What are "Acceptance Criteria" and where should we capture them?

[nelsonic]

Each ("User") Story that we work on has a basic requirement which is captured in the story. However in order to satisfy that requirement we need a precise "Acceptance Criteria".

What are good examples of Acceptance Criteria and where should we keep them?

My suggestion is that we keep the Acceptance Criteria as a checklist in the first Comment of the GitHub issue so that everyone is clear where to look for the criteria; the added advantage is that we get the "progression": So everyone can see at a glance in the backlog (issue) "list" view how much is still required to complete the story.

Thoughts? Suggestions welcome! 👍

[iteles]

This is ABSOLUTELY required and will be super useful to everyone as not often used correctly 👍

[Cleop]

I've had great experiences using acceptance criteria with front end work in particular. It helps a developer and PO work towards the same expectations. So rather than saying 'implement homepage UI' and pasting in a screenshot of the design. It breaks this down to:

• [ ] Center and resize title logo
• [ ] Add horizontal divide between 'introduction' section and 'what we do' section
• [ ] Update cover image to new one as per design

etc.

Otherwise designs can often have so many elements in them that some can get overlooked, or in the more initial stages of a project in instances where a design may not be final, developers may wish for clarity on which bits of a design they should be investing their time in (not knowing which parts are likely subject to change).

[vastris]

Absolutely spot-on! Clear and concise acceptance criteria are the linchpin of successful story completion. Your idea of keeping them as a checklist in the first GitHub issue comment is brilliant—it not only provides transparency but also streamlines progress tracking. It aligns perfectly with the essence of what is an acceptance criteria by ensuring a shared understanding and a visual gauge of how much work remains. Great suggestion!