Acceptance Criteria Skill

Purpose

Define clear, testable acceptance criteria that specify exactly when a requirement or user story is considered complete and working correctly.

When to Use

• Writing user stories for Agile sprints

• Defining requirements in FRS

• Planning UAT test cases

• Creating Definition of Done for features

Acceptance Criteria Formats

1. Given-When-Then (Gherkin)

Structure:

Given [precondition/context] When [action/event] Then [expected outcome] And [additional outcome]

Example - Login:

Scenario: Successful login with valid credentials Given I am on the login page And I am a registered user with email "user@example.com" When I enter "user@example.com" as email And I enter "ValidPassword123" as password And I click the "Sign In" button Then I should be redirected to the dashboard And I should see a welcome message "Welcome, John" And my last login time should be updated

Scenario: Failed login with invalid password Given I am on the login page And I am a registered user When I enter valid email And I enter incorrect password And I click the "Sign In" button Then I should see error message "Invalid email or password" And I should remain on the login page And account lockout counter should increment

Scenario: Account lockout after 5 failed attempts Given I am on the login page And I have failed login 4 times When I fail login a 5th time Then my account should be locked for 30 minutes And I should see message "Account locked. Try again in 30 minutes" And I should receive a security alert email

2. Checklist Format

Example - Checkout:

User Story: Guest Checkout

Acceptance Criteria

• Guest can proceed to checkout without creating account
• Email field is required and validated
• Shipping address form includes: name, address, city, state, zip, country, phone
• All required fields show validation errors if empty on submit
• Address validation API is called and suggests corrections
• Shipping options are displayed with real-time prices
• Order summary shows all items, quantities, and prices
• Payment form accepts credit card information
• Order is created upon successful payment
• Confirmation page shows order number and details
• Confirmation email is sent within 1 minute
• Guest is offered option to create account after order

3. Scenario-Based

Example - Shopping Cart:

User Story: Add to Cart

Happy Path

• User selects product variant (size, color)
• User clicks "Add to Cart"
• Product is added to cart with correct quantity
• Cart icon updates with item count
• Mini cart shows added product confirmation
• User can continue shopping or go to cart

Edge Cases

• Out of stock: "Add to Cart" button disabled, shows "Out of Stock"
• Limited stock: Shows "Only 3 left" warning
• Maximum quantity: "Only 5 per customer" message
• Already in cart: Updates quantity instead of adding duplicate
• Variant not selected: Prompts to select variant first

Error Scenarios

• Network error: Shows "Unable to add. Please try again"
• Inventory changed: Shows "Sorry, this item is no longer available"
• Session expired: Redirects to login, preserves cart on return

Domain-Specific Examples

E-commerce: Payment Processing

Scenario: Successful credit card payment Given I have items in my cart totaling $99.99 And I am on the payment page When I enter valid card number "4242 4242 4242 4242" And I enter expiration "12/27" and CVV "123" And I click "Pay Now" Then the payment should be processed successfully And I should see order confirmation page And I should receive confirmation email And order status should be "Processing"

Scenario: Payment declined Given I am on the payment page When I enter a card that will be declined And I click "Pay Now" Then I should see "Payment declined. Please try another card" And I should remain on payment page And no order should be created And no charge should be made

Scenario: 3D Secure authentication required Given I am paying with a card requiring 3DS When I submit payment Then I should see 3D Secure popup When I complete verification Then payment should process normally

CRM: Lead Conversion

Scenario: Convert qualified lead to opportunity Given I am viewing a lead with score >= 75 And lead status is "Qualified" When I click "Convert to Opportunity" Then I should see conversion dialog And I should be able to create or select account And new contact should be created And new opportunity should be created with lead data And original lead should be marked "Converted" And conversion history should be logged

Scenario: Cannot convert unqualified lead Given I am viewing a lead with score < 60 When I click "Convert to Opportunity" Then I should see message "Lead must be qualified before conversion" And conversion dialog should not open

ERP: Purchase Order Approval

Scenario: PO auto-approved under $1000 Given I create a purchase order for $500 When I submit the PO Then PO status should be "Approved" And I should see message "Auto-approved under $1,000 threshold" And no approval notification should be sent

Scenario: PO routes to manager for approval Given I create a purchase order for $5,000 When I submit the PO Then PO status should be "Pending Approval" And my manager should receive approval notification And I should see message "Sent to manager for approval"

Scenario: Manager approves PO Given I am a manager And I have a pending PO for approval When I click "Approve" And I enter approval comments Then PO status should change to "Approved" And requestor should be notified And PO should be sent to vendor

Mobile/Web: Offline Functionality

Scenario: View cached data offline Given I have previously viewed my order history And I am now offline When I open the app And I navigate to Order History Then I should see cached orders And I should see "Offline - Last updated: [timestamp]" And I should not see loading spinner

Scenario: Attempt action that requires connectivity Given I am offline When I try to place a new order Then I should see "You're offline. Connect to place order" And I should have option to save cart for later And action should not proceed

Scenario: Auto-sync when back online Given I made changes while offline When I regain internet connection Then app should automatically sync changes And I should see brief "Syncing..." indicator And I should see "Up to date" when complete

Best Practices

Writing Good Acceptance Criteria

✅ Do:

• Be specific and measurable

• Cover happy path AND edge cases

• Include error scenarios

• Make each criterion independently testable

• Use consistent language

• Consider user perspective

• Include data validation rules

• Specify timing requirements (if applicable)

❌ Don't:

• Be vague ("system should be fast")

• Skip error handling

• Assume implied knowledge

• Make criteria too granular (test case level)

• Forget about edge cases

• Mix multiple features in one criterion

Testability Checklist

• Can QA write a test case from this?

• Is the expected outcome clear?

• Can we objectively say pass/fail?

• Are values specified (not "valid input")?

• Are timing requirements specified?

Completeness Checklist

• Happy path covered?

• Error cases covered?

• Edge cases covered?

• Empty/null states covered?

• Permission/access scenarios covered?

• Mobile/responsive scenarios covered?

Common Patterns

Form Validation

Given field X is empty When user submits form Then error "X is required" is shown below field X And field X is highlighted in red And form is not submitted

List/Search

Given there are N items matching criteria When user searches for [criteria] Then N results are displayed And results are sorted by [default sort] And each result shows [fields]

CRUD Operations

Create: Input validation, success message, list updates Read: Display correct data, handle empty state Update: Validate changes, show success, reflect changes Delete: Confirm prompt, success message, item removed

Tools

• Lark/Notion: Document criteria with user stories

• Jira: Acceptance criteria field in story

• Gherkin: Formal BDD syntax for automation

• Cucumber/SpecFlow: Automated testing with Gherkin

Next Steps

After writing acceptance criteria:

• Review with Product Owner

• Review with QA for testability

• Include in Definition of Ready

• Use for UAT test case creation

References

• Behavior Driven Development (BDD)

• Gherkin Syntax Reference

• User Story Mapping (Jeff Patton)