POPM Product Owner and Product Management Roles Practice Question
A Product Owner is working with the System Architect to define the Architectural Runway for an upcoming PI. The team has identified a critical enabler that must be completed before a high-value Feature can be delivered. However, the enabler does not directly deliver customer value. How should the Product Owner prioritize this enabler?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that enablers should be treated differently from features in prioritization, either by over-prioritizing or under-prioritizing them based on their lack of direct customer value.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Prioritize the enabler based on its cost of delay and its role in enabling the high-value Feature, potentially scheduling it just-in-time to support the Feature's delivery.
Enablers are prioritized using the same economic framework as features, considering their cost of delay and their role in enabling future value. The Product Owner should schedule the enabler just-in-time to support the dependent Feature, ensuring architectural readiness without overinvesting early. This maintains a balance between technical foundation and customer value delivery.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Prioritize the enabler based on its cost of delay and its role in enabling the high-value Feature, potentially scheduling it just-in-time to support the Feature's delivery.
Why this is correct
The Product Owner should apply economic prioritization, considering the enabler's cost of delay and its dependency relationship with the Feature. Enablers are often scheduled just-in-time to avoid unnecessary upfront investment while ensuring the Feature can be delivered. This balances technical readiness with value delivery, aligning with SAFe's guidance on enablers and architectural runway.
- ✗
Remove the enabler from the backlog and instead ask the team to work on it as a stretch goal if they have spare capacity.
Why it's wrong here
Treating a critical enabler as a stretch goal risks not completing it, which would block the high-value Feature. Enablers that are prerequisites must be planned and prioritized appropriately. Stretch goals are for optional work, not for necessary technical foundations. This approach could lead to missed PI objectives and frustrated stakeholders.
- ✗
Prioritize the enabler at the same level as the high-value Feature, because it is a prerequisite for delivering that Feature.
Why it's wrong here
While the enabler is necessary, treating it as equal priority to the Feature may overemphasize technical work and underemphasize customer value. The PO should consider the enabler's cost of delay and its role in enabling future value. Equal priority could lead to suboptimal sequencing and does not reflect the enabler's supporting nature.
- ✗
Deprioritize the enabler until after the high-value Feature is delivered, since enablers do not provide direct customer value.
Why it's wrong here
Deprioritizing the enabler would likely delay the Feature because the architectural runway would be insufficient. Enablers are essential for sustaining velocity and enabling future features. Ignoring them leads to technical debt and reduced ability to deliver value over time, violating SAFe's principle of building incrementally with a focus on quality.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Scaled Agile exam blueprint
This POPM practice question is part of Courseiva's free Scaled Agile certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the POPM exam.