How are acceptance criteria and user stories different?

User stories and acceptance criteria. Two sides of the same coin.

A user story focuses on the identity, goals and motivations of the user you’re designing for. It emphasizes the why of the new functionality.

Acceptance criteria focuses on the action taken by the user to meet their goal. It highlights the what of the new functionality.

See more acceptance criteria examples and learn to write acceptance criteria or learn other essential scrum terms.

This question comes from the FAQ section of the Everyday Scrum guide.

Related FAQs

Acceptance criteria

What's an example of acceptance criteria?

Acceptance criteria is structured using the template

  • Given that [context allowing me to take an action]
  • When [I take the action]
  • Then [a result occurs indicating success or failure]

Here are 3 examples:

Checkout process functionality

  • Given that I’ve added all the items to my cart and I’m logged in,
  • When I click the check out button,
  • Then the checkout page loads with all my payment and shipping information preloaded.

Advertising campaign

  • Given that someone fits our ideal customer persona,
  • When they search for keywords we’re targeting,
  • Then a link to a compelling offer is displayed above the fold.

Marketing campaign (Did you know you could use Scrum for marketing)

  • Given that a customer is already receiving email communications,
  • When they visit the site and engage content related to a specific product,
  • Then they will be automatically subscribed to nurturing campaign highlighting that product. Or

See more acceptance criteria examples and learn to write how to create your own or learn other essential scrum terms.

What is acceptance criteria in scrum?

Acceptance criteria is written using the following structure:

  • Given that [context allowing me to take an action]
  • When [I take the action]
  • Then [a result occurs indicating success or failure]

Learn more about how acceptance criteria is used in Scrum and explore the essential Scrum glossary.

How to write an acceptance criteria statement?

Acceptance criteria is broken down into three parts.

  • Given that [context allowing me to take an action]
  • When [I take the action]
  • Then [a result occurs indicating success or failure]

Learn more about templates for writing acceptance criteria or learn other essential scrum terms.

How are acceptance criteria and user stories different?

A user story focuses on the identity, goals and motivations of the user you’re designing for. It emphasizes the why of the new functionality.

Acceptance criteria focuses on the action taken by the user to meet their goal. It highlights the what of the new functionality.

See more acceptance criteria examples and learn to write acceptance criteria or learn other essential scrum terms.

How are acceptance criteria and the definition of done different?

Acceptance criteria is specific to an individual task, but the definition of done applies to all work done by a team. Acceptance criteria answers the question, “What will be true when this task is completed.” The definition of done answers the question, “What are we committing to do every time we complete a task?”

See more examples and learn to write acceptance criteria or learn other essential scrum terms.

Scrum user stories

What is a user story?

They keep the team focused on the value they create for the end-user and are written using the following format:

  • As a… [user]
  • I want to… [goal]
  • So that I can… [motivation] 

See examples of user stories to learn to write your own and explore the essential Scrum glossary.

What is acceptance criteria in scrum?

Acceptance criteria is written using the following structure:

  • Given that [context allowing me to take an action]
  • When [I take the action]
  • Then [a result occurs indicating success or failure]

Learn more about how acceptance criteria is used in Scrum and explore the essential Scrum glossary.

How to use acceptance criteria in project management?

I started using acceptance criteria in Scrum, but it’s an effective tool in any project management framework. For any task assigned to a team or individual, acceptance criteria can clarify what new functionality will exist when the task is completed.  

See examples of acceptance criteria or learn other essential scrum terms.

How are acceptance criteria and user stories different?

A user story focuses on the identity, goals and motivations of the user you’re designing for. It emphasizes the why of the new functionality.

Acceptance criteria focuses on the action taken by the user to meet their goal. It highlights the what of the new functionality.

See more acceptance criteria examples and learn to write acceptance criteria or learn other essential scrum terms.

Related Posts

A Tale of Two Roles: Product Owner vs. Scrum Master
Scrum Marketing
A Guide to Agile Writing
How to use Scrum to get your home projects DONE.
3 Takeaways After Writing a 6,000 Word Scrum FAQs
How can I use Scrum to manage my personal or professional development?
Agile Homeschooling
Is Scrum a methodology or a framework?
Scrum glossary and terminology cheat sheet
Learn how to apply Scrum to any type of work.
Freedom and Flexibility
Scrum vs. Agile.
A How to Guide for Writing Acceptance Criteria with Examples
What is a Scrum Development Team?
The role of the sprint goal in Scrum
How do I keep my team focused on the right work?
Getting work done as a team.
How a Scrum backlog increases team effectiveness
What is a sprint in Scrum?
What's the difference between incremental and iterative development?
How To Align The Scrum Values With Your Organizational Culture
Why does Scrum have so many meetings?
Can the Scrum Master and Product Owner be the same person?
Learn to forecast progress in Scrum
How to use story points in Scrum?
Learn to write user stories in Scrum
What is the definition of done in Scrum?
What is a product owner?
What is a Scrum Master?
What are the roles in Scrum?
How is a scrum master different than a project manager?
What if I don't have all the roles in Scrum?
Who attends each Scrum meeting?
What is a sprint review in Scrum?
How to do sprint planning in Scrum?
How does backlog refinement work in Scrum?
Keep your team in sync with a daily standup in Scrum.
How to conduct a retrospective in Scrum?
Scrum: expectations vs. reality
Is Scrum hard to learn?
What are the pros & cons of scrum?
What is the definition of Scrum?
Why use Scrum?