Write acceptance criteria as observable business behavior under specific conditions. A reviewer should be able to decide whether the requirement passed without interpreting a vague promise.
Prepared with AI assistance. These are practical scoping recommendations; examples are illustrative, not client results.
Use a concrete starting state
Describe who is acting, what record exists, and which condition applies. For an assignment workflow, identify an unassigned request and an authorized coordinator. Then state the action and expected outcome. Include the owner and status that should be visible after the action completes.
Include a negative example
Specify what should happen when the user lacks permission, required information is missing, or the action has already happened. These cases clarify the boundaries of the feature. A requirement that only describes the successful path can leave important operating decisions unresolved until testing.
Separate outcomes from preferences
A required confirmation, stored record, and accessible error message can be checked. A statement such as easy to use needs a task and an evaluation method. Visual preferences also matter, but keep them distinct from the behavior required to complete the business process.
Agree before the demonstration
Share the examples with the delivery team and business reviewer before development is accepted. Use them with representative data during the review and record the result. If the criterion changes, identify whether the original requirement was misunderstood or the business is requesting new behavior.