CAE Definition of Done & Acceptance Criteria 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: How should Acceptance Criteria be written to be most effective in Agile?
- As vague goals that allow creative interpretation by the team
- As technical specifications written exclusively by developers
- As clear, testable conditions that define when a story is complete (Correct answer)
- As business KPIs linked to organizational strategy
Correct answer: As clear, testable conditions that define when a story is complete
Effective Acceptance Criteria are specific, measurable, and testable conditions that confirm a user story has been implemented correctly and meets the customer's need.
Question 2: The Given-When-Then (GWT) format for writing Acceptance Criteria is associated with which practice?
- Test-Driven Development (TDD)
- Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) (Correct answer)
- Continuous Integration (CI)
- Domain-Driven Design (DDD)
Correct answer: Behavior-Driven Development (BDD)
The Given-When-Then format originates from Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) and structures Acceptance Criteria as scenarios that describe system behavior from the user's perspective.
Question 3: What does it mean for the Definition of Done to evolve over time?
- The DoD should be simplified as the team matures to speed up delivery
- The DoD may become more stringent as the team improves its practices (Correct answer)
- The DoD should be replaced entirely by Acceptance Criteria over time
- The DoD should be fixed at the project start and never changed
Correct answer: The DoD may become more stringent as the team improves its practices
As teams mature and build capability, they typically strengthen their DoD by adding more quality checks, reflecting their growing ability to meet higher standards consistently.
Question 4: What is the primary risk of having an unclear or weak Definition of Done?
- The team may deliver too many features too quickly
- Technical debt may accumulate as incomplete work is incorrectly considered done (Correct answer)
- The Product Owner may add too many items to the backlog
- Stakeholders will request more frequent Sprint Reviews
Correct answer: Technical debt may accumulate as incomplete work is incorrectly considered done
A weak DoD allows work to be called 'done' without meeting proper quality standards, causing hidden technical debt that grows and eventually slows the team's velocity.
Question 5: In Agile, what is meant by 'undone work'?
- Work that was never started during a Sprint
- Work that is currently in progress but not yet completed
- Work that was marked complete but does not fully meet the Definition of Done (Correct answer)
- Work items that were removed from the Product Backlog
Correct answer: Work that was marked complete but does not fully meet the Definition of Done
'Undone work' refers to work that appears complete but has unmet DoD criteria, creating hidden technical debt that must be addressed in a future Sprint.
Question 6: Which Agile Manifesto principle best supports the use of Acceptance Criteria to measure progress?
- Responding to change over following a plan
- Working software is the primary measure of progress (Correct answer)
- Welcome changing requirements, even late in development
- Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery
Correct answer: Working software is the primary measure of progress
The principle that working software is the primary measure of progress is directly supported by Acceptance Criteria, which define precisely what 'working' means for each feature.
Question 7: When should Acceptance Criteria be defined for a user story?
- After the Sprint begins so the team has initial implementation context
- During Sprint execution as the team discovers requirements organically
- Before or during Sprint Planning so the team understands scope before committing (Correct answer)
- At the Sprint Review so stakeholders can approve them retrospectively
Correct answer: Before or during Sprint Planning so the team understands scope before committing
Acceptance Criteria should be defined before or during Sprint Planning so the team understands exactly what success looks like before committing to deliver the story.
CAE Definition of Done & Acceptance Criteria 2
How should Acceptance Criteria be written to be most effective in Agile?