Confirmation

So, you have put your story on cards, and you have discussed it. How do you know the story is put in practice as intended? What would make you accept the story as completed? Simply put, how do you know when it's done? Those questions lead to the third pillar of user stories, the confirmation.

Request for Comment (RFC) e-mails are probably not what we are looking for, neither is asking the developers. The solution is agreeing on acceptance criteria. They have a less scientific sounding name, which tells us what they really are: story tests.

A hidden benefit of thinking about how we will test a story is finding gaps in our story and our reasoning. This is also why we invited a tester to a four-amigos meeting. 

Don't worry if your story tests are not perfect. At this stage, they don't need to be. When we create Wireflows (more on them in Chapter 4, Wireflows - Plan Your Product), we will have a much more detailed understanding and communication about the story; therefore, our acceptance criteria can be refined.