← Back to docs

BA workflow

This guide is for Business Analysts using Ptah to turn a client brief into a specification, a draft WBS, and enough context for a Tech Lead to generate a working demo.

Before you start

Gather what you have from the client:

  • The RFP or brief document (PDF, DOCX, or plain text)
  • Any wireframes, screenshots, or references
  • A list of assumptions the client has already made
  • Known constraints: deadline, budget range, preferred tech stack, compliance requirements

Upload everything to the project's documents panel before you start chatting with Claude. Claude reads from the project workspace and can reference any uploaded file by path.

The analysis loop

Ptah's BA workflow is an iterative loop between you and Claude:

  1. Ask Claude to read the brief. Start with something like "Read the uploaded RFP and summarize the main pain points, the target users, and the modules the client expects."
  2. Review Claude's summary. If it missed something, correct it. If it made an assumption, confirm or reject it.
  3. Drill into each module. "For the user authentication module, list the user stories, the API endpoints, and the fields each endpoint expects."
  4. Ask for diagrams. "Draw a mermaid sequence diagram for the login flow." Claude writes the diagram to a .mermaid file in the project workspace and the web app renders it inline.
  5. Generate the draft WBS. "Given the modules we just defined, produce a WBS in markdown. Use the rate card in the project settings."
  6. Hand off to the Tech Lead. Mark the spec as ready and notify the Tech Lead from the project page.

The output of the BA loop lives in the project's docs/ directory:

docs/
├── specs/
│   ├── auth.md
│   ├── dashboard.md
│   └── ...
├── wbs.md
├── schema.md
└── flows/
    ├── login.mermaid
    └── onboarding.mermaid

Every file is committed to the project's git repository, so other roles can read it, diff it, and comment on it.

Tips

  • Be explicit about out-of-scope items. Claude is eager to implement things. Tell it what not to include as clearly as what to include.
  • Ask for alternatives. "Give me two alternative designs for the notification system — one based on email, one based on in-app."
  • Paste client quotes verbatim. If the client said "must support 10,000 concurrent users from day one", paste it. Paraphrasing loses signal.
  • Use session forking when you want to explore a different direction without losing the main thread.
  • Annotate documents. Highlight a paragraph in the uploaded PDF and leave a comment — Claude can read your comments through MCP tools and respond or edit the underlying source.

Running multiple projects in parallel

A common BA workload is running several projects at once — talking to Claude on Project A while waiting for the Tech Lead to review Project B. Ptah is designed for this. Each project has its own Claude session, its own workspace, and its own context. Switch between projects from the top-left project picker.

Related pages