Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance criteria define what “done” means before a change is shipped.
Enterprise-grade acceptance criteria are measurable, testable, and tied to KPIs/SLOs.
Strong acceptance criteria
- Measurable outcomes (not opinions).
- Covers functional + non-functional requirements.
- Includes rollback triggers and verification steps.
- Defines required evidence for auditability.
See also
Delivery & Change Reference Model Quality Gates Verification & Diffing Release Runbook VerificationFAQ
What makes acceptance criteria enterprise-grade?
Measurable, testable, includes non-functional requirements, and maps to KPIs/SLOs.
Who writes acceptance criteria?
Product + engineering + operations/security for non-functional criteria. Ownership should be explicit.
How do acceptance criteria relate to quality gates?
Gates enforce acceptance criteria automatically or via controlled checks.
What’s a common failure mode?
Vague criteria (“works well”) or missing non-functional criteria (performance, security, rollback).
What’s the first improvement?
Create a checklist of standard criteria per change type and enforce one or two via automation.