Acceptance Criteria That Actually Work: The Spec's Secret Weapon

How to write observable, unambiguous, complete, and independent acceptance criteria that translate directly into automated tests and AI-executable contracts.

Diagram showing Given-When-Then acceptance criteria flowing into automated tests

Acceptance Criteria That Actually Work: The Spec's Secret Weapon

Acceptance criteria define what "done" means in a way that both humans and machines can verify. Weak criteria create endless review cycles and subjective debates. Strong criteria make verification almost automatic.

What Makes Acceptance Criteria Useful

A useful acceptance criterion has four properties: