PMI-ACP Practice Questions #103
As a Scrum Master, you notice that the development team is not consistently performing unit testing before marking user stories as complete. Some developers perform unit testing, while others skip it, leading to inconsistent code quality and defects.
During a retrospective, the team acknowledges the issue but is uncertain about how to enforce unit testing effectively.
As a Scrum Master, how should you address this issue?
A. Ask the Product Owner to include unit testing in the Acceptance Criteria of each user story to ensure it gets done.
B. Arrange a training session to promote unit testing best practices among developers.
C. As a Scrum Master, personally ensure that no developer marks a story as complete until unit testing is performed.
D. Ensure the team discusses and formally adds unit testing as part of the Definition of Done (DoD) to maintain consistency.
Analysis
The question presents a scenario where a Scrum Master observes inconsistent unit testing practices among developers. Some developers perform unit testing, while others skip it, leading to defects and inconsistent code quality. The issue has been acknowledged in a retrospective, but the team is uncertain about how to enforce unit testing effectively. The best approach should ensure that unit testing becomes a standard practice, driven by the team rather than imposed externally.
Agile principles emphasize team ownership, self-organization, and built-in quality. The right solution should promote consistency without micromanaging or bypassing team autonomy.
Analysis of Options:
A: Ask the Product Owner to include unit testing in the acceptance criteria of each user story to ensure it gets done.
This option is not ideal because acceptance criteria focus on business functionality, not technical implementation details. Unit testing is an intrinsic quality practice and should not be part of acceptance criteria. Including technical constraints in acceptance criteria would shift the focus from defining user needs to enforcing development practices, which is not the intent of Agile user stories. Instead, unit testing should be part of the Definition of Done (DoD) or team agreements, ensuring quality without cluttering acceptance criteria.
B: Arrange a training to promote unit testing practices among developers.
While training can increase awareness and skill levels, it does not ensure consistent adoption. Developers might still ignore unit testing if there is no agreed-upon practice within the team. Training is a good supporting action but is insufficient as a standalone solution. A more structured approach, such as incorporating unit testing into the team’s Definition of Done, would provide better enforcement and consistency.
C: As a Scrum Master, personally ensure that no developer marks a story as complete until unit testing is performed.
This approach goes against Agile principles of team autonomy and self-organization. The Scrum Master should facilitate and guide, not enforce rules or police the team’s actions. Direct enforcement by the Scrum Master might lead to resentment and reduce developer ownership of quality practices. The team should collectively agree to follow unit testing as a standard practice, rather than having it imposed externally.
D: Ensure the team discusses and formally adds unit testing as a part of the Definition of Done to maintain consistency.
This is the best option. The Definition of Done (DoD) is the right place to include quality-related practices like unit testing. By adding unit testing to the DoD, the team collectively agrees to make it a mandatory step before marking stories as complete. This approach ensures consistency, accountability, and built-in quality, while also maintaining team autonomy. If needed, the team could also include this in their team charter or coding guidelines, further reinforcing the practice.
Conclusion
The best answer is Option D, as it ensures unit testing is formally adopted as part of the Definition of Done, making it a standard practice while respecting team autonomy. Other options either misplace technical requirements (Option A), lack enforcement (Option B), or rely on external control rather than team-driven agreements (Option C).
PMI – ACP Exam Content Outline Mapping
| Domain | Task |
| Product | Refine Product Backlog |
| Product | Manage Value Delivery |
Topics Covered:
- Ensure that quality-related activities, such as unit testing, are embedded into the development process rather than treated as separate tasks.
- Help the team establish clear, consistent acceptance and completion criteria to maintain high-quality deliverables.
- Promote built-in quality by ensuring that unit testing is formally included in the Definition of Done (DoD).
- Encourage team-driven agreements rather than top-down enforcement, supporting Agile principles of self-organization and accountability.
- Facilitate discussions around technical excellence and continuous improvement, reinforcing the importance of consistency in development practices.
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