posted 8 years ago
A good BA may add value to the development process by asking a lot of intelligent questions to clarify the real requirements with the customer before you have to implement them. A not-so-good BA will simply act as a dumb pipe echoing the customer's perception of their requirements, just getting in the way when you want to clarify these with the customer yourself.
I've worked on several projects where this was the case, and it turns an allegedly Agile process into what is effectively a waterfall process with few opportunities to clarify/refine the requirements with the customer. In many cases, the first time the customer's requirements encounter any kind of reality check is when a developer looks at them asks "OK, what do they want me to do here, and how would I implement this?". Unfortunately, this can be when they have maybe just a few days to deliver what is in fact a massive piece of functionality that the customer and BA have failed to recognise.
If you as a developer have access to a cooperative and expert customer who is prepared to work with you to resolve questions like this, it will save all of you a lot of pain in the long run.
No more Blub for me, thank you, Vicar.