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EXIN certification > Product Owner > Flashcards

Product Owner Flashcards

1
Q

What are the desirable characteristics of a product owner (5)?

A

a product manager is supposed to be

  • a visionary and doer
  • a leader and team player
  • a communicator and negotiator
  • empowered and committed
  • available and qualified

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 3ff)

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2
Q

What does primus inter pares mean in regards to the product owner?

A

first among peers

it means he/she is part of the scrum team, but is the person who takes on responsibility (for the end result, the product)

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 4)

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3
Q

Who needs to be satisfied in order for a product to be successful?

A

customer and user

“Only if enough customers buy the product and the users find it beneficial will the product be a success in the marketplace.”

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 10)

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4
Q

Which factors decide how many teams a product owner can support?

A
  • product’s newness
  • product’s complexity
  • domain knowledge of the teams

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 12)

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5
Q

Explain the difference between feature teams and component teams. What is the preferred setup in a company?

A

FEATURE teams create features, vertical slices that cut through different layers of the software architecture. A feature team is organized around a product backlog. This is the preferred setup, because it’s easier to handle.

COMPONENT teams create components or subsystems and are organized around the software architecture. They might need more technical specifications than user stories can provide. There will most likely be a lot of hand offs between the components.

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 15f)

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6
Q

Whats “death by committee”?

A

“Death by committee” happens when there is no hierarchy and no one is in charge of making decisions. It means that a group of people can get lost in discussions, fighting each other and progress stalls.

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 20)

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7
Q

What are the desirable qualities of the product vision (3)?

A
  • shared and unifying
  • broad and engaging
  • short and sweet (elevator pitch)

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 25ff)

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8
Q

What are MVP and MMP?

A

minimal viable product
- smallest part of the product that delivers a value (this can be internal and for example also market research)

minimal marketable product
- part of the product that delivers minimum functionality for the customers needs

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 27f)

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9
Q

What’s the principle of Ockham’s Razor?

A

simplicity - the simplest design (solution) should be selected

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 31)

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10
Q

What’s the difference between functional and nonfunctional product attributes?

A

FUNCTIONAL ones are features in that sense, visible attributes of the product.

NONFUNCTIONAL attributes include performance, robustness, style, design, usability and scalability.

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 33)

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11
Q

Name 6 techniques for creating a product vision.

A
  • prototypes and mock-ups
  • personas and scenarios
  • use cases and user stories
  • sequences and storyboards
  • vision boxes and reviews
  • Kano Model (and relative weighting)

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 37ff)

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12
Q

What is spiking/what are spikes?

A
  • type of research or prototyping
  • writing code without coding standards –> testing a new idea or technology
  • code is deleted afterwards

(source: scrum handbook, p. 86/agile product management with scrum, p. 37)

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13
Q

Explain the Kano analysis and relative weighting.

A

KANO: - customer questioning

  • How would you feel with the presence of the feature? / How would you feel with the absence of the feature?
  • split into exciters & delighters, performance/linear and must-have/mandatory

WEIGHTING: assessed by experts (lead by PO)

(source: Agile Estimating and Planning, Chapter 11)

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14
Q

For how long should you pre-plan a product roadmap?

A

6-12 months

source: agile product management with scrum, p. 42

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15
Q

What are the 5 common mistakes when creating a product vision?

A
  • no vision
  • prophecy vision
  • analysis paralysis
  • we know best what is good for our customers
  • big is beautiful

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 43ff)

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16
Q

What is a “feature soup” and how is it caused?

A

It’s a product with a lot of features, requested by customers, without any consideration of a connection. It is caused by the lack of a vision (no vision).

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 43)

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17
Q

Explain the acronym DEEP and what must be DEEP.

A

the whole product backlog

Detailed (appropriately)
Estimated
Emergent (dynamic/evolving)
Prioritized

(source: scrum handbook, p. 82/agile product management with scrum, p. 48f)

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18
Q

How much of the teams time should be allocated for grooming/refinement?

A

up to 10%

source: agile product management with scrum, p. 50

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19
Q

What are the 4 steps of the grooming process?

A
  • discovering and describing items
  • prioritizing the backlog
  • getting ready for sprint planning
  • sizing items

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 51-68)

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20
Q

What are the 6 factors when prioritizing the backlog?

A
  • value
  • knowledge
  • uncertainty
  • risk
  • releasability
  • dependencies

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 55)

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21
Q

What should a PO do, if there are two user stories that are dependent on each other?

A

combine the items and split them differently

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 58)

there’s an example in the book

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22
Q

Why use a non-linear scale (f.e. Fibonacci) for Story Points?

A

to show a higher amount of uncertainty the bigger the estimate is

AND

to avoid discussions about the right value

(source: Agile Estimating and Planning, Chapter 6/agile product management with scrum, p. 65)

23
Q

List the 5 principles of XP.

A

name: extreme programming

  • pair programming
  • collective ownership
  • continuous integration
  • continuous refactoring
  • test driven development (TDD)

(source: scrum handbook, p. 82)

24
Q

List the 5 principles and values of Lean. What is Lean trying to achieve?

A

value -> value stream -> flow -> pull -> perfection

maximize customer value while minimizing waste

(source: scrum master handout, p. 23)

25
Q

What is specific for the Crystal framework?

A

Focus on people, talents and personal safety.

elements:
people, interactions, community, skills, talents, communication

properties:

  1. frequent delivery
  2. reflective improvement
  3. osmotic or near communication
  4. personal safety
  5. focus
  6. easy access to expert users
  7. automated tests & frequent integration

colors:

  • Crystal clear (active) for < 6 people
  • Crystal yellow (active) for < 20 people
  • Crystal orange (active) for < 40 people
  • Crystal web orange
  • Crystal red (active) for < 80 people
  • Crystal maroon (active) for < 200 people
  • Crystal diamond
  • Crystal sapphire

clear is for lightweight projects up to sapphire for projects with potential risk to human life

(source: agile methodologies, p. 2/Wikipedia)

26
Q

Explain what Kanban is.

A
  • work should be visualized
  • WIP should be limited
  • work should be pulled instead of pushed
  • to do, doing and done (minimum) as categories

(source: scrum handbook, p. 96)

27
Q

List the 7 principles and a few goals of DevOps.

A

name: Development & Operations

Principles: plan (code) -> create (build) -> verify (test) -> package -> release -> configure -> monitor

Goals: include business people, automation (AUTOMATED PIPELINES), testable, high quality, blame-free culture

(source: scrum master handout, p. 25)

28
Q

What are acceptance criteria? Where are they written down?

A

Criteria to ensure functionality of a user story; they are written down in the user story.

(source: PO handout, p. 50)

29
Q

What’s the difference between local and global requirements? Where are they each stored?

A

A local requirement defines requirements for one specific user story and therefore is written down in the acceptance criteria of the user story.

A global requirement (probably nonfunctional) is a requirement to the system itself and should be written down in the DoD.

(source: PO handout, p. 59)

30
Q

How are a product vision, a product roadmap and a release plan different from each other?

A

VISION - It’s just a very broad goal for the product. It’s aspiring and will not be reached within the next releases.

ROADMAP - It’s a general plan of where the product is supposed to develop to. It spans over multiple months and multiple releases.

RELEASE PLAN - This is a high level plan of the product functionalities with respective releases. It includes the velocity (forecast) and dependencies.

(source: PO handout, p. 71ff)

31
Q

If you scale an agile project and you have multiple teams, should you also use multiple product backlogs? Why?

A

No, always use only one PB, if necessary with different views for different teams. It avoids an overhead of maintenance and shows dependencies early on.

(source: PO handout, p. 82)

32
Q

What’s the business value?

A

Whatever the company decides is valuable. It can be money, but also reputation, technologies, growth…

(source: PO handout, p. 94)

33
Q

What’s fast-track estimation? Is it a good way to estimate?

A

It’s a bit like affinity estimation - You draw a board with the story point categories and members of the team will put the user stories where they think they should go. If someone spots something in the wrong category, he/she can move the item. Since there is no discussion, estimates will be of lower quality. This should only be done if in a rush, not as a regular estimating method.

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 67f)

34
Q

What are operational requirements?

A

nonfunctional requirements

source: agile product management with scrum, p. 68

35
Q

What’s CMM, list and explain the 5 stages.

A

name: Capabilty Maturity Model Integration

It’s a scale for measuring the maturity of a company

  1. Initial (awareness they need change)
  2. Managed (some processes are in place)
  3. Defined (defined processes are in place)
  4. Quantitatively managed (they have KPIs to monitor)
  5. Optimizing (they are taking action)

(source: scrum master handout, p.26)

36
Q

What’s “extending the grooming horizon”?

A

Decomposing and refining the backlog focusing on the next two to three sprints.

(source: SCRUM POB Musterexamen 2019, question 14/20 and agile product management with scrum, p. 71)

37
Q

What is Staging?

A

defining and prioritizing the nonfunctional requirements for scaling

It is important to define these requirements and let one team realize the infrastructure before the other Development Teams start to run their Sprints. Otherwise a lot of nonfunctional escaped defects will occur after deploying products into production.

(source: SCRUM PO Musterexamen 2019, question 28/40)

38
Q

What are 5 common mistakes with the product backlog?

A
  • disguised requirements specification (like in classic project management)
  • wish list for santa
  • requirements push (PO writes and grooms the PB alone)
  • grooming neglect
  • competing backlogs (one team has to work on multiple backlogs - if so, they should focus on one PB per sprint or even multiple sprints and not all at once)

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 71ff)

39
Q

What’s the cone of uncertainty?

A
  • project schedule estimate
  • in the beginning the estimate is between 60% and 160% (of your initial estimation)
  • narrows down as the project progresses

(source: Agile Estimating and Planning, p. 4/agile product management with scrum, p. 76)

40
Q

What’s Brook’s Law?

A

“Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later”

source: agile product management with scrum, p. 78

41
Q

Explain what DSDM is.

A

name: dynamic systems development method

  • escalation outside of the team if must have items are not delivered til end of the project (or you can foresee that this will happen)
  • MoSCoW method
  • supports multiple teams/a larger project
  • time, cost and quality are fix, scope is dynamic
  • -> deliver on time! (timeboxing)
  • only high level upfront plan

(source: scrum handbook, p. 89)

42
Q

What is specific about LeSS?

A

name: large scaled scrum
- for multiple teams

  • “barely sufficient” product (more with less)
  • relatively lightweight
  • customer centric

principles:

  1. LeSS is Scrum
  2. transparency
  3. more with LeSS
  4. whole product focus
  5. customer centric
  6. continuous improvement towards perfection
  7. lean thinking
  8. systems thinking
  9. empirical process control
  10. queuing theory

(source: agile methodologies, p. 8)

43
Q

What is specific about SAFe?

A

name: Scaled Agile Framework
- for whole companies
- WIP limit like KanBan
- lean principles

principles:

  1. take an economic view.
  2. Apply system thinking.
  3. Assume variability, preserve options.
  4. Build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles.
  5. Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems.
  6. Visualize and limit WIP, reduce batch sizes and manage queue lengths.
  7. Apply cadence (timing), synchronize with cross-domain planning.
  8. Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers
  9. Decentralize decision making

Configurations:

  • Essential (small teams)
  • Portfolio (extended)
  • Large solution
  • Full

(source: agile methodologies, p. 10)

44
Q

Explain what Kanban is.

A
  • work should be visualized
  • WIP should be limited
  • work should be pulled instead of pushed
  • to do, doing and done (minimum) as categories

(source: scrum handbook, p. 96)

45
Q

Explain ScrumBan and ScrumBut.

A
  • ScrumBan is Scrum and Kanban methods combined
  • Scrum without Sprints
  • good for maintaining or fixing minor issues that don’t need planning
  • no sprint planning (obviously), but the other meetings
  • ScrumBut is when you do Scrum BUT you leave out certain parts
  • if you follow 95% of scrum rules, you will only get 10% or 20% of benefits
  • not recommended

(source: scrum handbook, p. 103)

46
Q

What is a (rolling) look-ahead plan?

A

A look-ahead plan looks ahead a small number of iterations (it’s a bit like part of a release plan). This helps other teams to coordinate work.

(source: Agile Estimating and Planning, Chapter 18/agile product management with scrum, p. 92f)

47
Q

What is pipelining?

A

Pipelining is lining up a feature over several sprints, which should only be done if absolutely necessary.

It may happen when you can’t split a feature any further, but it doesn’t fit in one sprint. Or if two teams have to work on the same item.

This is mostly necessary when using component teams.

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 93f)

48
Q

Explain what a feature buffer and a schedule buffer are. Also state how buffers can be calculated.

A

FEATURE BUFFER - like in DSDM with MoSCoW. You buffer for less important features not to be delivered.

SCHEDULE BUFFER - you buffer more time for the project to finish. You can do it via square root approach or the 50% approach.

(source: Agile Estimating and Planning, Chapter 17)

49
Q

What are the 4 common mistakes with release planning?

A
  • no release burndown or plan
  • PO in the passenger seat (this should not be delegated to the Scrum Master)
  • big-bang release (implementing all features at once)
  • quality compromises

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 94ff)

50
Q

What’s more important in Scrum, reliability or ambition?

A

reliability, maintaining a constant pace, not pressuring the team into commitments

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 99)

51
Q

What should be the minimum requirements in the DoD (3)?

A
  • working software
  • thoroughly tested
  • adequately documented

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 99)

52
Q

If you as a PO notice that an item during a sprint is not to your satisfaction, should you give immediate feedback or wait until the official review meeting?

A

Give feedback straight away. This way adjustments can be made directly.

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 103)

53
Q

What are the 5 common PO mistakes?

A
  • the bungee PO (no availability)
  • the passive PO (provide feedback!)
  • unsustainable pace
  • smoke and mirrors (provide realistic view on results, it’s not a show)
  • reporting up the sprint burndown (only release burndown/plan should be used for reporting)

(source: agile product management with scrum, p. 107ff)

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