Acceptance Criteria
What are acceptance criteria?
Acceptance criteria are essential conditions that must be fulfilled for a user story to be deemed complete and approved by the product owner or customer. They establish the boundaries of a user story and offer clarity on the development team’s responsibilities.
They’re an important component of user stories because they provide the necessary details on what needs to be built and how it will be tested. When a user story is created, it should include acceptance criteria that align with the goals and objectives of the project. This helps ensure that the development team is clear on what needs to be done and the stakeholders are clear on what to expect.
What is the use case of acceptance criteria in product management?
In product management, acceptance criteria are used to help agile teams prioritize features and functionality based on their impact on the overall product. This can help product managers determine what features are necessary to meet the needs of the users and the market, and which features can be postponed or removed.
When applied to user stories, acceptance criteria can also be used to ensure that the development team is working on the right tasks at the right time. By having clear acceptance criteria, the development team can focus their efforts on the features that are most important to the stakeholders and the product.
An essential part of user stories and product management, they help ensure that everyone involved in the development process is clear on what needs to be done, and they help prioritize features and functionality based on their impact on the overall product.
Why is acceptance criteria important?
When written effectively with simple language acceptance criteria can create a common understanding and support the overall product development process, enabling the product teams to prioritize the product backlog based on the below.
- Clarity: It provides clarity on what needs to be done and how it will be tested. They help ensure that everyone involved in the development process is clear on what needs to be done and what the end result should look like.
- Scope: when written well they define the scope of a user story and ensure that the development team is focused on the right tasks at the right time. They help prevent scope creep and ensure that everyone is aligned on what is expected of the development team.
- Prioritization: They ensure that the development team is focused on the features that are most important to the stakeholders and the product based on their impact on the overall product.
- Quality: It helps ensure that the end product meets the needs of the users and the market.
- Testing: Acceptance criteria are used to test the functionality of the product. They provide specific and measurable conditions that must be met for a user story to be considered complete and accepted by the product owner or customer.
Overall, acceptance criteria are important because they provide clarity, define scope, prioritize features, ensure quality, and guide testing. They are an essential part of agile software development and help ensure that everyone involved in the development process is working towards a common goal.
What do effective acceptance criteria for user stories need to be?
Effective acceptance criteria should be:
- Specific: Clearly defining what is expected and what the user story needs to accomplish
- Measurable: Providing quantifiable metrics to determine if the user story has been successfully completed
- Testable: The criteria should be able to be tested and verified to ensure that the user story has been completed correctly
- Concise: Avoiding unnecessary detail or ambiguity, while also being comprehensive enough to cover all requirements
- Aligned with the user story: The acceptance criteria should directly relate to the user story and support its successful completion
Why do user stories need acceptance criteria?
User stories are a critical aspect of Agile methodology, as they capture the user requirements and provide a shared understanding of what needs to be built. However, they alone can not ensure that the final product will meet the user’s expectations. That’s where acceptance criteria come in.
Acceptance criteria are a set of specific, measurable conditions that must be met in order for the user story to be considered “done” or “complete.” These criteria help to clarify what the end product should look like and how it should behave. They also provide a way to ensure that everyone on the team understands exactly what is expected of them.
Without acceptance criteria, the development team may interpret the user story in different ways, resulting in misunderstandings, errors, and delays. Acceptance criteria provide a clear set of expectations that everyone can agree on, which helps to ensure that the final product meets the user’s needs and expectations.
Acceptance criteria are necessary for user stories because they provide a clear set of expectations that help the development team to build a product that meets the user’s needs and expectations.
Who is responsible for writing acceptance criteria?
In Agile development, the entire team is responsible for creating the acceptance criteria for a user story. However, it is typically the product owner/manager who takes the lead in defining the acceptance criteria, with input and feedback from the development team and other stakeholders.
The product owner/manager is responsible for ensuring that the user story and its associated acceptance criteria accurately reflect the needs and expectations of the user or customer. They are also responsible for prioritizing the user stories and determining which ones should be developed first.
The development team is responsible for providing input and feedback on the acceptance criteria, based on their technical knowledge and expertise. They may also suggest alternative solutions or approaches that could meet the user needs more efficiently or effectively.
Other stakeholders, such as designers, testers, and business analysts, may also provide input on the acceptance criteria, based on their areas of expertise.
Ultimately, the entire team must work together to create acceptance criteria that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). By collaborating on the acceptance criteria, the team can ensure that everyone is aligned and that the final product meets the user’s needs and expectations.
What does SMART mean in this context?
SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. It is a framework for defining and setting objectives or goals that are clear and well-defined, making them more likely to be achieved.
In the context of acceptance criteria, using the SMART criteria means that the criteria should be:
- Specific: Clearly and precisely define what the product or service should do, avoiding vague or ambiguous language.
- Measurable: Provide a way to determine whether the product or service meets the criteria or not, usually through quantitative or qualitative measures.
- Achievable: Be realistic and feasible given the available resources, technology, and expertise.
- Relevant: Be meaningful and aligned with the needs and expectations of the stakeholders, including customers, users, and the business.
- Time-bound: Set a clear timeframe or deadline for meeting the criteria, usually in terms of a project milestone or release date.
When should user story acceptance criteria be written?
Acceptance criteria should be written before development begins, during the planning phase of the Agile development process. This ensures that everyone on the team has a shared understanding of what needs to be built and what success looks like.
The acceptance criteria should be written collaboratively by the development team, the product owner/manager, and any other stakeholders who have a vested interest in the outcome of the project. This process should take place during the sprint planning meeting, which is typically held at the beginning of each sprint.
During this meeting, the team reviews the user stories that have been selected for the sprint and works together to create acceptance criteria for each one. The acceptance criteria should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), and should include any necessary technical specifications or constraints.
It is important to note that acceptance criteria should be treated as a living document that can be revised and updated throughout the development process. As the team gains a better understanding of the user’s needs and the technical requirements of the project, the acceptance criteria may need to be modified to ensure that they accurately reflect the project’s goals and objectives.
What are the different formats of acceptance criteria?
There are several different formats for writing acceptance criteria, and the format you choose may depend on your team’s preferences and the specific needs of your project. Here are some common formats for writing acceptance criteria:
1. Given-When-Then
This format uses a three-part structure to describe the context or preconditions:
Given [context or preconditions]
When [specific action or event]
Then [expected outcome or result]
Here’s an example:
Given that the user is logged in
When the user clicks the “submit” button
Then the system should display a success message and redirect the user to the home page
2. Bullet points
This format lists each acceptance criterion as a separate bullet point. This format is easy to scan and can be useful for longer or more complex acceptance criteria.
Here’s an example:
- The system should allow the user to create a new account with a valid email address and password.
- When the user submits the form, the system should validate the email address and password and display an error message if either is invalid.
- After the user creates an account, the system should redirect the user to the login page.
3. Checklists
This format uses a checklist-style format to list the acceptance criteria. This can be useful when there are many acceptance criteria or when they need to be reviewed by multiple people.
Here’s an example:
- The system should allow the user to create a new account with a valid email address and password.
- When the user submits the form, the system should validate the email address and password and display an error message if either is invalid.
- After the user creates an account, the system should redirect the user to the login page.
Regardless of the format you choose, it’s important to ensure that your acceptance criteria are SMART. This will help ensure that everyone on the team understands what needs to be done and when it needs to be done.
How Should You Format User Story Acceptance Criteria?
Acceptance criteria should be written in a clear and concise format that is easy to understand and that provides a shared understanding of what needs to be done.
You could use any of the above formats, like Given-When-Then or you could use a bullet-point format, which is also commonly used in Agile development.
Regardless of the format you choose, they should also be written in plain language that is easy for everyone on the team to understand, even if they are not technical experts.
What is the right amount of acceptance criteria?
The right amount of acceptance criteria for a user story will depend on the complexity of the feature being developed, the level of detail required, and the team’s preferences and processes. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as it can vary widely depending on the context.
As a general rule, acceptance criteria should be comprehensive enough to provide a clear definition of done, but not so detailed that they become unwieldy or difficult to manage. Ideally, acceptance criteria should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), and should be limited to what is absolutely necessary to achieve the desired outcome.
One way to ensure that you have the right amount of acceptance criteria is to use the “three C’s” approach, which stands for Card, Conversation, and Confirmation. This approach emphasizes the importance of collaboration and communication between the development team, the Product Owner, and any other stakeholders involved in the project.
The Card represents the user story, which is a brief, high-level description of the feature being developed. The Conversation refers to the ongoing discussions between the team and stakeholders to clarify the user story and ensure that everyone has a shared understanding of what needs to be done. Finally, the Confirmation refers to the acceptance criteria, which provide a clear definition of done for the user story.
By using the three C’s approach, you can ensure that your acceptance criteria are closely aligned with the needs of the stakeholders and that they provide a clear and comprehensive definition of done for the feature being developed. This will help you strike the right balance between providing enough detail to ensure quality and avoiding unnecessary complexity or scope creep.
