PMI-ACP Product Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which THREE activities are part of product backlog refinement?

Accepted Answer

Re-ordering items based on current priorities.. Backlog refinement is the ongoing activity of reviewing and improving the product backlog, and re-ordering items based on current priorities (B) is a core part of it because the Product Owner continuously reprioritizes items so the most valuable work sits at the top for upcoming sprints. Estimating the size of backlog items (D) is also part of refinement, since the team assigns relative estimates (e.g., story points) to items so they can be planned and forecast effectively. Adding detail to user stories (E) is likewise correct, as refinement involves clarifying, splitting, and elaborating items with acceptance criteria so they are ready for a future sprint. The daily stand-up (A) is a separate Scrum event for inspecting progress toward the sprint goal, not a refinement activity, and defining the product's annual budget (C) is a financial/portfolio activity outside the scope of backlog refinement.

Answer

Conducting the daily stand-up meeting.

Answer

Defining the product's annual budget.

Question 2

Which THREE items are typically included in a user story?

Accepted Answer

Business value/benefit.. A user story is a short, simple description of a feature told from the perspective of the person who desires the new capability, so it typically includes the user role (option B), which identifies who wants the functionality (e.g., 'As a [role]'). It also includes the desired functionality (option D), which states what the user wants to accomplish (e.g., 'I want [feature]'), and the business value/benefit (option A), which explains why the feature matters (e.g., 'so that [benefit]'). These three elements form the classic 'As a , I want , so that ' template. Options C and E are not part of a user story: a complete database schema is a technical design artifact, and full source code is an implementation detail, both of which are far too detailed and belong to later development phases, not to the user story itself.

Answer

Complete database schema.

Answer

The full source code of the feature.

Question 3

Which TWO of the following are benefits of maintaining a prioritized product backlog?

Accepted Answer

It ensures the highest value items are addressed early.. Option C is correct because a prioritized product backlog orders items by business value, risk, or dependency, so the highest-value work is pulled into early sprints and delivered sooner, maximizing return on investment. Option D is correct because the ordered backlog is a visible artifact that shows stakeholders exactly what the team plans to work on next and why, giving transparency into current priorities and enabling informed feedback. Options A, B, and E do not belong: a prioritized backlog cannot eliminate all technical debt (A), cannot guarantee on-time delivery since estimates and impediments still vary (B), and does not remove the need for sprint planning, where the team selects and decomposes backlog items into a sprint goal (E).

Answer

It allows the team to avoid all technical debt.

Answer

It guarantees that the project will finish on time.

Answer

It eliminates the need for sprint planning.

Question 4

Which THREE factors should influence the priority of a product backlog item?

Accepted Answer

Business value to the customer.. Option C (business value to the customer) is correct because backlog prioritization should maximize delivered value, so items that provide greater customer or business benefit are ranked higher. Option D (cost of development) is correct because the effort and resources required affect return on investment; a high-value item that is cheap to build may outrank an equally valuable but expensive one. Option E (technical risk or uncertainty) is correct because high-risk or uncertain items are often prioritized early to reduce unknowns, validate assumptions, and avoid costly late rework. Option A is not a valid factor because prioritization must be based on value and risk rather than developers' personal preferences, and Option B is irrelevant since the visual formatting of a story description has no bearing on its business importance.

Answer

The personal preference of the developers.

Answer

The font size of the story description.

Question 5

Which TWO methods are effective for gathering stakeholder feedback?

Accepted Answer

Observing users while they use the product.. Option A is correct because direct observation of users interacting with the product (e.g., usability testing or contextual inquiry) yields firsthand, unbiased behavioral data about real pain points, workflows, and unmet needs that stakeholders may not articulate in words. Option D is correct because sprint reviews are a formal Scrum inspect-and-adapt event where the team demonstrates a potentially shippable Increment to stakeholders, who then provide structured feedback that feeds directly into the Product Backlog for the next Sprint. Option B is wrong because ignoring feedback does not prevent scope creep—it merely hides requirements and risks delivering a product that fails to meet stakeholder needs. Option C is wrong because relying on a single stakeholder produces a biased, unrepresentative view and excludes other legitimate perspectives. Option E is wrong because collecting survey data without analyzing the results generates no actionable insight and wastes stakeholders' time.

Answer

Ignoring feedback to prevent scope creep.

Answer

Asking only one stakeholder for their opinion.

Answer

Sending a survey and never looking at the results.

Question 6

Which THREE are common pitfalls in product backlog management?

Accepted Answer

Having a backlog that is too large to navigate.. Option A is correct because an excessively large backlog becomes unnavigable, obscuring priorities and making it hard for the Product Owner to keep the most valuable items at the top for the team. Option C is correct because without regular backlog refinement (grooming), items grow stale, estimates become unreliable, and the team loses shared understanding of upcoming work. Option E is correct because deferring technical debt until it causes failures is a classic backlog-management pitfall that eventually cripples velocity and product stability. Option B does not belong because involving the team in planning is a recommended agile practice, not a pitfall. Option D does not belong because a clear, prioritized backlog is the desired state of good backlog management, not a pitfall.

Answer

Involving the team in the planning process.

Answer

Having a clear and prioritized backlog.

Question 7

Which THREE items should be in the Definition of Done (DoD)?

Accepted Answer

Code reviewed by a peer.. Option A is correct because peer code review is a standard quality gate in a Definition of Done, ensuring another developer inspects the change for defects, standards compliance, and maintainability before it is considered complete. Option D is correct because passing all automated tests verifies that the increment meets its acceptance criteria and has not broken existing functionality, which is a core DoD criterion. Option E is correct because updating documentation for the feature ensures knowledge transfer, maintainability, and supportability, all of which are typical DoD requirements. Option B does not belong because rewarding the team with a bonus is a management or HR matter, not a quality criterion for a completed increment. Option C does not belong because CEO sign-off on code is not a practical or standard DoD item; the Product Owner, not the CEO, typically accepts the increment.

Answer

The team has been rewarded with a bonus.

Answer

The CEO has signed off on the code.

Question 8

Which THREE of the following are essential for a good user story?

Accepted Answer

It is independent of other stories.. Option B is correct because good user stories should be independent, meaning they can be developed, tested, and delivered without being tightly coupled to other stories, which supports flexible prioritization and reduces dependencies. Option D is correct because a user story must deliver clear value to the user or customer; this is the core purpose of a story and ensures the work is meaningful rather than purely technical. Option E is correct because a good user story should be small enough to be completed within a single sprint, aligning with the INVEST criteria's 'Small' principle and enabling reliable iteration planning. Option A is incorrect because user stories should be written in plain, business-oriented language rather than complex technical jargon, so that stakeholders and developers can understand them. Option C is incorrect because user stories should be concise and short, not thousands of pages long; excessive length indicates poor decomposition and defeats the purpose of a lightweight requirements artifact.

Answer

It is written in complex technical jargon.

Answer

It is thousands of pages long.

Question 9

A Scrum team is building a mobile banking app. The Product Owner has a product backlog with 120 items, but the team often complains that the highest-priority items are too vague to estimate. Which action best applies the principle of progressive elaboration to improve the backlog?

Accepted Answer

Break down the top 10-15 backlog items into smaller, detailed stories with acceptance criteria, while leaving lower-priority items coarse.. Progressive elaboration means elaborating backlog items at the last responsible moment, focusing detail on what is near-term. Refining the top items into smaller stories with acceptance criteria gives the team enough information to estimate and plan upcoming sprints. Leaving lower-priority items coarse avoids wasted analysis. This approach directly resolves the team's complaint while preserving agility.

Answer

Ask the team to estimate all 120 items in a single two-day estimation workshop to create a complete baseline.

Answer

Delegate all backlog refinement to a business analyst and have the team only review finalized stories at sprint planning.

Answer

Create a detailed Gantt chart mapping all 120 backlog items to specific sprints over the next 18 months.

Question 10

A product team is using a Kanban board to manage a continuous flow of feature requests. The Product Owner wants to limit work in progress (WIP) to improve cycle time but is unsure which column should have the strictest WIP limit. The team's workflow is: Backlog -> Analysis -> Development -> Testing -> Done. Where should the strictest WIP limit typically be applied, and why?

Accepted Answer

Testing, because it is often the bottleneck where work accumulates and limits flow.. In Kanban, WIP limits are most effective when applied to the bottleneck to prevent queue buildup and improve flow. Testing is frequently the bottleneck in software teams due to environment setup, specialized testers, or rework. A strict WIP limit there forces the team to swarm on testing, reduces multitasking, and shortens cycle time. The correct answer reflects the flow-based principle of managing the constraint.

Answer

Backlog, because too many items waiting creates unrealistic expectations.

Answer

Development, because it is usually the longest and most resource-intensive stage.

Answer

Done, because completed items should be removed quickly to free capacity.

Question 11

A Product Owner is preparing a product roadmap for a new SaaS platform. Stakeholders have conflicting priorities: sales wants custom features for a large client, while engineering wants to reduce technical debt. Which TWO actions best align with agile product management principles to balance these competing demands? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Prioritize backlog items based on customer value, risk, and dependency, and make the prioritization transparent to stakeholders.. Balancing competing demands requires value-based prioritization and explicit capacity allocation for technical debt. Transparent prioritization helps stakeholders see trade-offs, while dedicating capacity to debt prevents its accumulation. Together, these actions align with agile principles of delivering value sustainably and managing stakeholders collaboratively. They also empower the Product Owner to make informed decisions without overcommitting the team.

Answer

Ask the engineering team to work overtime for several sprints to deliver both custom features and technical debt fixes.

Answer

Commit to delivering all custom features for the large client in the next sprint to secure the contract.

Answer

Escalate the conflict to senior management and ask them to decide the priority order for the Product Owner.

Question 12

A product team is six sprints into a new product. The Product Owner has been ordering the product backlog strictly by business value, but the team keeps discovering late that some high-value features are technically infeasible. What should the Product Owner do to improve the ordering of the product backlog?

Accepted Answer

Include the team's technical feasibility assessment and effort estimates when ordering the backlog, balancing value against risk and cost of delay.. Product backlog ordering is a Product Owner accountability, but effective ordering requires collaboration with the team that provides feasibility and effort information. By combining business value with technical risk and cost of delay, the Product Owner can sequence items so that uncertain or infeasible high-value features are explored early. This reduces late surprises and keeps the backlog a living, transparent artifact that reflects both value and technical reality.

Answer

Move all technically complex items to the bottom of the backlog permanently so the team only works on simple, low-risk features.

Answer

Ask the team to stop raising feasibility concerns and commit to the highest-value items first, since the Product Owner owns backlog ordering.

Answer

Have the team create a separate technical backlog that the Product Owner is not allowed to see or prioritize.

Question 13

A Scrum team is preparing for its first Sprint Review with a new stakeholder group. The Product Owner wants the review to focus on the actual product increment rather than a slide deck. Which approach best aligns with agile product management?

Accepted Answer

Demonstrate the working increment, invite stakeholders to explore it, and use their feedback to adapt the product backlog.. The Sprint Review is a collaborative inspect-and-adapt event where stakeholders examine the working increment and provide feedback that shapes the product backlog. Demonstrating the actual product and inviting hands-on exploration generates richer, more actionable input than any report. This keeps the focus on delivering value and ensures stakeholders participate in product direction rather than merely approving status.

Answer

Use the time to have each developer read their completed tasks from the sprint backlog aloud while the Product Owner records attendance.

Answer

Present a detailed PowerPoint status report covering planned versus actual story points and ask stakeholders to sign off on the next sprint's scope.

Answer

Cancel the review and instead email stakeholders a link to the build so they can test it on their own time and reply with comments.

Question 14

A Product Owner is ordering a product backlog for a mobile banking app. Two items are candidates for the next sprint: a regulatory compliance feature with a fixed legal deadline in three weeks, and a customer-delight feature expected to raise engagement significantly but with no external deadline. Using cost of delay reasoning, how should the Product Owner sequence these items?

Accepted Answer

Sequence the regulatory compliance feature first because its cost of delay is high and time-critical due to the fixed legal deadline, then the customer-delight feature.. Cost of delay weighs both the value of a feature and how much that value erodes over time. A regulatory item with a fixed legal deadline has a steeply rising cost of delay, so it should precede a higher-value but non-time-critical delight feature. This sequencing minimizes total economic loss and preserves the opportunity to deliver the delight value after the compliance obligation is met.

Answer

Sequence the customer-delight feature first because it has the highest overall business value and will please the largest number of users.

Answer

Sequence the customer-delight feature first and negotiate a deadline extension with the regulator, since agile teams should avoid fixed-date commitments.

Answer

Split the team so both features are built simultaneously, accepting that neither may be fully complete by the regulatory deadline.

Question 15

A Product Owner notices that a user story describing an online checkout flow is too large to complete in a single sprint and keeps getting partially done. What is the most appropriate agile action to improve product flow?

Accepted Answer

Split the story into smaller, independently valuable slices that each satisfy the Definition of Done within a sprint.. Oversized stories that cannot meet the Definition of Done within a sprint disrupt flow and hide progress. Slicing them into smaller vertical increments, each independently valuable and completable within the timebox, restores predictable delivery and frequent feedback. This keeps the product backlog healthy and aligns with agile principles of small batches, sustainable pace, and potentially releasable increments.

Answer

Allow the team to carry the partially completed checkout story into the next sprint and count it toward that sprint's goal.

Answer

Ask the developers to work overtime to complete the full checkout story within the current sprint without changing its scope.

Answer

Extend the sprint length from two weeks to four weeks so the team has more time to finish the large checkout story.