CTFL 4.5.1: Explain how to write user stories in collaboration with developers and business representatives
K2Syllabus section 4.5.1
3 original PrepBench practice questions for learning objective 4.5.1 of the CTFL 4.0 syllabus. Try the examples below and check each answer against its syllabus reference.
Practice questions
Question 1
Business, development, and testing representatives use brainstorming to write a user story together. Why is this collaboration useful?
- It lets business finalize the story before development and testing review it separately
- It helps the team gain a shared vision of what will be delivered from all three perspectives
- It uses the conversation to replace acceptance criteria with verbal agreement
- It assigns the Card to business, the Conversation to development, and the Confirmation to testing
Show answer
- It lets business finalize the story before development and testing review it separatelyA sequential handoff does not create the shared vision produced by writing together.
- Correct answer: It helps the team gain a shared vision of what will be delivered from all three perspectivesCollaboration creates a shared vision across business, development, and testing.
- It uses the conversation to replace acceptance criteria with verbal agreementConversation explains use; confirmation remains the acceptance criteria.
- It assigns the Card to business, the Conversation to development, and the Confirmation to testingCard, Conversation, and Confirmation are aspects of the story, not assignments to the three perspectives.
Collaboration techniques such as brainstorming and mind mapping help the team obtain a shared vision of what will be delivered by considering the business, development, and testing perspectives.
Syllabus section 4.5.1
Question 2
A user story is written by the product owner alone and handed to the team as finished. Of the three perspectives that collaborative authorship brings together, which is most clearly at risk of being absent?
- The testing perspective, alongside the business and the development perspectives
- The operations perspective, alongside the business and the support perspectives
- The architecture perspective, alongside the development and the testing perspectives
- The project management perspective, alongside the business and the development perspectives
Show answer
- Correct answer: The testing perspective, alongside the business and the development perspectivesBusiness, development and testing are the three perspectives named.
- The operations perspective, alongside the business and the support perspectivesOperations and support are not among the three perspectives named.
- The architecture perspective, alongside the development and the testing perspectivesArchitecture is not among the three perspectives named.
- The project management perspective, alongside the business and the development perspectivesProject management is not among the three perspectives named.
Collaborative authorship of a user story allows the team to obtain a shared vision of what should be delivered by taking three perspectives into account: business, development and testing. A story written by the product owner alone carries the business perspective, so it is the development and testing perspectives that are missing — and of the options offered, only the testing perspective is one of the three the syllabus names.
Syllabus section 4.5.1
Question 3
During collaborative user story writing, a business representative says they would not know how to test the story being drafted. Which reading of this is supported?
- The story may be estimable but not negotiable, so it probably has to be split
- The story may be unclear, of little value to them, or they may need help testing
- The story is likely fine; testability tends to be judged once criteria are added
- The story could go to the tester, who might write it alone from the test view
Show answer
- The story may be estimable but not negotiable, so it probably has to be splitEstimable and Negotiable are separate INVEST properties, and no such conclusion is drawn from them.
- Correct answer: The story may be unclear, of little value to them, or they may need help testingThe syllabus offers exactly these three readings of a stakeholder who cannot test a story.
- The story is likely fine; testability tends to be judged once criteria are addedTestable is a property good stories should already have; Confirmation is written collaboratively too.
- The story could go to the tester, who might write it alone from the test viewCollaborative writing takes the business, development and testing perspectives together, not in turn.
Good user stories should be Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small and Testable (INVEST). If a stakeholder does not know how to test a user story, this may indicate that the user story is not clear enough, or that it does not reflect something valuable to them, or that the stakeholder just needs help in testing. Collaborative authorship gives the team a shared vision by taking three perspectives into account: business, development and testing.
Syllabus section 4.5.1
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