Acceptance Criteria

Experience Requirements

What are the Acceptance criteria?

Acceptance criteria are a set of specific, measurable, and testable requirements that a user story or feature must meet in order to be considered complete or "accepted." They are often used in agile software development methodologies, such as Scrum or Kanban, to define the scope and objectives of a user story or feature, and to ensure that the design meets the needs and expectations of the target users.

Acceptance criteria are usually written in a specific format, such as "Given..., when..., then...", which helps to clearly define the requirements and the expected outcome. They are typically defined by the product owner, in collaboration with the development team and other stakeholders, and are used to guide the design and development of the user story or feature.

Acceptance criteria can be used to create test cases, which can be used to validate the design and to ensure that the product or service behaves as expected. They also help to ensure that the requirements of the user story or feature are clearly understood and agreed upon by all stakeholders and that the design addresses the needs and objectives of the target users.

In summary, Acceptance criteria are a set of specific, measurable, and testable requirements that a user story or feature must meet in order to be considered complete or "accepted". They are used to define the scope and objectives of a user story or feature, to ensure that the design meets the needs and expectations of the target users and to guide the design and development of the user story or feature. They also help to ensure that the requirements are clearly understood, and agreed upon by all stakeholders and that the design addresses the needs and objectives of the target users.

Why do we create Acceptance criteria?

We create acceptance criteria for several reasons:

  1. To define the scope and objectives of a user story or feature: Acceptance criteria help to clearly define what the user story or feature should accomplish and what the expected outcome should be. This helps to ensure that the design addresses the needs and objectives of the target users and that the development team is working towards a common goal.
  2. To ensure that the design meets the needs and expectations of the target users: Acceptance criteria help to ensure that the design addresses the needs and expectations of the target users, by clearly specifying what the user story or feature should accomplish and what the expected outcome should be.
  3. To guide the design and development of the user story or feature: Acceptance criteria help to guide the design and development of the user story or feature, by providing a clear set of requirements that the design and development team can work towards.
  4. To ensure that the requirements are clearly understood and agreed upon by all stakeholders: Acceptance criteria help to ensure that the requirements of the user story or feature are clearly understood and agreed upon by all stakeholders, by providing a clear and measurable set of requirements that can be used to evaluate the design.
  5. To create test cases: Acceptance criteria can be used to create test cases, which can be used to validate the design and to ensure that the product or service behaves as expected.
  6. To help track progress: Acceptance criteria can also be used as a way to track progress and measure the success of the project, when the criteria are met it means that a specific user story or feature is done.

In summary, creating acceptance criteria helps to define the scope and objectives of a user story or feature, ensure that the design meets the needs and expectations of the target users, guide the design and development of the user story or feature, ensure that the requirements are clearly understood and agreed upon by all stakeholders, create test cases and track progress.

What are the benefits of creating Acceptance criteria?

Creating acceptance criteria has several benefits:

  1. Improved project scope and objectives: Acceptance criteria help to clearly define the scope and objectives of a user story or feature, which helps to ensure that the design addresses the needs and objectives of the target users and that the development team is working towards a common goal.
  2. Increased design quality: Acceptance criteria help to ensure that the design addresses the needs and expectations of the target users, by clearly specifying what the user story or feature should accomplish and what the expected outcome should be.
  3. Enhanced design and development process: Acceptance criteria help to guide the design and development of the user story or feature, by providing a clear set of requirements that the design and development team can work towards.
  4. Better communication and collaboration: Acceptance criteria help to ensure that the requirements of the user story or feature are clearly understood and agreed upon by all stakeholders, by providing a clear and measurable set of requirements that can be used to evaluate the design.
  5. Improved testing and validation: Acceptance criteria can be used to create test cases, which can be used to validate the design and to ensure that the product or service behaves as expected.
  6. Better project tracking and evaluation: Acceptance criteria can be used to track progress and measure the success of the project, as it can be determined when the criteria are met, which means that a specific user story or feature is done.
  7. Reduced risks and improved project outcome: Having acceptance criteria in place can help to identify and mitigate potential risks early on and improve the overall outcome of the project.

In summary, creating acceptance criteria can help improve project scope and objectives, increase design quality, enhance the design and development process, improve communication and collaboration, improve testing and validation, better project tracking and evaluation and reduce risks and improve project outcome.

What deliverables will Acceptance criteria produce?

Acceptance criteria can produce several deliverables, including:

  1. Test cases: Acceptance criteria can be used to create test cases that can be used to validate the design and ensure that the product or service behaves as expected.
  2. User stories: Acceptance criteria can be used to create user stories that describe the functionality of a product or service from the perspective of the end user.
  3. Acceptance test plan: Acceptance criteria can be used to create an acceptance test plan, which outlines the steps that will be taken to test the product or service and ensure that it meets the specified requirements.
  4. Progress tracking: Acceptance criteria can be used to track progress and measure the success of the project, as it can be determined when the criteria are met, which means that a specific user story or feature is done.
  5. Evaluation report: Acceptance criteria can be used to create an evaluation report that summarises the results of the testing and validation process and highlights any issues or areas for improvement.
  6. Requirement documentation: Acceptance criteria can be used to create requirement documentation that outlines the requirements of the project in detail, making it clear what the project is supposed to accomplish.
  7. Design documentation: Acceptance criteria can be used to create design documentation that outlines how the project will be designed and developed, including the layout, functionality, and user interface of the product or service.
  8. Risk Management documentation: Acceptance criteria can be used to create risk management documentation that identifies potential risks and outlines strategies to mitigate them.

In summary, Acceptance criteria can produce various deliverables like test cases, user stories, acceptance test plans, progress tracking, evaluation report, requirement documentation, design documentation, and risk management documentation.