Definition
Acceptance Criteria define how it will be known that a piece of engineering work is done, and done correctly. They are a required part of a Specification, alongside objectives, constraints, assumptions, and expected behavior.
Why It Matters
A specification without acceptance criteria leaves "done" as a matter of opinion. Acceptance Criteria give implementers — human or AI — a concrete, checkable target, and they give reviewers a basis for evaluating whether implementation actually satisfies the specification it was built from.
Related Concepts
- Specification
- Specification-Driven Development
- Constraint
- Validation
References
- STD-0002 — Specification-Driven Development
- STD-0005 — UX-First Engineering
- STD-0006 — Design System-First Engineering
- GUIDE-0001 — Thinking in Specifications