acceptance criteria
noun, plural
Acceptance criteria are agreed, testable conditions that a product, feature or change must meet to be accepted.
The acceptance criteria specify that a customer is temporarily blocked from trying again after three failed login attempts.
Acceptance criteria clarify what a piece of work must deliver. They describe specific behaviour that a client, Glossary · In briefproduct ownerIn Scrum, the product owner is accountable for maximizing product value and managing the product backlog. They order the work and communicate the product goal.Read more, developer or tester can check. The team knows what a feature needs to do before development begins.
What makes good acceptance criteria?
A criterion describes an observable outcome. For a search feature, the agreement might be that users can filter by date and that an empty search produces a clear message. Statements such as “the page works well” or “the system is user-friendly” are difficult to test and leave room for different interpretations.
Teams often write these criteria during Glossary · In briefrefinementRefinement is the ongoing clarification, breakdown and estimation of backlog work so the team understands what each item involves.Read more. They discuss exceptions, user permissions and error messages, identifying unresolved decisions before work on a feature begins. The criteria can then serve as a basis for manual checks or automated tests.
Acceptance criteria and other agreements
Acceptance criteria usually apply to one task, user story or change on the Glossary · In briefbacklogA backlog is an ordered, evolving list of work for a product or project. Its order helps a team decide what to investigate or implement first.Read more. They specify what that particular delivery must do. They can also define boundaries: which situations fall within the Glossary · In briefscopeScope defines the boundaries of a project or assignment: which goals, activities and results are included and which are excluded.Read more, and which do not?
A team may also apply general quality requirements to all its work, such as mandatory Glossary · In briefcode reviewA code review is an assessment of a code change by another developer. They check its behaviour, readability, and maintainability, among other things, before the change is merged.Read more, documentation or passing tests. These working agreements cover multiple tasks. Acceptance criteria add conditions specific to the feature in question. Even when all criteria have been met, further discussion is needed if an agreement is unclear or changes along the way.