one. Based on the IIBA ECBA Exam Blueprint

1. A business analyst reviews a draft requirements package and checks whether each statement is atomic, unambiguous and testable. Which activity is the analyst performing?

2. A team's requirements are consistent, concise and testable, but the sponsor asks whether delivering them will actually meet the agreed business objectives. Which activity answers that question?

3. While reviewing a requirements package, a junior analyst finds two requirements that contradict each other. What is the most appropriate action?

4. Before implementation, stakeholders agree on the measures they will later use to judge whether the delivered solution was worth building. Which part of requirements validation is this?

5. A sponsor states that the new solution will cut handling time because staff will adopt it immediately, though nothing has been tested. How should the analyst treat this statement during validation?

6. A requirement reads: 'The system shall notify the customer of the shipment and archive the order record.' Which quality characteristic does this statement most clearly fail?

7. A commercial package covers most of an organisation's needs, but one regulated process it must support is unique to the organisation. How should the analyst describe this option?

8. Three options have been analysed: the cheapest, the fastest to deliver, and the one that best meets the agreed business objectives. On what basis should the analyst frame the recommendation?

9. A manager tells the analyst to drop 'keep things as they are' from the option comparison because it is not a real option. The sponsor has not been consulted. What should the analyst do?

10. An option is technically sound and affordable, but the staff who would run it lack the skills and current working practices cannot absorb the change. Which feasibility concern is this?

11. Analysis shows the proposed solution will rely on a data feed owned by another department, and that department may replace the feed. How should this be carried into the risk analysis?

12. Given two options, a sponsor chooses the one with a smaller expected benefit because its outcome is far more predictable. Which risk tolerance posture does this show?

13. A team working in short iterations asks how much design documentation to produce. Which statement reflects how that level of detail is determined?

14. A newly assigned analyst is asked what the solution scope of an initiative states. Which answer is correct?

15. Midway through delivery, a stakeholder asks for a capability that is not in the agreed solution scope. The analyst has no authority to change scope. What should the analyst do first?

16. Six months after release, stakeholders disagree about whether the solution is performing well because no one agreed what good performance would look like. What should have been done?

17. A dashboard shows many measures of a new process. The sponsor asks which of them are key performance indicators. What distinguishes a key performance indicator from other metrics?

18. Four statements appear in the same document. Which one is a design rather than a requirement?

19. A design decision changes two steps of a process that an approved process model still shows in the old form. Another team will reuse the model next quarter. What should the analyst do?

20. After release the solution works as specified, but value is not being realised because affected staff were never trained and a standing policy discourages using it. How is this best described?