Accepting Stories

Acceptance Testing

Product owner verifies each acceptance criterion is met.

Prerequisites

Before starting:

• Developer verification is complete
• Story log shows "Pending Product Owner Review"
• Implementation is accessible (local, deployed, or via PR)

Testing Process

1. Locate Story Log

Find the story document:

ls docs/stories/**/*.story.md

2. Review Acceptance Criteria

Read through all criteria to understand scope.

3. Test Each Criterion

For each acceptance criterion:

Criterion [N] of [Total]:

Given: [precondition]
When:  [action]
Then:  [expected result]

Steps to verify:
1. [Setup step]
2. [Action step]
3. [Verification step]

Result: [ ] Pass  [ ] Fail  [ ] Blocked
Notes: _______________

4. Record Results

If PASS: Check the criterion's checkbox in the story log

If FAIL:

• Do not check the checkbox
• Add note describing the failure
• Specify what needs to be fixed

If BLOCKED:

• Note the blocker
• Determine if it's a missing prerequisite or external dependency

5. Update Story Status

All criteria pass:

### Acceptance Checks

**Status: Accepted**

All acceptance criteria verified and passing.
Tested on: [date]

Any criteria fail:

### Acceptance Checks

**Status: Needs Revision**

Failing criteria:
- Criterion 2: [description of failure]

Required fixes:
- [Specific fix needed]

After Acceptance

• Story can proceed to final commit/push/merge
• Update epic progress table if part of an epic
• Celebrate the completed increment of user value