You need to start not with a database structure or a set of classes, but with business processes. We use BPMN and UML Activity in conjunction with test cases. Diagrams are easy to read, even by those unfamiliar with standards. Test cases in tabular form help to better identify borderline cases and resolve inconsistencies.
Abstract conversations are just a waste of time. People are convinced that the details are not significant and “there is no need to discuss them at all, because everything is already clear.” The request to complete the test case table clearly shows that the options are actually not 3, but 26.
Tables and charts are the main communication tool between business, analytics and development. In parallel with compiling BPMN diagrams and test case tables, we begin to write terms into the thesaurus of the project. The vocabulary will help later for the design of entities.
