Agile Testing
Acceptance Criteria
Specific conditions a user story must satisfy to be considered complete and accepted by the Product Owner.
Full definition
Acceptance criteria are the conditions that a user story must satisfy to be accepted as done. They define the boundaries of the story and provide the basis for testing.
Formats:
Given-When-Then (Gherkin):
- Given: The initial state/precondition
- When: The action the user takes
- Then: The expected outcome
Example:
- Given a registered user with valid credentials
- When they enter email and password and click Login
- Then they are redirected to the dashboard
- And they see a welcome message with their name
Checklist format:
- [ ] Email field validates format
- [ ] Password requires 8+ characters
- [ ] 'Remember me' checkbox persists session for 30 days
- [ ] Error message shows for invalid credentials
- [ ] Account locks after 5 failed attempts
Why acceptance criteria matter for QA:
- They are your primary source of test cases
- They define what 'done' means
- They prevent scope creep
- They align QA, development, and product on expectations