Acceptance Criteria

Definition

Acceptance criteria are conditions that must be met for a Product Backlog Item to be accepted by clients, end users, or other stakeholders.

Context

Acceptance criteria help teams working in agile environments clarify what success looks like for each Product Backlog Item. They reduce ambiguity, create a shared understanding of expectations, and help teams know when work is complete. This improves product quality and makes it easier to verify that a feature meets stakeholder needs.

Description

Acceptance criteria are often defined for Product Backlog Items such as User Stories. They provide clear, testable statements that describe how a feature must behave to be considered done. By formulating these criteria early and refining them during product backlog refinement sessions, teams can uncover misunderstandings and address them before development begins.

Well-written acceptance criteria follow the SMART mnemonic:

• Specific -- clearly describe the expected behavior

• Measurable -- the outcome can be verified

• Achievable -- the team is capable of doing this

• Relevant -- directly address the user's need

• Time-bound -- if applicable, define a time-related expectation

Example

Consider the following User Story:
" a user, I want my private data to be secure so that no unauthorized person can access it."

An acceptance criterion for this User Story could be, "The user must be able to successfully log in to their account using their email and password."

This criterion is specific (describes the login process), measurable (can be verified), achievable (the team can deliver it), relevant (addresses security), and time-bound (can be validated within the sprint).

Common Misunderstandings

A common misconception is that acceptance criteria are the same as a Definition of Done. In reality, acceptance criteria apply to a single Product Backlog Item, while the Definition of Done applies to all work the team delivers.

Want to Learn More?

Read the User Story article to understand how acceptance criteria complement this popular backlog item format. Explore the Product Backlog Refinement article to learn how acceptance criteria fit into refinement sessions. Or watch the video about Product Backlog Refinement below.