Acceptance Criteria
What are Acceptance Criteria?
Acceptance Criteria are a set of conditions that a feature or product must meet to be considered complete and ready for delivery. Think of them as a checklist that defines what “done” means for a specific task or requirement.
For example, if you’re building a login feature for a website, the acceptance criteria might include:
- Users can enter their username and password
- Users receive an error message if they enter incorrect credentials
- Users are redirected to their dashboard after successful login
These criteria help everyone involved—from developers to business stakeholders—understand exactly what needs to be delivered and when the work can be considered finished. They ensure that the team builds what was actually requested and prevent misunderstandings about the scope of work.
Given / When / Then
The Acceptance Criteria in ArchRepo can be recorded as free-text and in Given / When / Then format. Given / When / Then
Benefits of Given / When / Then Format
Using the Given / When / Then format for acceptance criteria provides several advantages:
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Clarity and Structure: The format provides a clear, standardised structure that makes requirements easy to understand and follow. Each criterion is broken down into preconditions (Given), actions (When), and expected outcomes (Then).
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Testability: The format naturally translates into automated tests, making it easier for QA teams and developers to create test cases. Each Given / When / Then statement can be directly converted into a test scenario.
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Reduced Ambiguity: By explicitly stating the context, action, and expected result, this format eliminates confusion and ensures everyone interprets requirements the same way.
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Better Communication: The format bridges the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders. Business analysts, developers, and testers can all understand and contribute to criteria written in this format.
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Traceability: Each acceptance criterion becomes a discrete, trackable item that can be verified independently, making it easier to measure progress and completeness.
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Living Documentation: Given / When / Then statements serve as both requirements and test documentation, keeping specifications up-to-date with the actual system behavior.
ACs and Prompt Engineering
Acceptance Criteria are useful in standard engineering.
They also are great to provide in the prompt if you are using AI Agents.
Types of ACs in ArchRepo
ArchRepo has two types of Acceptance Criteria:
Business Acceptance Criteria
These are the criteria that business stakeholders use to understand the value of a feature or product.
They are generally at a higher level of abstraction than implementation acceptance criteria and focus on the business outcomes.
Implementation Acceptance Criteria
These are the criteria that developers use to ensure that the feature or product meets its specification.
A Business Acceptance Criteria can be linked to one or more Implementation Acceptance Criteria.
Exporting ACs
Within each Model Item’s specification, scroll down to the Acceptance Criteria section and click the Export button.