What is acceptance criteria in the context of Agile?

In the context of Agile methodologies, acceptance criteria refer to a set of conditions or standards that a user story must meet in order to be considered complete and accepted by the stakeholders. They provide a clear framework for assessing whether the user story satisfies the requirements and functions as intended. Each statement within these criteria typically outlines specific conditions, making it easy to determine if the user story passes or fails based on those conditions.

This clarity is crucial for the development team because it guides their work and serves as a basis for testing and quality assurance. It helps to ensure that everyone involved has a mutual understanding of what "done" means for a particular piece of functionality, reducing ambiguity and increasing the likelihood of delivering a product that meets user needs.

Other options fall short in defining acceptance criteria. For instance, an initial requirements document is not specific to individual user stories and does not provide the focused, testable conditions that acceptance criteria supply. A schedule of project milestones relates more to project planning and timelines rather than the specific conditions for a user story to be accepted, while a meeting agenda for stakeholder discussions is a logistical framework for meetings and does not pertain to the tangible outcomes or requirements for user stories in Agile development.