User Stories and Acceptance Criteria Flashcards

Which story-splitting technique divides a large user story based on the sequential steps a user takes to accomplish a goal?

Answer: Split by workflow steps

Splitting by workflow steps divides a large story into smaller stories, each representing a distinct step in the user's process, enabling incremental delivery of the overall capability.

Which of the following is an example of a non-functional acceptance criterion?

Answer: The page must fully load within 2 seconds under standard network conditions

Non-functional acceptance criteria address quality attributes like performance — 'page loads within 2 seconds' is a performance requirement rather than a functional behavior of the system.

What is the primary purpose of using story points for effort estimation?

Answer: To measure team velocity by tracking relative effort and complexity across stories

Story points capture the relative effort and complexity of user stories, enabling teams to measure velocity and forecast future sprint capacity based on historical data.

What is the primary use of the Given-When-Then format when writing user story acceptance criteria?

Answer: To write scenario-based acceptance criteria in a structured, testable format

Given-When-Then is a structured format rooted in behavior-driven development (BDD) used to express acceptance criteria as testable scenarios with clear preconditions, actions, and expected outcomes.

A user story is marked as 'Done' in a sprint. What does this correctly signify?

Answer: The story meets all story-specific acceptance criteria AND satisfies the team's Definition of Done

A story is truly 'Done' only when it satisfies both the story-specific acceptance criteria AND all team-wide Definition of Done standards, such as testing, documentation, and code review.

Which approach best ensures that acceptance criteria are testable and verifiable?

Answer: Expressing them as observable, verifiable behaviors with specific expected outcomes

Testable acceptance criteria describe observable, verifiable behaviors with specific expected outcomes that can be objectively confirmed as pass or fail by a tester.

What is the product owner's role regarding acceptance criteria during a sprint review?

Answer: To verify that the delivered work meets the acceptance criteria and formally accept or reject it

During sprint review, the product owner verifies that delivered work meets the defined acceptance criteria for each story and has the authority to formally accept or reject the work.