DAF Foundations OF Agile Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A team has a very large backlog of items. How should they manage it?

Accepted Answer

Regularly prioritize and refine the backlog. A large backlog should be managed through regular prioritization and refinement so that the most valuable items rise to the top and are ready for the team to pull. DA treats the backlog as a living artifact that is continuously groomed rather than a static list. This keeps the team focused on the highest-value work and prevents the backlog from becoming an unusable wish list.

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Have the project manager manage the backlog in secret

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Delete half of the backlog to reduce the workload

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Keep everything in the backlog and work on it sequentially

Question 2

Which of these is a key 'Agile' value?

Accepted Answer

Responding to change over following a plan. The Agile Manifesto explicitly states 'Responding to change over following a plan' as one of its four core values. This value acknowledges that in complex product development, requirements and understanding evolve, so the ability to adapt to changing circumstances is more valuable than rigid adherence to an upfront plan. The other three values in the Manifesto are: individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working software over comprehensive documentation, and customer collaboration over contract negotiation.

Answer

Comprehensive documentation over working software

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Following processes over individuals and interactions

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Contract negotiation over customer collaboration

Question 3

What is 'Velocity' in an agile project?

Accepted Answer

A measure of the volume of work a team completes per iteration. Velocity is a measure of the amount of work a team completes in a given iteration.

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The total number of bugs found in the product

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The number of hours worked by the team

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The speed at which the project manager moves tasks

Question 4

When a team is working on multiple projects, what is the impact on their productivity?

Accepted Answer

It increases the risk of delay and quality issues due to context switching. When a team works on multiple projects simultaneously, context switching between different domains, stakeholders, and technical stacks degrades productivity. DA explicitly warns against this and recommends limiting work in progress so teams can focus on one primary initiative at a time. The result of over-allocation is longer cycle times, more defects, and higher risk of delay.

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It allows for better utilization of team members

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It is the standard way of working in DAD

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It increases their total output

Question 5

A team is struggling with the 'Inception' phase. What is the goal of this phase in DAD?

Accepted Answer

Gain stakeholder alignment and establish a viable strategy. In Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD), the Inception phase is a short, collaborative start-up effort whose primary goal is to gain stakeholder alignment and establish a viable strategy for the initiative. It is not about producing code or completing design, but about ensuring the team and stakeholders share a common vision and direction before committing to delivery.

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Write all the code for the MVP

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Complete 100% of the project design

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Finalize the budget and vendor contracts

Question 6

Which of the following is an example of an 'Agile' feedback loop?

Accepted Answer

Conducting a product demo with stakeholders. An Agile feedback loop is any mechanism that shortens the cycle between producing work and receiving validated input from stakeholders, enabling course correction. Conducting a product demo with stakeholders is a classic feedback loop because it puts working product in front of real users or sponsors and generates actionable input that feeds the next iteration.

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Having the team work independently on features

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Creating a Gantt chart of the project timeline

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Sending a weekly status email to the project sponsor

Question 7

A team is building a high-criticality system (e.g., medical software). What is the DA approach to documentation?

Accepted Answer

Tailor documentation to meet regulatory and quality needs. DA's guidance is to tailor documentation to the actual regulatory, quality, and stakeholder needs of the system being built. For high-criticality systems like medical software, that means producing the traceability, design records, and verification evidence required by standards such as IEC 62304 or FDA design controls, but doing so incrementally rather than upfront. The principle is 'just enough documentation, just in time' scaled to risk.

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Rely solely on automated test cases as documentation

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No documentation is required as per Agile principles

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Document everything in detail before starting

Question 8

What is the primary role of an 'Agile Coach' in a DA team?

Accepted Answer

To help the team learn and improve their WoW. An Agile Coach helps the team improve their way of working, not just manage the work.

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To enforce the rules of the company

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To act as the project manager

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To perform the technical coding tasks

Question 9

What is the main benefit of having a 'cross-functional' team?

Accepted Answer

They reduce dependencies on other teams. A cross-functional team contains all the skills needed to deliver a working increment — analysis, development, testing, design, and often ops — so it does not have to wait on external specialists to complete its work. This directly reduces dependencies on other teams, which is the primary structural benefit in Disciplined Agile and other agile frameworks. Fewer handoffs means shorter feedback loops and less coordination overhead.

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They work faster than specialized teams

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They can work on more projects at once

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They don't need a team leader

Question 10

Which TWO of the following are core pillars of a 'Disciplined Agile' mindset?

Accepted Answer

Be pragmatic. Option B (Be pragmatic) is correct because Disciplined Agile's core mindset explicitly includes 'Be pragmatic' as one of its guiding principles, encouraging teams to choose the approach that works best in their situation rather than dogmatically following one method. Option C (Context counts) is also correct because Disciplined Agile emphasizes that every team, organization, and problem is unique, so the choice of lifecycle, practices, and roles must fit the specific context. Option A is wrong because Disciplined Agile supports multiple lifecycles (Agile, Lean, Continuous Delivery, etc.), not only Scrum. Option D is wrong because Disciplined Agile values quality and sustainable delivery, not sacrificing quality for speed. Option E is wrong because DA is deliberately flexible and tailorable, not a rigid process guide to be followed precisely.

Answer

Always use a Scrum-based lifecycle

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Prioritize speed over quality

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Follow the process guide precisely

Question 11

Which TWO of the following are valid ways for an Agile team to improve their way of working (WoW)?

Accepted Answer

Experiment with new practices in a controlled way. Option B is correct because Agile teams improve their way of working through deliberate experimentation: trying a new practice on a small scale, measuring its effect, and inspecting and adapting based on the results, which is the essence of empiricism. Option D is correct because the retrospective is the dedicated Scrum/Agile event where the team regularly inspects how it works and identifies concrete improvements to apply in the next iteration, making it the primary mechanism for continuous WoW improvement. Option A is not valid because blindly copying another team's process ignores the team's own context, constraints, and empirical data, and best practices cannot simply be transplanted. Option C is not valid because Agile teams are self-managing and own their process; waiting for management to dictate processes contradicts self-organization and continuous improvement. Option E is not valid because adopting identical tools does not improve a team's way of working and may not fit the team's needs, since tools are enablers rather than the source of process improvement.

Answer

Copy the process of the highest-performing team in the company

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Wait for management to dictate new processes

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Use the exact same tools as other teams

Question 12

A stakeholder wants to change the scope mid-iteration. How should the team respond?

Accepted Answer

Discuss the impact and decide whether to incorporate it now or later. In agile/iterative delivery, scope changes mid-iteration are handled through collaborative impact assessment rather than unilateral action. The team should evaluate the change's effect on the iteration goal, capacity, and commitments, then decide with the product owner whether to incorporate it now (swapping equivalent work) or defer it to the backlog for a future iteration. This preserves the iteration's integrity while remaining responsive to stakeholder needs, which is the core of agile's 'welcome changing requirements' principle.

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Accept the change and immediately stop current work

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Refuse the change immediately

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Ignore the stakeholder and finish the original work

Question 13

Which THREE of these activities are part of the 'Inception' phase in DA?

Accepted Answer

Identifying initial stakeholders. In the Disciplined Agile (DA) lifecycle, the Inception phase is the startup stage where the team is stood up and the initiative is framed before construction begins. Option B (Identifying initial stakeholders) is correct because Inception includes recognizing who has an interest in or will be affected by the solution so their needs can shape the vision. Option C (Aligning on the project vision) is correct because a primary Inception goal is to reach a shared understanding of the problem, the desired outcome, and the high-level solution direction. Option D (Forming the team) is correct because Inception covers organizing and chartering the team, including roles, initial staffing, and working agreements, so the team is ready to move into construction. Option A (Developing the complete product) belongs to the Construction/transition work, not Inception, and Option E (Closing out the final project budget) is a Transition/closeout activity, so neither is part of Inception.

Answer

Developing the complete product

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Closing out the final project budget

Question 14

Which THREE criteria are important to consider when selecting a delivery lifecycle in DA?

Accepted Answer

Project team size. In Disciplined Agile (DA), the delivery lifecycle is chosen based on context factors, and three of the options listed are genuine criteria: C (Project team size) matters because larger teams need more coordination and ceremony, favoring a more structured lifecycle such as a continuous delivery or lean lifecycle, while small teams can use lighter approaches; D (The level of uncertainty) is critical because high uncertainty favors an exploratory/agile lifecycle like Lean or Agile, whereas low uncertainty suits a more predictive or continuous delivery approach; and E (Technical complexity) is important because complex technical solutions may require more architecture, integration, and validation, influencing whether a continuous delivery, exploratory, or lean lifecycle fits best. Options A (The preferred color of the workspace) and B (The office location of the stakeholders) are not DA lifecycle selection criteria, as workspace color is irrelevant and stakeholder location is at most a minor environmental factor, not one of the core criteria for choosing a delivery lifecycle.

Answer

The preferred color of the workspace

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The office location of the stakeholders

Question 15

Which TWO of the following are common signs of 'Technical Debt'?

Accepted Answer

High defect rates in the code base. Technical debt manifests as code quality problems that slow future work, so option A (High defect rates in the code base) is correct because accumulated shortcuts, poor design, and insufficient testing typically produce more bugs and regressions. Option C (Increased difficulty in adding new features) is also correct because technical debt makes the codebase rigid and coupled, so even small changes require disproportionate effort, workarounds, or risk. Option B is not a sign of debt since thorough documentation generally reduces maintenance friction and knowledge loss. Option D is the opposite indicator: faster delivery often reflects low debt or effective practices, not accumulating debt. Option E is irrelevant because merely adopting a new IDE has no direct relationship to technical debt.

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The code is fully documented

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The team delivers features faster than ever before

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The team uses a new IDE for coding