Minimum Acceptance Criteria
Mandatory baseline conditions set by a business unit. These conditions are included in the acceptance criteria for every user story from that unit, and any functionality delivered must meet them for the Product Owner to accept the work.
Key Points
- Defined by the business unit, not by the delivery team.
- Applied to every user story from that unit as part of its acceptance criteria.
- They are the minimum bar; story-specific criteria can be added but cannot weaken them.
- Product Owner acceptance depends on meeting these conditions; unmet items block acceptance.
Example
A finance business unit sets minimum acceptance criteria such as audit logging, encryption of sensitive data, and role-based access. A user story like "Export monthly statements" must implement logging of all exports, encrypt files at rest and in transit, and restrict access to authorized roles; otherwise the Product Owner will not accept the story.
PMP Example Question
In an agile project, what best describes Minimum Acceptance Criteria for a business unit?
- The team's Definition of Done for all backlog items across the program.
- Baseline conditions set by the business unit that every one of its user stories must satisfy to be accepted.
- Optional stretch goals the team pursues if there is extra capacity.
- The Product Owner's personal preferences for the current sprint only.
Correct Answer: B — Baseline conditions set by the business unit that apply to all of its user stories
Explanation: Minimum Acceptance Criteria are mandatory, unit-defined conditions included in each user story's acceptance criteria and used by the Product Owner for acceptance; they are not optional, not the team's Definition of Done, and not ad hoc preferences.
