Product Management Agile Product Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is a 'spike' in Agile product development?
- A time-boxed research task to reduce uncertainty or risk (Correct answer)
- A sudden increase in user traffic
- An emergency bug fix sprint
- A type of backlog grooming session
Correct answer: A time-boxed research task to reduce uncertainty or risk
A spike is a special user story used to research, prototype, or investigate a problem to gather information that reduces risk before committing to a solution.
Question 2: In Kanban, what does 'WIP limit' control?
- The maximum number of items in progress at any one time (Correct answer)
- The number of sprints per quarter
- How many backlog items can be estimated
- The maximum team size
Correct answer: The maximum number of items in progress at any one time
Work-In-Progress limits cap the number of active items in each Kanban stage, reducing multitasking and improving flow.
Question 3: What is the purpose of backlog refinement (grooming)?
- To detail, estimate, and prioritize upcoming backlog items before sprint planning (Correct answer)
- To delete completed stories from the backlog
- To assign tasks to specific developers
- To review the previous sprint's output
Correct answer: To detail, estimate, and prioritize upcoming backlog items before sprint planning
Backlog refinement ensures upcoming items are well-understood, properly estimated, and ordered so they are ready for sprint planning.
Question 4: What does 'MVF' (Minimum Viable Feature) mean in Agile product management?
- The smallest version of a feature that delivers value and can be tested with users (Correct answer)
- A mandatory feature for all versions
- A feature with the most votes from users
- The first feature to be built in any sprint
Correct answer: The smallest version of a feature that delivers value and can be tested with users
An MVF is the stripped-down version of a feature designed to validate assumptions with minimal investment before building the full version.
Question 5: Which Agile scaling framework uses 'Program Increments' (PIs)?
- SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) (Correct answer)
- LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum)
- Nexus
- Spotify Model
Correct answer: SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)
SAFe uses Program Increments — typically 8–12 week planning cycles — to align multiple Agile teams around shared objectives.
Question 6: What is the key difference between Scrum and Kanban?
- Scrum uses fixed sprints; Kanban uses continuous flow with no mandatory iterations (Correct answer)
- Kanban requires a Product Owner; Scrum does not
- Scrum has no backlog; Kanban requires a sprint backlog
- They are identical frameworks with different names
Correct answer: Scrum uses fixed sprints; Kanban uses continuous flow with no mandatory iterations
Scrum structures work into time-boxed sprints with defined ceremonies, while Kanban is a continuous flow system with no mandatory iterations.
Product Management Agile Product Management 2
What is a 'spike' in Agile product development?