Basic Interview Questions

1. What do you understand by software testing?

Software testing is a validation process that confirms that a system works as per the business
requirements. It qualifies a system on various aspects such as usability, accuracy, completeness,
efficiency, etc. ANSI/IEEE 1059 is the global standard that defines the basic principles of testing.
2. When should you stop the testing process?
The testing activity ends when the testing team completes the following milestones.
Test case execution
The successful completion of a full test cycle after the final bug fix marks the end of the testing phase.
Testing deadline
The end date of the validation stage also declares the closure of the validation if no critical or high-
priority defects remain in the system.
Code Coverage(CC) ratio
It is the amount of code concealed via automated tests. If the team achieves the intended level of
code coverage (CC) ratio, then it can choose to end the validation.
Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) rate
Mean time between failure (MTBF) refers to the average amount of time that a device or product
functions before failing. This unit of measurement includes only operational time between failures and
does not include repair times, assuming the item is repaired and begins functioning again. MTBF
figures are often used to project how likely it is for a single unit to fail within a certain period of time.
3. What do verification and validation mean in software testing?
Verification is a process that confirms that product development takes place as per the specifications
and uses standard development procedures. The process comprises the following activities:
 Inspections
 Reviews
 Walk-throughs
 Demos
Validation is a means to confirm that the developed product doesn’t have any bugs and works as
expected. It comprises the following activities:
 Functional testing
 Non-functional testing
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4. What is static testing? When does it start and what does it cover?
Static testing is a white-box testing technique that directs developers to verify their code with the help
of a checklist to find errors in it. Developers can start the static testing without actually finalizing the
application or program. Static testing is more cost-effective than dynamic testing as it covers more
areas than dynamic testing in a shorter time.
5. Define black-box testing.
It is a standard software testing approach that requires testers to assess the functionality of the
software as per the business requirements. The software is treated as a black box and validated as per
the end user’s point of view.
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6. What is a test plan and what does it include?
A test plan stores all possible testing activities to ensure a quality product. It gathers data from the
product description, requirement, and use case documents.
The test plan document includes the following:
 Testing objectives
 Test scope
 Testing the frame
 Environment
 Reason for testing
 Criteria for entrance and exit
 Deliverables
 Risk factors7. What is meant by test coverage?
Test coverage is a quality metric to represent the amount (in percentage) of testing that has
been completed. It is relevant for both functional and non-functional testing activities. This metric is
used to add missing test cases.
8. Is it possible to achieve 100% testing coverage? How would you ensure it?
It’s considered impossible to perform 100% testing of any product. But, you can follow the below steps
to come closer.
 Set a hard limit on the following factors:

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 o Percentage of test cases passed
o Number of bugs found
 Set a red flag if:
o Test budget is depleted
o Deadlines are breached
 Set a green flag if:
o The entire functionality gets covered in test cases
o All critical and major bugs must have a ‘CLOSED’ status
9. What are unit testing and integration testing?
Unit testing has many names such as module testing or component testing.
Many times, it is the developers who test individual units or modules to check if they are working
correctly.
Whereas, integration testing validates how well two or more units of software interact with each other.
There are three ways to validate integration:
 Big Bang approach
 Top-down approach
 Bottom-up approach
10. Can we do system testing at any stage?
No. System testing should start only if all modules are in place and they work correctly. However, it
should be performed before UAT (user acceptance testing).
11. Mention the different types of software testing.
o Various types of Software Testing used by manual testers are as follows:Black Box
Testing
 Regression testing
 Smoke testing
 Functional testing
o Exploratory Testing
o Integration Testing
o System Testing
o Graphical User Interface Testing
o User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
 Alpha and Beta testing
o Unit testing
o Integration testing
o Shakeout testing
o Performance Testing
o Load testing
o Stress testing
o Endurance testing
o White-box and Black-box testing
System testing12. What is the difference between a test driver and a test stub?
The test driver is a section of code that calls a software component under test. It is useful in testing
that follows the bottom-up approach.
The test stub is a dummy program that integrates with an application to complete its functionality. It
is relevant for testing that uses the top-down approach.
1. For example:Let’s assume a scenario where we have to test the interface between modules
A and B and we have developed only Module A. Here, we can test module A if we have the
real Module B or a dummy module for it. In this case, we call module B as the test stub.
2. Now, module B can’t send or receive data directly from module A. In such a scenario, we
have to move data from one module to another using some external features called test
driver.
13. What is agile testing and why is it important?
Agile testing is a software testing process that evaluates software from the customers’ point of view.
It is favorable as it does not require the development team to complete coding to start QA. Instead,
both coding and testing go hand in hand. However, it may require continuous customer interaction.
14. What do you know about data flow testing?
It is a white-box testing techniques.
Data flow testing focuses on the creation of test cases that encompass the control flow paths involving
variable declarations and their utilization within modules. It expects test cases to have the following
attributes:

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 1. The input to the module
2. The control flow path for testing
3. A pair of an appropriate variable definition and its use
4. The expected outcome of the test case
15. What is the purpose of the end-to-end testing?
End-to-end testing is a testing strategy to execute tests that cover every possible flow of an
application from its start to finish. The objective of performing end-to-end tests is to discover software
dependencies and to assert that the correct input is getting passed between various software modules
and sub-systems.
Also, check out the difference between automation and manual testing.
Intermediate Manual Testing Interview Questions for experienced
16. The probability that a server-class application hosted on the cloud is up and running for
six long months without crashing is 99.99 percent. To analyze this type of scenario, what
test will you perform?
Reliability testing
17. What will you do when a bug turns up during testing?
When a bug occurs, we can follow the below steps.
 We can run more tests to make sure that the problem has a clear description.
 We can also run a few more tests to ensure that the same problem doesn’t exist with different
inputs.
 Once we are certain of the full scope of the bug, we can add details and report it.
18. Why is it impossible to test a program thoroughly?
Here are the two principal reasons that make it impossible to test a program entirely.
 Software specifications can be subjective and can lead to different interpretations.
 A software program may require too many inputs, outputs, and path combinations.
19. How do you test a product if the requirements are yet to be freezed?
If the required specifications are not available for a product, then a test plan can be created based on
the assumptions made about the product. But all assumptions must be well-documented in the test
plan.
20. If a product is in the production stage and one of its modules gets updated, then is it
necessary to perform regression testing?
Yes, it is necessary to perform regression testing when a module of a product in the production stage
gets updated. Regression testing helps ensure that the changes made to the updated module do not
have unintended effects on other modules or the overall functionality of the product. By retesting the
previously working functionalities, it helps identify any potential issues or regressions caused by the
module update. This testing process helps maintain the quality and stability of the product throughout
its lifecycle.
21. How will you overcome the challenges faced due to the unavailability of proper
documentation for testing?
If standard documents like the system requirement specification or feature description document are
not available, then QA may have to rely on the following references, if available.
 Screenshots
 A previous version of the application
 Wireframes
Another reliable way is to have discussions with the developer and the business analyst. It helps in
solving the doubts, and it opens a channel for bringing clarity on the requirements. Also, the emails
exchanged could be useful as a testing reference.
Smoke testing is yet another option that would help verify the main functionality of the application. It
would reveal some very basic bugs in the application. If none of these work, then we can just test the
application from our previous experiences.
22. Is there any difference between retesting and regression testing?
Differences between retesting and regression testing are as follows:
 We perform retesting to verify the defect fixes. But, regression testing assures that the bug fix
does not break other parts of the application.
 Regression test cases verify the functionality of some or all modules.
 Regression testing ensures the re-execution of passed test cases. Whereas, retesting involves
the execution of test cases that are in a failed state.
 Retesting has a higher priority over regression. But in some cases, both get executed in
parallel.
23. As per your understanding, list down the key challenges of software testing.
Following are some of the key challenges of software testing:

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  The lack of availability of standard documents to understand the application
 Lack of skilled testers
 Understanding the requirements: Testers require good listening and understanding capabilities to
be able to communicate with the customers the application requirements.
 The decision-making ability to analyze when to stop testing
 Ability to work under time constraints
 Ability to decide which tests to execute first
 Testing the entire application using an optimized number of test cases
24. What are the different types of functional testing?
Functional testing covers the following types of validation techniques:
 Unit testing
 Smoke testing
 UAT
 Sanity testing
 Interface testing
 Integration testing
 System testing
 Regression testing
o 25. What are functional test cases and non-functional test cases?Functional Test
Cases: Functional test cases are designed to evaluate the functionality of a software system
or application. These test cases focus on verifying whether the system performs its intended
functions correctly and meets the specified functional requirements. Functional test cases
typically involve validating inputs, testing different scenarios, and verifying expected
outputs.
o Non-Functional Test Cases: Non-functional test cases, on the other hand, assess the non-
functional aspects of a software system or application. These test cases evaluate
performance, usability, reliability, security, scalability, and compatibility. Non-functional
testing cases ensure the system meets the required quality standards and provides a
satisfactory user experience.
26. What do you understand about STLC?
Software testing life cycle (STLC) proposes the test execution in a planned and systematic manner. In
the STLC model, many activities occur to improve the quality of the product.
The STLC model lays down the following steps:
1. Requirement Analysis
2. Test Planning
3. Test Case Development
4. Environment Setup
5. Test Execution
6. Test Cycle Closure
27. In software testing, what does a fault mean?
A fault is a condition that makes the software fail to execute while performing the considered
function.28. Difference between bug, defect, and error.
A slip in coding is indicated as an error. The error spotted by a manual tester becomes a defect. The
defect which the development team admits is known as a bug. If a built code misses on the
requirements, then it is a functional failure.
29. How do severity and priority relate to each other?
Severity: It represents the gravity/depth of a bug. It describes the application point of view.
Priority: It specifies which bug should get fixed first. It defines the user’s point of view.
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30. List the different types of severity.
The criticality of a bug can be low, medium, or high depending on the context.
 User interface defects – Low
 Boundary-related defects – Medium
 Error handling defects – Medium
 Calculation defects – High
 Misinterpreted data – High
 Hardware failures – High
 Compatibility issues – High
 Control flow defects – High
 Load conditions – High
Advanced Manual Testing Interview Questions and Answers for experienced

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31. What do you mean by defect detection percentage in software testing?
Defect detection percentage (DDP) is a type of testing metric. It indicates the effectiveness of a testing
process by measuring the ratio of defects discovered before the release and reported after the release
by customers.
For example, let’s say, the QA has detected 70 defects during the testing cycle and the customer
reported 20 more after the release. Then, DDP would be: 70/(70 + 20) = 72.1%
32. What does defect removal efficiency mean in software testing?
Defect removal efficiency (DRE) is an important testing metric. It is an indicator of the efficiency of the
development team to fix issues before the release.
It gets measured as the ratio of defects fixed to total the number of issues discovered.
For example, let’s say, there were 75 defects discovered during the test cycle while 62 of them got
fixed by the development team at the time of measurement. The DRE would be 62/75 = 82.6%
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33. What is the average age of a defect in software testing?
Defect age is the time elapsed between the day the tester discovered a defect and the day the
developer got it fixed.
While estimating the age of a defect, consider the following points:
 The day of birth of a defect is the day it got assigned and accepted by the development team.
 The issues which got dropped are out of the scope.
 Age can be both in hours or days.
 The end time is the day the defect got verified and closed, not just the day it got fixed by the
development team.
34. How do you perform automated testing in your environment?
Automation testing is a process of executing tests automatically. It reduces human intervention to a
great extent. We use different test automation tools like QTP, Selenium, and WinRunner. Testing tools
help in speeding up the testing tasks. These tools allow you to create test scripts to verify the
application automatically and also to generate the test reports.
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35. Is there any difference between quality assurance, quality control, and software
testing. If so, what is it?
Quality Assurance (QA) refers to the planned and systematic way of monitoring the quality of the
process which is followed to produce a quality product. QA tracks the test reports and modifies the
process to meet the expectation.
Quality Control (QC) is relevant to the quality of the product. QC not only finds the defects but
suggests improvements too. Thus, a process that is set by QA is implemented by QC. QC is the
responsibility of the testing team.
Software testing is the process of ensuring that the product which is developed by developers meets
the users’ requirements. The aim of performing testing is to find bugs and make sure that they get
fixed. Thus, it helps to maintain the quality of the product to be delivered to the customer.
36. Tell me about some of the essential qualities an experienced QA or Test Lead must
possess.
A QA or Test Lead should have the following qualities:
1. Well-versed in software testing processes
2. Ability to accelerate teamwork to increase productivity
3. Improve coordination between QA and Dev engineers
4. Provide ideas to refine QA processes
5. Skill to conduct RCA meetings and draw conclusions
6. Excellent written and interpersonal communication skills
7. Ability to learn fast and to groom the team members
37. What is a silk test and why should you use it?
Here are some facts about the silk test tool:
1. A specialized tool has been created for conducting regression and functional testing of an
application.
2. It is used when we are testing Windows-based, Java, web, and traditional client/server
applications.
Silk test helps in preparing the test plan and managing it to provide direct accessing of the database
and validation of the field.38. On the basis of which factors would you consider choosing
automated testing over manual testing?
Choosing automation testing over manual testing depends on the following factors:
1. Tests require periodic execution.

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 2. Tests include repetitive steps.
3. Tests execute in a standard runtime environment.
4. Automation is expected to take less time.
5. Automation is increasing reusability.
6. Automation reports are available for every execution.
7. Small releases like service packs include a minor bug fix. In such cases, executing the regression
test is sufficient for validation.
In such cases, executing the regression test is sufficient for validation.
39. What are the key elements to consider while writing a bug report?
An ideal bug report should consist of the following key points:
 A unique ID
 Defect description: A short description of the bug
 Steps to reproduce: They include the detailed test steps to emulate the issue. They also provide
the test data and the time when the error has occurred
 Environment: Add any system settings that could help in reproducing the issue
 Module/section of the application in which the error has occurred
 Severity
 Screenshots
 Responsible QA: This person is a point of contact in case you want to follow-up regarding this
issue
40. Is there any difference between bug leakage and bug release?
Bug leakage: Bug leakage is when the bug is discovered by the end user/customer and missed by
the testing team. It is a defect that exists in the application and not detected by the tester, which is
eventually found by the customer/end user.
Bug release: A bug release is when a particular version of the software is released with a set of
known bug(s). These bugs are usually of low severity/priority. It is done when a software company can
afford the existence of bugs in the released software but not the time/cost for fixing it in that particular
version.
41. What is the difference between performance testing and monkey testing?
Performance Testing checks the speed, scalability, maybe even the stability characteristics of a
system. Performance is identified with achieving response time, throughput, and resource-utilization
levels that meet the performance objectives for a project or a product.
Monkey testing is a technique in software testing where the user tests the application by providing
random inputs, checking the behavior of the application (or trying to crash the application).
42. What is exploratory testing?
Exploratory testing is an approach to software testing, where in testers learn simultaneously about the
test design and test execution. In other words, it is a hands-on approach where testers are involved
more in the test execution part than in planning.
43. What is meant by system testing?
System testing is a black-box testing technique, used on a complete integrated system. It tests system
compliance as per the requirement.
44. What are the benefits of test reports?
Test reports will help us find the current status of a project and its quality. This can help stakeholders
and customers take necessary actions. The complete documentation of test reports will help analyze
different phases of the project.
45. What is meant by latent defect?
A latent defect is a hidden defect in an application or software which cannot be identified by a user.
However, this will not cause any failure to the application because the conditions will never be met.
1. Why Are You Interested in This Role?
Tip 1: Share your interest in this field.
Tip 2: Try relating a story of why you wanted to come into this field and the skills you have for it.
Answer: I found this position and became interested in this role when I was starting college. I realized
this field could be a very flexible career as it has its ends in business and technical roles as well. I
wanted to begin with my career in technology and acquire skills that could be used in software
development. I wanted to be in this sector as I always found myself more observant than most people,
and I could easily spot errors and backfalls. Hence, my efficiency in this field comes from this natural
ability.
2. What Are the Roles of a Test Engineer?
Tip 1: The interviewer wants to know how much knowledge you have about the role.
Tip 2: Mention the previous roles you have played.

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Answer: Test engineers are assigned to implement and design the tests that make sure that the end
products have the quality and functionality required. They are also a core part of all of the phases of a
testing program, from designing test parameters to troubleshooting the errors and writing the final
test procedures. Testers also execute and log tests, evaluate their results, and document all of the
problems found. They monitor the process of testing and test the environment.
3. What are the Qualities That a Test Engineer Should Possess to Be Effective?
Tip 1: List the qualities that made you excel in your role as a test engineer.
Tip 2: Make sure you show that you did your homework for this interview.
Answer: A test engineer must have certain qualities that allow him to find the errors and pitfalls of
products no matter how small or insignificant they are. His qualities also include having a test to break
behavior towards his daily tasks. He should be able to view products from the customer’s perspective
and must be quality-driven. The engineer should be diplomatic and tactful and must be able to
maintain a highly cooperative relationship with the developers.
4. What Major Challenges Did You Face During Your Last Role? How Did You
Handle It?
Tip 1: The interviewer wants to know your ability to fit into new surroundings.
Tip 2: Show him how well you adapt to new surroundings.
Answer: Although my previous job position was great in helping me learn something new every day, I
was always challenged when I had to go through communication issues. Most errors and mistakes
happen in products only because of the communication gap organizations have. In addition, I feel
challenged when I find a lack of requirements documents and an unstable environment. These factors,
though, have also helped me adapt to situations where I have to utilize my testing and analytical skills
only to test products.
5. Describe Your Daily Routine as a Test Engineer.
Tip 1: Share a productive day including how many working tasks you can deliver per day.
Tip 2: Keep it concise and mention the tasks you did best.
Answer: Being a testing engineer, my days always began with testing the emails that I had received
from the previous day and overnight. I had to create the test plans to test new product features,
update the tests, perform manual testing, and reporting on their bugs. This involved my daily routine
of keeping an eye on the products that were already tested.
6. Briefly Describe Your Test Engineer Experience.
Tip 1: Share what experiences you enjoyed and which ones you didn’t.
Tip 2: The interviewer wants to know how experienced you are for this role.
Answer: I really enjoy my role in the testing end. It was always a source of learning new things and
new technologies while being paid for it. My interest in technologies and business-led me to this job,
and I always find it great to have an opportunity to test products that are going to go into the hands of
millions of people.
7. What Strategies and Mindset is Required for This Role? Explain with
Examples.
Tip 1: Show the interviewer that you have a personal mindset and strategy to work with.
Tip 2: Be clear of what you think is the right mindset.
Answer: A test engineer should have a mindset of curiosity and having the freedom to ask questions.
These two mindsets allow testers to be able to check products and find unclear and invisible errors and
pitfalls. He should also have the right will to help other team members develop their testing skills and
work together as a team. This allows the team to form quality products and come up with the best
results that are error-free.
8. What Is the Biggest Challenge That You Foresee in This Job?
Tip 1: The interviewer wants to see if you are ready to get started in this role.
Tip 2: Share the biggest challenge that you believe you will face and how you will solve it.
Answer: Being in this job role has allowed me to handle challenges and adapt to changing work
environments. I believe this role can also have challenges like the inability to address a team’s flaws
and problems because of personality issues. I believe I will be able to adapt to this role, i.e., finding
errors and fixing them or dealing with them to make them less harmful for the company.
9. How Do You Stay Motivated at Work?
Tip 1: Discuss the driving forces that make you do your best work.
Tip 2: Talk about the things that motivated you in your worst and best times.
Answer: I am always motivated by being curious about product development processes and the
challenges I face. I believe this position is of high importance, as any product reaching customers’
hands cannot be brought back for fixing things. Hence, I am motivated by the daily pressure we testers
have on us to provide the very best quality.
10. Describe a Time When You Failed in This Role and the Lesson You Learned.

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Tip 1: Don’t say you never failed; be honest but keep it simple.
Tip 2: Explain how you are learning from and coping with the things that made you fail.
Answer: In one situation, there was a small error in the end product. I ignored it, thinking of it as
being insignificant. Soon, when the product became a failure, I wished that I could have known the
value of that small error sooner. Through this experience, I realized that my analytical skills are of very
high importance, and I should use them to better assess what is coming ahead.
11. State the Major Difference between QA and Software Testing.
Tip 1:
Show that you are aware of the knowledge required for the job.
Tip 2: The interviewer wants to know that you understand the role.
Answer: A QA is responsible for monitoring the quality of the process needed to prepare the software.
The testing engineer is involved with the process of making sure that the end product meets most or
all of the requirements stated by the customer.
12. What is the Difference between Build and Release?
Tip 1:
Show that you are aware of the knowledge required for the job.
Tip 2:
The interviewer wants to know that you understand the role.
Answer: A build is a number given to any installable software given to the testing team at the
development end. Simultaneously, the release is the number of installable software given to the
customer by the tester or the developer.
13. What is the Difference between Quality Control, Quality Assurance, and
Testing?
Tip 1:
Show that you are aware of the knowledge required for the job.
Tip 2:
The interviewer wants to know that you understand the role.
Answer: Quality assurance is the process of planning and defining the monitoring methods and
implementing quality in a team. This defines and sets the standards of quality of projects. Quality
control involves finding defects and providing suggestions to make quality improvements. Testing is
the entire process of finding bugs or defects. It ensures that the product being built meets the
requirement set provided by the user.
14. What Do the Test Strategy and Test Plan Include?
Tip 1:Show that you are aware of the knowledge required for the job.
Tip 2:The interviewer wants to know that you understand the role.
Answer: Test strategy is at a higher level and is mostly created by the project manager that shows
the whole approach of testing for the entire project. By comparison, the test plan shows how testing
must be performed for any particular application that falls under a project.
15. Do You Think QAs Can Take Part in Resolving Production Issues?
Tip 1: The interviewer wants to test your knowledge and experience in the field.
Tip 2: Respond with the best practice you used in your previous role.
Answer: Yes, it is a great learning curve for the QAs to solve production issues. Most of the time,
production issues may get resolved by clearing all of the logs or by making a few registry settings. The
QA team may well fix such environmental issues. If a test engineer has a skill in production issues, he
may add them while writing the test cases.
16. What Is The Difference Between Functional and Nonfunctional Testing?
Tip 1: Show that you are aware of the knowledge required for the job.
Tip 2: The interviewer wants to know that you understand the role.
Answer: Functional testing is all about the functional aspects of the application. This technique tests
whether the system is acting as required. These are directly connected with what the customer
requires. This also involves the validation of test cases that are against the specified requirements and
making the test results accordingly as pass or fail.
17. What Is Negative Testing?
Tip 1: Show that you are aware of the knowledge required for the job.
Tip 2: The interviewer wants to know that you understand the role.
Answer: Negative testing is the technique that validates the system behavior as required if there are
any invalid inputs. Just as if the user enters any invalid data in the text box, the system must show a
proper message instead of just the technical message that the user doesn’t understand. It is different
from positive testing as the latter only gives validation of the system that it is working as expected.
18. How Will You Make Sure That Your Testing is Complete with Good Coverage?
Tip 1: Show that you are aware of the knowledge required for the job.

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Tip 2: The interviewer wants to know that you understand the role.
Answer: For this, I will use the requirement traceability matrix and the test coverage matrices. This
helps us make sure that we have great coverage. The first one helps us determine that the test
surroundings are enough to make sure that the requirements are completely covered.
19. What Is Validation and Verification?
Tip 1: Show that you are aware of the knowledge required for the job.
Tip 2: The interviewer wants to know that you understand the role.
Answer: Validation is evaluating the final product to check if the software meets all the business
needs. The test execution that we do in our daily life is the validation activity that includes smoke
testing, regression testing, functional testing, etc. The verification is evaluating the intermediary work
products of the software development lifecycle to determine if we are on the right track to creating the
final product.
20. What Is the Difference Between Load and Stress Testing?
Tip 1: Show that you are aware of the knowledge required for the job.Tip 2: The interviewer wants to
know that you understand the role.
Answer: Stress testing validates the behavior of the product or system when it is executed under
stress. We reduce the resources while also checking the behavior of the entire system. We initially
understand the upper limit of the product and then reduce the resources and go for checking the
system behavior. In contrast, load testing is the validation of product or system behavior in the
expected load. This load may be of the concurrent user or the resources that are assessing the system
simultaneously.

1. What is Software testing?

Software testing involves evaluating and verifying a software product's functionality. Basically, it
checks whether the software product matches anticipated requirements and makes sure it is defect-
free. It can be said that testing enhances the quality of the product by preventing bugs, reducing
development costs, and reducing performance issues.

2. What are the different types of testing?

You can test the software in many different ways. Some types of testing are conducted by software
developers and some by specialized quality assurance staff. Here are a few different kinds of
software testing, along with a brief description of each.

Type Description
A programmatic test that tests the internal working of a unit of code, such as a method
Unit Testing
or a function.
Integration Ensures that multiple components of systems work as expected when they are
Testing combined to produce a result.
Regression Ensures that existing features/functionality that used to work are not broken due to
Testing new code changes.
System Complete end-to-end testing is done on the complete software to make sure the whole
Testing system works as expected.
A quick test performed to ensure that the software works at the most basic level and
Smoke
doesn’t crash when it’s started. Its name originates from the hardware testing where
Testing
you just plug the device and see if smoke comes out.
Performance Ensures that the software performs according to the user’s expectations by checking
Testing the response time and throughput under specific load and environment.
User-
Ensures the software meets the requirements of the clients or users. This is typically
Acceptance
the last step before the software is live, i.e. it goes to production.
Testing
Ensures that the performance of the software doesn’t degrade when the load increases.
Stress Testing In stress testing, the tester subjects the software under heavy loads, such as a high
number of requests or stringent memory conditions to verify if it works well.
Usability Measures how usable the software is. This is typically performed with a sample set of
Testing end-users, who use the software and provide feedback on how easy or complicated it is

9
 Type Description
to use the software.
Now more important than ever. Security testing tries to break a software’s security
Security
checks, to gain access to confidential data. Security testing is crucial for web-based
Testing
applications or any applications that involve money.

3. What are the principles of software testing?

Software testing is governed by seven principles:

 Absence of errors fallacy: Even if the software is 99% bug-free, it is unusable if it does not
conform to the user's requirements. Software needs to be bug-free 99% of the time, and it must also
meet all customer requirements.
 Testing shows the presence of errors: Testing can verify the presence of defects in software,
but it cannot guarantee that the software is defect-free. Testing can minimize the number of defects,
but it can't remove them all.
 Exhaustive testing is not possible: The software cannot be tested exhaustively, which means all
possible test cases cannot be covered. Testing can only be done with a select few test cases, and it's
assumed that the software will produce the right output in all cases. Taking the software through
every test case will cost more, take more effort, etc., which makes it impractical.
 Defect clustering: The majority of defects are typically found in a small number of modules in a
project. According to the Pareto Principle, 80% of software defects arise from 20% of modules.
 Pesticide Paradox: It is impossible to find new bugs by re-running the same test cases over and
over again. Thus, updating or adding new test cases is necessary in order to find new bugs.
 Early testing: Early testing is crucial to finding the defect in the software. In the early stages of
SDLC, defects will be detected more easily and at a lower cost. Software testing should start at the
initial phase of software development, which is the requirement analysis phase.
 Testing is context-dependent: The testing approach varies depending on the software
development context. Software needs to be tested differently depending on its type. For instance, an
ed-tech site is tested differently than an Android app.

4. What is regression testing in software testing?

The dictionary definition of regression is the act of going back to a previous place or state. In
software, regression implies that a feature that used to work suddenly stopped working after a
developer added a new code or functionality to the software.

Regression problems are pervasive in the software industry, as new features are getting added all
the time. Developers don't build these features in isolation, separate from the existing code. Instead,
the new code interacts with the legacy code and modifies it in various ways, introducing side effects,
whether intended or not.

As a result, there is always a chance that introducing new changes may negatively impact a working
feature. It's important to keep in mind that even a small change has the potential to cause
regression.

Regression testing helps ensure that the new code or modifications to the existing code don't break
the present behaviour. It allows the tester to verify that the new code plays well with the legacy
code.

5. What is exploratory testing?

Imagine a tourist in a foreign city. There are two ways in which they can explore the city.

 Follow a map, itinerary, or a list of places they should visit

 Explore randomly, following the streets as they lead them to new places

10
With the first approach, the tourist follows a predetermined plan and executes it. Though they may
visit famous spots, they might miss out on hidden, more exciting places in the city. With the second
approach, the tourist wanders around the city and might encounter strange and exotic places that
the itinerary would have missed.

Both approaches have their pros and cons.

A tester is similar to a tourist when they are testing software. They can follow a strict set of test
cases and test the software according to them, with the provided inputs and outputs, or they can
explore the software.

When a tester doesn't use the test scripts or a predefined test plan and randomly tests the software,
it is called exploratory testing. As the name suggests, the tester is exploring the software as an end-
user would. It's a form of black-box testing.

In exploratory testing, the tester interacts with the software in whatever manner they want and
follows the software's instructions to navigate various paths and functionality. They don't have a
strict plan at hand.

Exploratory testing primarily focuses on behavioural testing. It is effective for getting familiar with
new software features. It also provides a high-level overview of the system that helps evaluate and
quickly learn the software.

Though it seems random, exploratory testing can be powerful in an experienced and skilled tester's
hands. As it's performed without any preconceived notions of what software should and shouldn't do,
it allows greater flexibility for the tester to discover hidden paths and problems along those paths.

6. What is end-to-end testing?

End to End testing is the process of testing a software system from start to finish. The tester tests
the software just like an end-user would. For example, to test a desktop software, the tester would
install the software as the user would, open it, use the application as intended, and verify the
behavior. Same for a web application.

There is an important difference between end-to-end testing vs. other forms of testing that are more
isolated, such as unit testing. In end-to-end testing, the software is tested along with all its
dependencies and integrations, such as databases, networks, file systems, and other external
services.

7. What is unit testing?

Unit testing is the process of testing a single unit of code in an isolated manner. The unit of code can
be a method, a class, or a module. Unit testing aims to focus on the smallest building blocks of code
to get confidence to combine them later to produce fully functioning software.

A unit test invokes the code and verifies the result with the expected result. If the expected and
actual outcomes match, then the unit test passes. Otherwise, it fails.

A good unit test has the following characteristics:

1. It should test a single piece of functionality.

2. It is fully automated and repeatable.
3. It should run quickly and provide immediate feedback.
4. It should be isolated and shouldn’t interact with external dependencies such as network,
database, or file system unless needed. You can use the mocking technique to simulate the
external dependencies and isolate the code under test.

11
 8. What is an API?

API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is a means of communication between two
software components. An API abstracts the internal workings and complexity of a software program
and allows the user of that API to solely focus on the inputs and outputs required to use it. When
building software, developers rarely write software from scratch and make use of other third-party
libraries. An API allows two software components to talk to each other by providing an interface that
they can understand.

Another use of an API is to provide data required by an application. Let's say you are building a
weather application that displays the temperature. Instead of building the technology to collect the
temperature yourself, you'd access the API provided by the meteorological institute.

9. What is a test environment?

A test environment consists of a server/computer on which a tester runs their tests. It is different
from a development machine and tries to represent the actual hardware on which the software will
run; once it’s in production.

Whenever a new build of the software is released, the tester updates the test environment with the
latest build and runs the regression tests suite. Once it passes, the tester moves on to testing new
functionality.

10. Explain how does a test coverage tool work?

When software is being tested, the code coverage measures how much of the program's source code
is covered by the test plan. Code coverage testing runs in parallel with actual product testing. Using
the code coverage tool, you can monitor the execution of statements in your source code. A
complete report of the pending statements, along with the coverage percentage, is provided at the
end of the final testing.

11. Can you describe the different types of test coverage techniques?

Among the different types of test coverage techniques are:

 Statement/Block Coverage: Measures how many statements in the source code have been
successfully executed and tested.
 Decision/Branch Coverage: This metric measures how many decision control structures were
successfully executed and tested.
 Path Coverage: This ensures that the tests are conducted on every possible route through a
section of the code.
 Function coverage: It measures how many functions in the source code have been executed and
tested at least once.

12. Explain black-box testing, white-box testing, and grey-box testing.

 Black-box testing in software testing: In black-box testing, the system is tested only in terms of
its external behaviour; it does not consider how the software functions on the inside. This is the only
limitation of the black-box test. It is used in Acceptance Testing and System Testing.
 White-box testing in software testing: A white-box test is a method of testing a program that
takes into account its internal workings as part of its review. It is used in integration testing and unit
testing.
 Grey-box testing in software testing: A Gray Box Testing technique can be characterized as a
combination of a black box as well as a white box testing technique used in the software testing
process. Using this technique, you can test a software product or application with a partial
understanding of its internal structure.

12
 13. Is Automation testing in agile methodology useful?

It is extremely beneficial to use automation testing when using the agile model in software testing. It
helps in achieving maximum test coverage in a lesser time of the sprint.

14. Explain test scenarios, test scripts, and test cases in software testing.

 Test Case: Test Cases are a series of actions executed during software development to verify a
particular feature or function. A test case consists of test steps, test data, preconditions, and
postconditions designed to verify a specific requirement.
 Test Scenario: Usually, a test scenario consists of a set of test cases covering the end-to-end
functionality of a software application. A test scenario provides a high-level overview of what needs
to be tested.
 Test Scripts: When it comes to software testing, a test script refers to the set of instructions that
will be followed in order to verify that the system under test performs as expected. The document
outlines each step to be taken and the expected results.

15. What is a bug in software testing?

A software bug is an error in the software that produces wrong results. A software tester tests the
software to find bugs in it.

There are many causes for the bugs—for example, poor design, sloppy programming, lack of version
control, or miscommunication. Throughout development, developers introduce hundreds or
thousands of bugs in the system. The goal of the tester is to uncover those bugs.

You can find a bug in many different ways, regardless of your role. When building the software, the
software developer might notice the bug in another module, written by another developer or by
themselves. The tester actively tries to find the bugs as part of a routine testing process. Finally, the
users could see the bugs when the software is in production.

All bugs, no matter how they are found, are recorded into a bug-tracking system. A triage team
triages the bugs and assigns a priority to the bug, and assigns the bug to a software developer to fix
it. Once the developer resolves the problem, they check in the code and mark that bug as ready for
testing. Once a bug is ready for testing, it goes to the tester, who tests the software to verify if it’s
indeed fixed. If it is, then it’s closed. If not, they assign it to the same developer with a description of
the exact steps to reproduce the bug. Some examples of popular bug-tracking systems include
BugZilla, FogBugz, etc.

Trivia:

The first software bug was discovered by Admiral Grace Hopper, on September 9, 1947. After they
opened a malfunctioning piece of hardware, they found an insect stuck in the relay. Image
Source: Link

13
 First Software Bug

16. State the difference between bugs and errors

Bugs and errors differ in the following ways:

Bugs Errors
Software bugs are defects, which occur when the Errors in code are caused by problems with the
software or an application does not work as code, which means that the developer could have
intended. A bug occurs when there is a coding misunderstood the requirement or the requirement
error, which causes the program to malfunction. was not defined correctly, leading to a mistake.
The bug is submitted by the testers. Errors are raised by test engineers and developers.
Syntactic error, error handling error, error handling
Logic bugs, resource bugs, and algorithmic bugs error, user interface error, flow control error,
are types of bugs. calculation error, and testing error are types of
errors.
The software is detected before it is deployed in The error occurs when the code is unable to be
production. compiled.

17. What is a Test Plan? What does it include?

A test plan is basically a dynamic document monitored and controlled by the testing manager. The
success of a testing project totally depends upon a well-written test plan document that describes
software testing scope and activities. It basically serves as a blueprint that outlines the what, when,
how, and more of the entire test process. A test plan must include the following details:

 Test Strategy
 Test Objective
 Test Scope
 Reason for Testing
 Exit/Suspension Criteria
 Resource Planning
 Test Deliverables.

18. What is a Test Report? What does it include?

Test report is basically a document that includes a total summary of testing objectives, activities,
and results. It is very much required to reflect testing results and gives an opportunity to estimate
testing results quickly. It helps us to decide whether the product is ready for release or not. It also
helps us determine the current status of the project and the quality of the product. A test report
must include the following details:

14
 Test Objective
 Project Information
 Defect
 Test Summary

19. What do you mean by Test Deliverables?

Test deliverables, also known as test artifacts, are basically a list of all of the documents, tools, and
other components that are given to the stakeholders of a software project during the SDLC. Test
deliverables are maintained and developed in support of the test. At every phase of SDLC, there are
different deliverables as given below:

Before Testing Phase

 Test plans document.

 Test cases documents
 Test Design specifications.

During Testing Phase

 Test Scripts
 Simulators.
 Test Data
 Test Traceability Matrix
 Error logs and execution logs

After testing Phase

 Test Results/reports
 Defect Report
 Installation/ Test procedures guidelines
 Release notes

20. What are different categories of debugging?

Different categories of debugging include:

 Brute force debugging

 Backtracking
 Cause elimination
 Program slicing
 Fault tree analysis

21. Write some common mistakes that lead to major issues.

Some common mistakes include:

 Poor Scheduling
 Underestimating
 Ignoring small issues
 Not following the exact process
 Improper resource allocation

22. What is a user story?

15
 All software has a target user. A user story describes the user's motivations and what they are trying
to accomplish by using the software. Finally, it shows how the user uses the application. It ignores
the design and implementation details.

A user story aims to focus on the value provided to the end-user instead of the exact inputs they
might enter and the expected output.

In a user story, the tester creates user personas with real names and characteristics and tries to
simulate a real-life interaction with the software. A user story often helps fish out hidden problems
that are often not revealed by more formal testing processes.

23. List some of the popular software testing tools/frameworks, providing a brief
description of each.

1. Selenium: a web browser automation tool that automates the test suites you need to run on
a web browser.
2. Protractor: An end-to-end test framework for Angular and AngularJS applications. Protractor
runs tests against your application running in a real browser, interacting with it as a user
would.
3. Cypress: A modern front-end testing tool built for the modern web. Though it’s similar to
Selenium and Protractor, it’s architecturally different from them.
4. Jasmine: This is an open-source JavaScript testing framework that allows you to write
behaviour-driven tests.
5. JUnit and NUnit: These are unit testing frameworks for Java and C# programming languages,
respectively.

24. What is A/B testing?

A/B testing is the process of testing two or more different versions of your software with users to
assess which performs better. It is a low-risk way of testing variations of a new or existing
functionality.

You can choose a part of your users to use feature A. The other group uses feature B. Then user
feedback and response are evaluated using statistical testing to decide the final version of the
feature.

Typically, A/B testing is used to test the user experience of different interfaces. This allows the team
to quickly gather feedback and test their initial hypothesis.

25. What is defects in software testing?

The term defect refers to a system error that prevents the intended action from being accomplished.
Testing is most important when it comes to finding defects. Testing needs to begin early in the
development process since defects can be found throughout. As shown in the following figure,
defects are divided into three main categories:

 Wrong: It implies incorrect implementation of requirements. There is a variance between the

specifications and what was expected, resulting in this defect.
 Missing: This indicates that a specification has not been implemented, or a requirement of the
customer has not been properly noted.
 Extra: In this case, the defect is caused by a requirement incorporated into the product that was not
provided by the end-user.

26. What is spice in software testing?

SPICE stands for Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination. In the field of
software development processes, SPICE is a standard framework for assessing the efficiency and

16
 effectiveness of the development process. IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and ISO
(International Organization for Standardization) jointly developed SPICE.

27. What do you mean by latent defect and masked defect?

 Latent Defect: Latent defects are defects that exist but have not yet been invoked because the
conditions required to invoke them have not been met. As a systematic flaw, it encompasses the
entire production process of the software, including all pre-production testing and extended testing.
When users perform a particular task in an unusual or rare situation or without the presence of usual
scenarios, latent defects are revealed.
 Masked Defect: These are the defects that have not yet resulted in a failure since another defect
hides that portion of the code from being executed. It can only be discovered when the defect hiding
it is exposed by the user through a specific operation. There are defects that are hidden or marked
by another defect and remain hidden until the other defect is detected.

28. Can you explain sanity testing in software testing?

The term 'sanity testing' refers to a subset of regression testing. The sanity testing ensures that the
changes made to the code do not adversely affect the system's performance. After the software
build is received, a sanity test is conducted to ensure that the changes made to the code are
working correctly. As a checkpoint, this testing is used to determine whether the build can proceed
with further testing. Sanity testing focuses on validating the functionality of the application rather
than detailed testing.

Features

 It focuses on a smaller section of the application and is a subset of regression testing.

 The process is undocumented.
 Sanity testing is often unscripted.
 In this approach, limited functionalities are deeply tested.
 A tester is usually responsible for performing this task.

29. What is the purpose of TestNG?

The TestNG framework for Java is an open-source advanced test automation framework that is
designed to benefit both testers and developers. The purpose of TestNG is to provide an easy-to-use,
readable, structured, maintainable, and user-friendly environment for automated tests. NG stands
for 'Next Generation' in TestNG. The high-end annotations, such as data providers, make cross-
browser testing easier since you can test across multiple devices and browsers. Furthermore, the
framework has an inbuilt mechanism for handling exceptions that prevent the program from
terminating unexpectedly.

30. Is it possible to skip a method or a code block in TestNG?

Yes, you can skip a particular test method or code by setting the 'enabled' parameter to ‘false’ in
test annotations.

@Test(enabled = false).

31. What is the best way to set priority for test cases in TestNG?

Prioritizing the order of your test methods can be accomplished by defining a priority order.
Consequently, the test will execute in accordance with the priority set.

Syntax: @Test(priority=2)

17
 Example: The following code demonstrates how to set the priority of a test case in TestNG.

package TestNG;
import org.testng.annotations.*;
public class SettingPriority {
@Test(priority=0)
public void scalermethod1() {
}
@Test(priority=1)
public void scalermethod2() {
}
@Test(priority=2)
public void scalermethod3() {
}
}

Test Execution Sequence:

ScalerMethod1
ScalerMethod2
ScalerMethod3

32. What is Object Repository?

Object Repository is a collection of web elements and their locators that belong to the Application
Under Test (AUT). The QAs maintain all element locators in a separate file known as the property file
(. properties) in Selenium. During execution, it serves as a means of identifying objects between the
test script and the application.

33. What are the valuable steps to resolve issues while testing?

The following steps can assist in resolving issues during testing:

 Record: Keep track of any problems that arise and resolve them.
 Report: Inform higher-level managers of the issues.
 Control: Establish a process for managing issues.

34. What qualities a software tester should have?

Any software tester's goal is to find out as many bugs and problems in the system so that the
customers don't have to. Hence, a good software tester should have a keen eye for detail. They
should know the ins and outs of the software they are testing and push every aspect of the software
to its limits, to identify bugs that are hard to find with the software's regular use.

Having the domain knowledge of the application is essential. If a tester doesn't understand the
specific problems the software is trying to solve, they won't be able to test it thoroughly.

A good tester should keep the end-user in mind when they are testing. Having empathy with the
end-user helps the tester ensure that the software is accessible and usable. Simultaneously, the
tester should possess basic programming skills to think from a developer's perspective, which allows
them to notice common programming errors such as null-references, out-of-memory errors, etc.

Communication, both written and verbal, is an essential skill for a tester. A tester will frequently
have to interact with both the developers and the management. They should be able to explain the
bugs and problems found during testing to the developers. For each bug found, a good tester should
provide a detailed bug report consisting of all the information a developer would need to fix that

18
problem. They should be able to make a good case to the management if they are uncomfortable
releasing the software if it contains unresolved issues.

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Software Testing Interview Questions for Experienced

1. Explain boundary value analysis in software testing.

BVA (Boundary Value Analysis) is a black box software testing technique that uses boundary values
to create test cases. Input values near the boundary have a higher probability of error, so BVA is
used to test boundary values. BVA includes values at the boundaries in the test cases. If the input
falls within the boundary range, then the test is positive; if it falls outside, then it is negative. There
are several types of values, including maximum or minimum, inside or outside edge, and typical or
error values.

2. Explain the role of testing in software development?

Software testing comes into play at different times in different software development
methodologies. There are two main methodologies in software development, namely Waterfall and
Agile.

In a traditional waterfall software development model, requirements are gathered first. Then a
specification document is created based on the document, which drives the design and development
of the software. Finally, the testers conduct the testing at the end of the software development life
cycle once the complete software system is built.

Waterfall Software Development Model

An agile software development model works in small iterations. You test the software in parallel as it
is getting built. The developers build a small functionality according to the requirements. The testers
test it and get customer feedback, which drives future development.

3. How much testing is sufficient? Or, is it possible to do exhaustive testing of the

software?

It is impossible to exhaustively test software or prove the absence of errors, no matter how specific
your test strategy is.

An extensive test that finds hundreds of errors doesn’t imply that it has discovered them all. There
could be many more errors that the test might have missed. The absence of errors doesn’t mean
there are no errors, and the software is perfect. It could easily mean ineffective or incomplete tests.
To prove that a program works, you’d have to test all possible inputs and their combinations.

Consider a simple program that takes a string as an input that is ten characters long. To test it with
each possible input, you’d have to enter 2610 names, which is impossible. Since exhaustive testing
is not practical, your best strategy as a tester is to pick the test cases that are most likely to find
errors. Testing is sufficient when you have enough confidence to release the software and assume it
will work as expected.

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 4. Why developers shouldn’t test the software they wrote?

Developers make poor testers. Here are some reasons why:

 They try to test the code to make sure that it works, rather than testing all the ways in which it
doesn't work.
 Since they wrote it themselves, developers tend to be very optimistic about the software and don't
have the correct attitude needed for testing: to break software.
 Developers skip the more sophisticated tests that an experienced tester would perform to break the
software. They follow the happy path to execute the code from start to finish with proper inputs,
often not enough to get the confidence to ship software in production.

However, it doesn't mean that developers shouldn't test the software before sending it to the tester.
Developer testing helps find many bugs that are caused by programming errors. These are hard to
find for a tester because they don't always have access to the source code.

5. What is SDLC in software testing?

In short, SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) enables the development of high-quality, low-cost
software with the shortest possible development time. A major objective of the SDLC is to produce
high-quality software that meets and exceeds the expectations of customers. SDLC provides a
detailed plan with a series of stages, or phases, that encompass their own processes and
deliverables. By adhering to the SDLC, developers can enhance the speed of their projects and
minimize risks and costs.

6. What is the software testing life cycle?

1. Similar to software development, testing has its life cycle. During the testing, a tester goes
through the following activities. Understand the requirements: Before testing software
or a feature, the tester must first understand what it is supposed to do. If they don’t know
how the software is supposed to work, they can’t test it effectively.
2. Test Planning and Case Development: Once the tester has a clear understanding of the
requirements, they can create a test plan. It includes the scope of testing, i.e., part of
software under test and objectives for testing. Various activities are involved in planning the
test, such as creating documentation, estimating the time and efforts involved, deciding the
tools and platforms, and the individuals who will be conducting the tests.
3. Prepare a test environment: The development happens in a development environment,
i.e., on a developer’s computer that might not represent the actual environment that the
software will run in production. A tester prepares an environment with the test data that
mimics the end user’s environment. It assists with realistic testing of the software.
4. Generate the test data: Though it is impossible to do exhaustive testing of the software,
the tester tries to use realistic test data to give them the confidence that the software will
survive the real world if it passes the tests.
5. Test Execution: Once the tester has a complete understanding of the software and has a
test environment set up with the test data, they execute the test. Here, execution means
that the tester runs the software or the feature under test and verifies the output with the
expected outcome.
6. Test Closure: At the end of the test execution, there can be two possible outcomes. First,
the tester finds a bug in the part of the software under test. In this case, they create a test
record/bug report. Second, the software works as expected. Both these events indicate the
end of the test cycle.

7. What is functional testing?

Functional testing is a form of black-box testing. As the name suggests, it focuses on the
software's functional requirements rather than its internal implementation. A functional requirement
refers to required behavior in the system, in terms of its input and output.

20
 It validates the software against the functional requirements or the specification, ignoring the non-
functional attributes such as performance, usability, and reliability.

Functional testing aims to answer the following questions, in particular:

 Does the software fulfill its functional requirements?

 Does it solve its intended users' problems?

8. What is non-functional testing?

Non-functional testing tests the system's non-functional requirements, which refer to an attribute or
quality of the system explicitly requested by the client. These include performance, security,
scalability, and usability.

Non-functional testing comes after functional testing. It tests the general characteristics unrelated to
the functional requirements of the software. Non-functional testing ensures that the software is
secure, scalable, high-performance, and won't crash under heavy load.

9. What is a bug report?

During testing, a tester records their observations, findings, and other information useful to the
developers or the management. All this data belongs to a test record, also called a bug report.

A detailed bug report is an important artifact produced during testing. It helps the team members
with:

 Understand the problem,

 Steps to reproduce the problem,
 The environment and the specific conditions under which it happens, and
 The resolution if/when the developers fix the problem.

Here are a few bits of information that a good bug report should contain. Image Source: Bugzilla

Field Description
Title A short headline that summarizes the problem. It shouldn’t be too long but just to give
just the right information to the reader. It should be specific and accurate.
Descriptio The description should answer all the questions that are not explained by the title. It
n contains a detailed summary of the bug, its severity, and impact, steps to reproduce,
expected results vs. the actual output.
Version A lot of time can be wasted in trying to reproduce a bug in the wrong version of the
product. Knowing the exact product version or the build number on which this bug was
found is very useful to the developer in reproducing the bug.
Status At any point, a bug can be either ‘Active’, ‘Ready for Testing’, or ‘Closed’. A bug becomes
active when it is found, is ready for testing once the developer fixes it. A tester can mark
it closed if the developer fixed it, or active if not.
Steps to Though the steps to reproduce the problem can be provided in the description,
Reproduce sometimes having a distinct field force the tester to think about them. They include each
step one must take to successfully reproduce the problem.
Assigned
Name of the developer or the tester to whom this bug is assigned.
To
Resolution When a developer fixes the bug, they should include the cause for the bug and its
resolution. It helps the team in the future when a similar bug resurfaces.

For example, here is a picture of a bug reported on Jira, a popular bug-tracking software.

21
 10. What are some important testing metrics?

Testing metrics provide a high-level overview to the management or the developers on how the
project is going and the next action steps. Here are some of the metrics derived from a record of the
tests and failures:

 Total number of defects found, ordered by their severity

 Total number of bugs fixed
 Total number of problems caused by an error in the source code vs. configuration or external
environmental factors
 Bug find and fix rate over time
 Bugs by produce/feature area
 The average time is taken by a bug since it’s found and fixed.
 Total time spent on new feature development vs. time spent on resolving bugs and failures
 Number of outstanding bugs before a release
 Bugs/failures reported by the customers vs. those found by the testers

11. What is Test-Driven-Development?

Test-Driven-Development (TDD) is a popular software development technique, first introduced by

Kent Beck in his book with the same name, published in 1999.

In TDD, a developer working on a feature first writes a failing test, then writes just enough code to
make that test pass. Once they have a passing test, they add another failing test and then write just
enough code to pass the failing test. This cycle repeats until the developer has the fully working
feature. If the code under the test has external dependencies such as database, files, or network,
you can mock them to isolate the code.

Benefits of TDD:

 Writing tests first forces you to think about the feature you are trying to build, helping you produce
better code.

22
 As you always have a working set of tests at hand, a failing test indicates that the problem is with
the code you just added, reducing the time spent in debugging.

 Writing tests help the developer to clarify the requirements and specification. It’s challenging to
write good tests for a poor set of requirements.
 It’s tough to produce high-quality software unless you can test the software after each new change.
You can never be sure that your new code didn’t break the working software. TDD gives you the
confidence to add new code, as you already have a test in place.

12. What is Selenium? What are its benefits?

Selenium is a web browser automation tool that automates the test suits you need to run on a web
browser.

Some of the benefits of Selenium include:

 It is open-source software, eliminating licensing costs.

 It supports all the major languages, such as Java, C#, Python, Ruby, etc.
 It supports all the major web browsers, e.g., Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.
 You can integrate it with other testing frameworks and tools to build a comprehensive test suite for
your software.

13. What are the various components of Selenium?

Selenium consists of the following components:

 Selenium Remote Control (RC).

 Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE).
 Selenium WebDriver.
 Selenium Grid.

14. What is cross-browser testing?

All web applications run in browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer,
Safari, etc. Though they all work primarily the same in implementing the web standards, there are
subtle differences in all of them. When building the software, it’s not always possible for the
software developer to meticulously test the feature on multiple browsers, noticing the subtle
inconsistencies.

In cross-browser testing, a software tester launches the web application in all the supported
browsers and tries to test the same functionality on all of them. They note any unexpected behavior
in a browser that doesn’t work as expected or looks different; note the behavior and the browser
name and version in the test report. This helps the programmer to fix the behavior in all the
browsers where it doesn't work as intended.

15. What are the different HTTP status codes that a server can return?

An HTTP status code is a three-digit number that indicates the status of an incoming HTTP request,
that is, if the request has been completed or not.

23
 A server can send the following five types of responses for an HTTP request.

1. Information (100 - 199): These status codes provide a temporary response. The response
consists of the status line and optional headers and terminates by an empty line.
2. Success (200 - 299): Indicate that the incoming HTTP request was successfully received,
understood, and accepted.
3. Redirect (300 - 399): These status codes indicate further actions the client should take to
satisfy the HTTP request. It can mean that the requested resource may have moved
temporarily or permanently. It can also redirect the client to another URL.
4. A client error (400 - 499): Indicate a problem with the client who initiated the HTTP request.
5. Server error (500 - 599): The 5XX status code indicates a problem on the server while
processing the request.

16. What is automated testing?

As the name suggests, automated testing, which is also called test automation, is the programmatic
execution of the tests. The tester uses an automation tool or software like Selenium to write code
that performs the following tasks.

1. Automatically run the software.

2. Feed the input data to the system.
3. Examine the output with the expected outcome.
4. Fail the test if the results don’t match. Otherwise, pass the test.

Once a test is automated, you can run it as often as you want, to check if any new code has broken
it. It enables you to spend your time on other high-value tests, such as exploratory testing that help
find bugs that an automated test would miss.

Automated testing is beneficial for repetitive testing with inputs that don’t change frequently.
Humans get tired and bored from conducting the same tests repeatedly and seeing the same
results. It’s easy to make mistakes when you are testing a feature for the twentieth time. Software is
much better at doing repetitive tasks without getting tired or making mistakes than a human
operator would.

17. What is the most effective way to map automation testing success?

The success of Automation testing can be measured using the following criteria:

 Savings on labor & other costs.

 Defect Detection Ratio.
 Automating the execution process and reducing the release time.

18. What are the different types of severity you can assign to a bug?

Though it varies depending on the size and structure of the software development teams, typically,
a bug can be assigned the following types of severities, going from low to high:

24
 Low

 User Interface bugs.

 Accessibility issues.

Medium

 Leaky abstractions.
 Software hangs.
 Users unable to perform a specific action.
 Boundary conditions.

High

 Crashing under high load.

 Business logic and/or calculation errors.
 Any user action that causes the software to crash.
 Exposing sensitive user data.
 Security problems.
 Loss of data.

19. Which test cases are written first: white boxes or black boxes?

Test cases for the black box testing are usually written first, followed by test cases for the white box
testing. An outline of the design or project plan and the requirements document is required to write
black-box test cases. Documents such as these are readily available at the beginning of the project.
The initial phase of a project isn't the right time to start white box testing because it requires more
architecture clarification that isn't available yet. Therefore, white-box test cases are typically written
after black-box test cases have been developed.

20. What is alpha testing?

Before you ship the software to the customers, the internal testing team performs alpha testing.
Alpha testing is part of the user acceptance testing. Its goal is to identify bugs before the customers
start using the software.

21. What is beta testing?

Once you ship the software to the customers after alpha testing, the software's actual users perform
the beta testing in a real production environment. It is one of the final components of user
acceptance testing. Beta testing is helpful to get feedback from real people using your software in
real environments.

22. What is meant by browser automation?

It’s a process of automatically testing a web application’s functionality in a browser, where a

program launches the browser, navigates to the application, and interacts with the user interface by
clicking buttons or links, just like an average user would.

The only difference is that the browser automation can test this very quickly and often, whereas the
same test would take a human tester a long time. It’s part of automated testing. Some essential
tools for browser testing include Selenium, protractor.js, and cypress.

23. What do you mean by Test Matrix and Traceability Matrix?

25
 Test Matrix: It is referred to as a testing tool that is used to capture actual quality, effort,
resources, plan, and time required to capture all the phases of software testing. It only covers the
testing phase of the life cycle.

Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM): It is referred to as a document, usually present in the

form table, that is used to trace and demonstrate the relationship between the requirements and
other artifacts of the project right from start to end. In simple words, it maps between test cases and
customer requirements.

24. What is the V model in software testing?

V-models, also known as validation or verification models, are SDLC models where the process
occurs sequentially in a V-shape. This method consists of associating a testing phase with each
corresponding development stage. As each development activity is accompanied by a testing
activity, the next test phase occurs only after the previous phase has been completed.

 Validation: It is defined as a process that involves dynamic testing of software products by

executing the code. This process validates whether we are building the right software that meets
that customer's requirement or not. It involves various activities like system testing, integration
testing, user acceptance testing, and unit testing.
 Verification: The technique involves static analysis (review) without running the code. It is defined
as a process that involves analyzing the documents. This process verifies whether the software
conforms to specifications or not. Its ultimate goal is to ensure the quality of software products,
design, architecture, etc.

25. State difference between verification and validation in software testing.

Validation: It is defined as a process that involves dynamic testing of software products by running
it. This process validates whether we are building the right software that meets that customer
requirement or not. It involves various activities like system testing, integration testing, user
acceptance testing, and unit testing.

Verification: It is defined as a process that involves analyzing the documents. This process verifies
whether the software conforms to specifications or not. Its ultimate goal is to ensure the quality of
software products, design, architecture, etc.

Verification Vs Validation:

Verification Validation
It checks whether the software meets the It checks whether the specification captures the
specification or not. customer’s needs or not.
It is a type of static testing. It is a type of dynamic testing.
There is no requirement of executing the code. There is a requirement for executing the code.
This process is performed by the QA team to make
This process is performed with the involvement
sure that the software is built as per the
of the testing team.
specifications in the SRS document.
Reviews, walkthroughs, inspections, and desk- Black box testing, white box testing, and non-
checking are some methods that can be used in functional testing are some methods that can be

26
Verification Validation
verification. used during validation.
It identifies the bugs or errors early in the It can identify the bugs or errors that the
development process. verification process cannot catch.
It is performed before the validation process. It is performed after the verification process.

26. What is static software testing?

Static testing is a technique in which you test the software without actually executing it. It involves
doing code walkthroughs, code reviews, peer-reviews, or using sophisticated tools such as eslint,
StyleCop to perform static analysis of the source code. Static testing is typically performed during
software development.27. What is dynamic software testing?

In contrast to static testing, dynamic software testing tests the software when it’s executing. The
tester runs the software in a test environment and goes through all the steps involved, entering the
inputs and verifying the actual output with the expected result.

28. What do you mean by confirmation testing in software testing?

A confirmation test involves retesting a software product to see if the previously reported bugs have
been fixed. A bug is usually reported by testers when a test fails. A new version of the software is
released after the development team fixes the defect. Now that the new software build has been
released, the testing team will retest it in order to ensure that the reported bug was actually fixed. It
is also referred to as retesting.

29. What is the defect life cycle?

Defect life cycle, also known as a bug life cycle, is a life cycle of various stages through which a
defect goes during its whole lifetime. This life cycle starts as soon as the defect is discovered or
reported by the tester and ends when the tester ensures that the defect is resolved and it won't
occur again. The defect life cycle includes the steps as shown below:

27
30. What is defect cascading in Software testing?

In software testing, defect cascading is the scenario in which one defect leads to the occurrence of
several other defects in a program. If a defect goes unnoticed during testing or if it doesn't get
reported, it has the potential to trigger other problems. The result is that multiple defects arise
during the later stages of the production process.

31. A defect that could have been removed during the initial stage is later removed. What
effect does this have on the cost?

If a defect is discovered during the project's initial phase, it is important that the defect is removed
during that phase rather than afterwards. The cost of fixing a defect increases greatly if it is delayed
until a later stage in the development cycle. Following is a diagram showing how the cost of a fixing
defect increases throughout the phases.

It is more cost-effective to eliminate defects during the design phase, but it becomes twenty times
more expensive to do so during maintenance.

32. What is meant by the workbench concept?

28
 A workbench is a document that explains how an activity should be completed. Often, it is referred
to as a step, phase, or task. Workbenches serve as platforms for building and monitoring testers'
work structures. Using this method, it is possible to divide tasks into each phase and to reach the
customer's expectations using the initial data.

Every workbench has five tasks, which are as follows:

 Input.
 Execute.
 Check.
 Production output.
 Rework.

33. When there is neither a frame ID nor a frame name, what technique should be
considered in the script?

When frame name and frame id are unavailable, we can use frame index instead. Suppose there are
four frames on a page that don't have frame names or frame identifiers (frame ID), but we can still
select them with the frame (zero-based) index attribute. For instance, the first frame would be
indexed 0, the second frame would be at index 1, the third frame would be at index 2, and the fourth
frame would be at index 3.

driver.switchTo().frame(int arg0);

34. How can Selenium WebDriver be used to detect broken links?

You might be asked this tricky question by the interviewer. As an example, he could give you a web
page with 20 links, and you would have to determine which of those 20 links are working and which
aren't or are broken.

Considering that you must verify the functionality of each link, the workaround is to send HTTP
requests to each link and analyze the response. When you navigate to a URL using the driver.get()
method, you will receive a 200 - OK status response. It is evident that the link has been obtained
and is working. In the case of any other status, the link is broken.

Let’s now understand how to do that.

As a first step, we must determine the different hyperlinks on the webpage using anchor tags. We
can obtain hyperlinks for each tag using the attribute 'href' value and analyze the response received
using the driver.get() method.

Conclusion

1. Conclusion

Software testing is an important activity that ensures quality, giving the confidence to release the
software to customers. This article explained the testing process and its importance in software
development. It also covers important concepts on manual testing and will guide you to master the
field of manual testing.

However, testing is only a single component of a good software development strategy. A

development team should use high coding standards, best practices, and patterns to reduce the bug
count. As a long-term strategy, the best way to improve the testing process is to test frequently,
measure the results, gather feedback and use it to get better.

1. Who is Business Analyst?

29
Answer: A business analyst works as a bridge between different stakeholders in an organization. He
connects with the different stakeholders of an organization to clarify and finalize the requirements,
helps the project team in project planning, designing and finally validating the developed components.
He is the person who possesses adequate domain knowledge and can sort the business needs
amongst the stakeholders who belong to different domains.

2. Name some of the documents that a business analyst use to handle?

Answer: Following are some of the common documents that a business analyst use to handle:

 Project vision document

 Use cases
 Requirement Management Plan
 User stories
 Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM)
 Business Requirement Document
 System Requirement Specification (SRS)/ System Requirement Document (SRD)
 Test case
 Functional Requirement Specification (FRS)/ Functional Specification Document (FSD)
3. What is SRS and what are its key elements?

Answer: A System Requirements Specification (SRS) or a Software Requirements Specification is a

document or set of documents that describe the features of a system or software application. It
includes a variety of elements which define the intended functionality required by the stakeholders
and customer to satisfy the end users.

In addition to that, an SRS provides a high-level idea of the system and its behavior, the main
supported business processes, the assumptions and the key performance parameters for the system.
The key elements of an SRS are:

 Scope of Work
 Functional Requirements
 Non-Functional Requirements
 Dependencies
 Data Model
 Assumptions
 Constraints
 Acceptance Criteria
4. What is a requirement?

Answer: A requirement is a targeted solution to achieve specific business goals or objectives. It is an

input to various stages of SDLC. This is a basis of a project which must be validated by the
stakeholders and business users before implementation. Besides that, every requirement needs to be
properly documented for future reference purpose.

5. What is Use case?

Answer: A use case is a diagrammatic representation of a system which describes how a user uses a
system to accomplish a goal. It is an integral part of software engineering and software modelling
technique which defines the targeted features and the resolution of any possible errors which a user
may encounter.

Must Read: List of 10 Best Business Analysis Tools

6. What are the steps that you need to follow to design a use case?

Answer: The steps in designing use cases are:

30
  Identify the users of the system
 Creating a user profile for each category of users. This includes all roles that the users may play
and relevant to the system.
 Identify essential goals associated with each role. Also, identifying the significant roles.
 Creating use cases for every goal associated for a use case template. This also includes
maintaining the same abstraction level for the entire use case. Higher level use case steps are
considered as goals for the lower level.
 Structuring the use cases
 Reviewing and validating the users
7. What is Scope creep and how can you avoid scope creep?

Answer: Scope creep, or requirement creep is a term that relates to the uncontrolled changes or
deviation in the project’s scope within the same resource range for example within same schedule and
budget of the project. It’s an indication of poor project management and a viable risk to a project.
Some of the possible causes of scope creep are:

 Poor communication between the project’s stakeholders

 Improper documentation of the project’s requirements
Scope creep could be avoided by:

 Clear documentation about the project scope

 Following proper change management
 Prior intimation about the effects of the changes to the associated parties
 Proper documentation of the new requirements in the project log
 Refrain from Gold Plating which means adding extra features to the existing functionalities
8. What is BRD? How is it different from SRS?

Answer: A Business Requirements Document (BRD) is a formal contract between the customer and
the organization for a product.

The difference between BRD and SRS are as follows:

BRD SRS

It is a high-level functional It is a high level functional and technical

specification of the software. specification of the software

It is a formal document to describe It describes the functional and non-

the requirement provided by the functional requirements of the software to
client (written, verbal) be developed

The Business Analyst creates it after The System Architect creates it as it

their direct interaction with the needs technical expertise. Though
clients sometimes Bas too can create it.

It is derived based on the

It is derived from the BRS
requirements and client interaction

9. What is Gap Analysis?

Answer: Gap Analysis is a technique to analyze the gap between the existing system and
functionalities, and the targeted system. Here gap means the amount of task or change that may be
required to get the intended result. It’s a performance level comparison between the present and the
proposed functionalities.

10. What is requirement prioritization? What are the different techniques used for it?

31
Answer: Requirements prioritization is the process to allocate requirements based on the business
urgency to different phases, schedule, cost, etc.

There are various techniques which are used for requirements prioritization:

 MoSCoW Technique
 Requirements Ranking Method
 100-dollar method
 Kano Analysis & More
 Five Whys
Also Read: 10 Most Popular Business Analysis Techniques

Best entry level business analyst interview questions

11. What is the requirement elicitation technique?

Answer: Requirement elicitation is the process of requirement gathering from stakeholders, users,
and customers by conducting meetings, questionnaires, interviews, brainstorming prototyping,
sessions, etc.

12. What is the fundamental difference between a requirement and need in a business
analysis perspective?

Answer: Needs are high-level definitions of the future goals of a business. Whereas, Requirements are
the representation of the detailed description of that business needs.

13. What are non-functional requirements and how do you capture them?

Answer: Non-functional requirements represent the performance level characteristics like how fast it
can respond, how smooth is a user interface, security, etc. of the application under development
(AUD).
No functional requirements are captured in the SRS document in its designated section.

14. What are the skills that a business analyst must possess?

Answer: We can broadly categorize the skills of a business analyst in three types:

 Fundamental skills
 Technical skills
 Business Analysis skills
For each of the above categories a business analyst should possess some skills as mentioned below:

Skill Skills
category

 Problem Solving
Fundamental  Communication
skills  Management skills
 Research

Technical  IT skills like MS Office, Operating systems,

skills Programming languages, Knowledge of database,
SDLC knowledge, Domain knowledge

Business  Requirement Elicitation

32
  Documentation
Analysis  Decision making
skills  Creativity
 Analytical skills
15. How will you define a good quality requirement as a business analyst?

Answer: We can measure the quality of a requirement using SMART rule. As per this rule, a good
quality requirement should be:
Specific: The requirement should be specific and could be documented properly
Measurable: Different parameters can measure the success criteria of the requirement
Attainable: The requirement should be feasible within the scope of the given resources
Relevant: The requirement must be in line with the project’s business case
Timely: The requirement should be communicated early in the project lifecycle

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16. Which documents are used to capture non-functional requirements?

Answer: There are two documents that are used to capture non-functional requirements, and they
are:

 SDD (System Design Document)

 FRD (Functional Requirement Document)
17. What is alternate flow in use case diagram?

Answer: It is an alternative solution or activity in a use case that should be followed in case of any
failure in the system.

18. Define Personas?

Answer: Personas represents User-Centered Design methodologies. To enable an application capable

of performing on a demographic basis, fictional characters are conceptualized by the business analysts
and based on their possible demographic specific behavior scenarios are created during design.

19. What is an activity diagram and what are the important elements of it?

Answer: An activity diagram is a visual representation of the workflow of a business use case. This
diagram shows various activities that take place in an organization in different departments like HR,
Sales, Accounts, etc. The activity diagram highlights the differences in the departments.
The important elements in Activity diagram are initial nodes, activities, control flows, decisions, a fork,
guard conditions, join and end nodes.

20. What is UML modelling?

Answer: UML stands for Unified Modelling Language. It is a standard that the industry uses for
documenting, constructing and visualizing various components of a system. This modelling standard is
primarily used for software development. However, it is also used for describing job roles,
organizational functions, and business processes. Some of the important diagrams that BAs use as part
of UML are the class diagram, state diagrams and use cases.

33
 Must Read: Why is the Certification Required to Grow in the Field of Business
Analysis?

Most popular Junior business analyst interview questions

21. What are the best practices to follow while writing a use case?

Answer: Some of the best practices to write a use case are as follows:

 To become a valid use case, the use case must provide some value back to the actor or
stakeholder.
 The functional and non-functional requirements must be captured appropriately in the use case.
 The use case must have one or more alternate flow along with the main flow.
 The use case should only describe what the system does and not how it is done which means it
will not describe the design. It will act as a black box from the viewpoint of an actor.
 The use case should not have any, i.e. it should be stand alone.
22. What is the difference between exception flow and alternate flow?

Answer: Alternate flow are the alternative actions that can be performed apart for the main flow and
can be considered as an optional flow.
Exception flow is the path traversed in case of any exception or error.

23. Do you think a business analyst should be involved in testing?

Answer: Yes. Because a business analyst understands the overall system requirements and
challenges associated with it very well. Hence, he can be instrumental during the testing phase to run
it appropriately and resolve any system related query.

24. What does INVEST stand for?

Answer: INVEST stands for –

 Independent
 Negotiable
 Valuable
 Estimable
 Sized Appropriately
 Testable
It can assist project managers and technical team to deliver quality products/services.

25. What is Pareto Analysis?

34
Answer: Pareto Analysis which is also known as 80/20 rule is a decision-making technique. It is a
useful technique for defect resolution and quality control. As per this analysis rule, 20 % causes create
80 % effects in a system, which is why it is named as 80/20 rule.

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26. What is BPMN and what are its basic elements?

Answer: BPMN is the Business Process Model and Notation. It is a graphical representation of business
processes.

There are five basic elements of BPMN, and they are –

 Flow Objects
 Data
 Connecting Objects
 Swimlanes
 Artifacts
27. What is Kano analysis?

Answer: Kano Analysis is used to analyze a system regarding its requirements to identify its impact
on customers’ satisfaction.

28. What are the different types of actors you know in use case diagram?

Answer: There are mainly two types of actors can be depicted in a Use case-

 Primary actors – It starts the process

 Secondary actors – It assists the primary actor
Moreover, we can categorized actors into four types :

 Human
 System
 Hardware
 Timer
29. What are the different types of the gap that a business analyst can encounter during
gap analysis?

Answer: There are mainly four types of gap –

 Performance Gap – The difference between expected performance and the actual
performance
 Product/Market Gap – The gap between budgeted sales and actual sales is termed as
product/market gap
 Profit Gap – The variance between a targeted and actual profit of the company.
 Manpower Gap – The gap between the required number and quality of workforce and actual
strength in the organization
30. What is Benchmarking?

Answer: Benchmarking is about measuring the performance of an organization to compete in the

industry. In this process, a company may measure its policies, performance, rules and other measures.

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35
Most popular Senior business analyst interview questions

31. How do you decide that as a business analyst you have gathered all the requirements?

Answer: We can conclude that all the requirements are gathered only when –

 It is validated and approved by the business users.

 The requirements are appropriately aligned with the project’s business requirements.
 The requirements can be implemented with the available resources.
 All the key business stakeholders are aligned with the elicited requirements.
32. How do you perform requirement gathering?

Answer: The requirement gathering process is generally divided into multiple steps which are
agnostic to the SDLC cycle. Each step involves:

 specific tasks to perform

 principles to follow
 documents to produce
The steps are as follows:

Step 1: Gather Background Information – This may include collecting background information about
the project, analyzing any potential risk associated with the project. Techniques like PESTLE analysis,
Porter’s Five forces framework could be used for this purpose.

Step 2: Identify Stakeholders – They are the decision makers of a project and approver for
requirements and priorities. Stakeholders may range from project owners to senior managers, end
users, and even competitors.

Step 3: Discover Business Objectives – This is to understand the business needs of the project before
going deep into the project. SWOT analysis, Benchmarking, analyzing business objectives SMART and
listing business objectives are some of the techniques used for this purpose.

Step 4: Evaluate Options – This is to identify the options to achieve business objectives. Impact
analysis, Risk analysis, Cost-benefit analysis are some of the methods which are used for this purpose.

Step 5: Scope Definition – A scope is a project development goal which is set based on the business
objectives. A scope definition document is used to detail the goals for each phase of a project.

Step 6: Business Analyst Delivery Plan – Based on the project scope, stakeholders availability and
project methodology a document called business analyst is created at this step. The document
provides information on deliverables with their timeline.

Step 7: Define Project Requirements – In this step, two types of documents are used – Functional
requirement document and Non-functional requirement document. Based on the development
methodology to be used in the project the business analyst needs to clarify the requirements with the
stakeholders by interviewing them on the requirements and get the sign off on the same.

Step 8: Support Implementation through SDLC – This is the technical implementation step of the
requirements where a business analyst gets involved with different teams. This includes coordinating
with the development team and testing team to ensure requirements are implemented as expected
and appropriately tested against all the possible business scenarios. They also need to handle the
change request which may arise from the stakeholders at the later point of time.

36
Step 9: Evaluate Value Added By Project – This is the continuous evaluation of the project to evaluate
whether the business objectives implementation correctly meets the business needs outcome and
timeline.

33. Why it is necessary for a business analyst to get involved during the implementation of
requirements?

Answer: Gaining domain knowledge and providing an analytical solution are the two major criteria of
a business analyst. Hence, during actual implementation of a requirement or use case a business
analyst can help to resolve many business strategies related problems that may arise during the
implementation stage. On the contrary, they can learn from the problems which may help them to
provide the solution in similar scenarios and also help to gain their domain knowledge.

34. What are the problems that a business analyst may face?

Answer: From the initiation to post implementation of a project a business analyst may face the
following problems –

 Employees related issues

 Technology related problems
 Access related
 Business policies related issues
 Business model errors
35. Explain requirement elicitation strategy?

Answer: Requirement elicitation is the process to collect all the requirements related to a system
from the end users, customers, and stakeholders. As per the BABOK guide, there are nine methods
which can be used as part of requirement elicitation process, and these are:

 Brainstorming
 Interviews
 Observation
 Document Analysis
Focus Groups
 Requirements Workshops
 Interface Analysis
 Survey or Questionnaire
 Prototyping
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36. What is Business Model Analysis?

Answer: Business Model Analysis is a technique to analyze whether a business is viable and valuable
regarding social, economic and other perspectives. The business model analysis provides the
foundation for any required business model change and innovation for an organization.

37. Do you think the role of a Business Analyst is a need for a project?

Answer: Yes, because the role of a Business analyst is extremely beneficial from the kick-off to the
implementation of a project. Here are the top 5 reasons:

 During the project kick-off session, there are high possibilities that some technical queries come
up from stakeholder and clients. As we don’t involve the technical project team during this
phase and immediate answering is essential, a business analyst may play a pivotal role to
answer those queries.

37
  The next phase after the kick-off session essentially involves some gap analysis, business
process analysis, documentation, SOW review, project scheduling and of course preparing
requirement specification documents.
 During the development and testing phase, a business analyst can play a significant role to
resolve any requirement related queries from the project teams. Besides that, he can validate
whether the requirements are correctly implemented and tested considering different functional
and non-functional scenarios.
 In a waterfall model, new requirement or modification of requirements can be asked from
stakeholder considering changing business needs. In this case business analyst is the person
who can handle this change request with proper validation and analysis.

38. What is the difference between Business analysis and Business Analytics?

Answer: The key difference between Business analysis and Business analytics is the first one is more
functions and process related whereas the second one is data related.

Business analysis – recognizes business needs and determine the solutions to that problems. Tools
and techniques like SWOT, PESTEL, CATWOE, MOST, FIVE WHY, etc. are used for business analysis.

Business analytics – handles data and analyze data to get insights into a business. Finally, it
generates reports. Mainly four types of business analytics are used, and they are – descriptive
analytics, decisive analytics, prescriptive analytics, and predictive analytics Tools and technologies like
Big data, BI is used for this purpose.

39. What is process design?

Answer: Process design is a way that helps a business to analyze the challenges in business and to
find an effective solution for those. Through Process design workflows are created to get the best
possible outcome in the shortest time.

40. What are the effective skills to solve any problem as a business analyst?
Answer:

 Leadership skill
 Excellent communication skill
 Problem analysis skill
 Technical knowledge
 Domain knowledge
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Latest Agile business analyst interview questions

41. What is the Agile Manifesto?

Answer: Agile Manifesto is a software guide about the Agile development principles which ensure
iterative solutions.

42. What are the essential qualities of an Agile BA?

Answer: An Agile BA must be able to:

 The BA is expected work collaborate with product owner and developers to elicit requirements.
The BA also must work to develop realistic functional requirements.
 The BA must do requirement elicitation in an iterative way
 The BA must make requirement specifications, data models and business rules as much
lightweight as possible.

38
  The BA must be technically sound so that he can understand how the components of the
system interact with each other. Besides that, he must understand the agile terminologies as he
acts as the middleman between the customer and the project team.
 The BA must concentrate on the just-enough requirement and test criteria to meet the just in
time delivery goal of an agile project.
43. When should you use Waterfall model instead of Scrum?

Answer: If the requirement is simple and specific, we should go for Waterfall model instead of Scrum.

44. What are the four key phases of business development?

Answer: The four key phases of business development:

 Forming
 Storming
 Norming
 Performing
45. What do you know about Kanban?

Answer: Kanban is a tool which helps the agile team to visually guide and manage the work as it
progresses through the process. Besides, it works as a scheduling system in Agile just-in-time
production. The Kanban board is used to describe the current development status.

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46. Mention about some of the most important agile metrics

Answer: The following are some important agile Matrices

 Velocity – This is used to track the progress of a project

 The sprint burndown matric – This helps to track the work done with the sprint.
 The priority of the work
 Work category allocation – This metric helps to get an idea about the priority of the work and
work category allocation.
 The cumulative flow diagram – the uniform flow of work can be checked thought this diagram of
cumulative flow. Here the x-axis represents time and the y-axis stands for the number of effort.
 Defect removal awareness – This helps to produce quality products.
 Business value delivered – This is used to estimate the work efficiency of the team. It associates
100 points for measurement.
 Time coverage – It estimates the amount of time invested in coding during testing. It is the ratio
of the number of lines of code called by the test suite to the number of relative lines of codes.
 Defect resolution time – This is the turnaround time for detecting and fixing bugs. There
processes involved in for this purpose are:
 bug fixing
 eliminating the bug
 Scheduling a fix
 Defect fixation
 Handover of the resolution report
47. Explain the term ‘increment’?

Answer: Increment refers to the sum of all the product backlog items completed in a sprint. The new
increment value also includes the increment of the previous sprints.

48. What are the different types of Agile methodologies?

Answer: Some of the well-known agile methodologies are:

39
  Scrum
 Lean software development and Extreme Programming (XP)
 Feature-driven development (FDD)
 Crystal Methodology
 DSDM (Dynamic Software Development Method)
49. Is there any difference between incremental and iterative development?

Answer: Yes.
In an iterative development software development happens without any interruption. Here the
software development cycles which typically consists of sprint and release are repeated till the final
product is obtained. Whereas, in an incremental model, software development follows the product
design, implementation, and testing incrementally until the product is finished. Hence, it involves
development and maintenance.

To refer more business analyst interview questions on agile scrum please follow our
previous blog Top 40 Agile Scrum Interview Questions (Updated)

50. Difference between extreme programming and scrum?

Answer: Scrum and extreme programming both follow iterations which are known as sprints.
However, the sprints in a Scrum process last up to two weeks to one month long whereas in extreme
programming (XP) team the iteration lasts for one or two weeks. Extreme programming is more
flexible than Scrum as Scrum does not allow any change in during iterations.

Though we have categorized the above business analyst interview questions based on the experience
levels, however, it could be a mixed and match for any career level depending on the organization and
their requirement.

Final words

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recognized business analysis certification can make your hiring process easier. Because a certification
makes your credibility beyond question.

Certifications like ECBA, CCBA, CBAP, and PMI-PBA provide the excellent roadmap for business analysts
to learn best business analysis practices. However, these are very vast courses which need in-depth,
hands-on knowledge of the subject areas.

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1. How would you work with a difficult stakeholder?

As a business analyst, you will likely deal with many different personalities occupying various
positions. Situational questions like this one measure your problem-solving skills, communication
skills and ability to resolve difficult situations. This question assesses whether you can successfully
navigate interactions with many different stakeholders.

40
Provide a direct answer and explain a related challenge you faced in past work. You can use the STAR
interview response framework to structure your answer by addressing the following:

 Situation: Briefly explain the issue you were dealing with in a positive, constructive way.
 Task: Explain your role in the situation.
 Action: Explain what you did to resolve or address the situation.
 Result: Explain your learnings and how your actions resulted in a positive impact on the
business.

During your discussion with the interviewer, you also gain insight into the challenges you might face in
the new role, which can be a helpful context to understand before accepting an offer.

Example: "I have found that nearly any issue is solvable with empathy, communication and action.
For example, I once had an angry client who felt she had received incorrect data, which was useless
and unhelpful. My role was to acquire and interpret said data. I immediately scheduled a phone call
with her and the other project stakeholders to discuss the issue. After taking the time to hear her
concerns, we found that she simply didn't feel equipped to apply the data findings. We established a
workshop with our team business consultant to help her feel more prepared and sent weekly updates
by email to ensure she felt supported during the remainder of the project. She doubled her spend with
us over the next two quarters."

Read more: How to Prepare for a Behavioral Interview

2. Describe a time when you had to advise a client toward a different course of action.

As a business analyst, it's your job to make recommendations in the interest of the client and the
organization. Your perspective should be based on the collected data as you interpret it. Should a
client pursue a course of action you do not feel is in their best interest, you may be required to present
the data in new and interesting ways to convince them otherwise.

In your answer, you should explain how you can apply your problem-solving skills to navigate
potentially difficult situations with clients and other important stakeholders.

Example: "Once, I had a client looking to expand a product line for their store. At the same time, they
were already struggling to sell many of the products they already carried. I used a detailed sales
analysis to show them why they should focus on selling their current products instead of investing in
new ones. I also offered suggestions about how they might increase sales and areas in which they are
already succeeding."

3. What is the most important aspect of analytical reporting?

Analytical reporting is a type of business reporting that offers information, data analysis and
recommendations. The recommendations are what set this type of reporting apart from informational
reporting. Analytical reporting allows people to use data to make decisions.

As a business analyst, you should understand the importance and limitations of analytical reporting. In
your answer, explain the measurable impact you have made with analytical reporting in previous roles.
This helps employers understand the value you have to offer at their organization. Formulate your
response to demonstrate your critical thinking and analytical skills, showing how you can create
recommendations from data sources.

Example: "While data itself can't solve problems, it can equip you to make the right business
decisions when analyzed in context. Even if a certain decision doesn't produce the expected results,
data allows you to learn from those results to continue improving. The most important aspect of
analytical reporting is the ability to solve problems and make decisions based on facts. Attempting to

41
make decisions based on uninformed guesses or assumptions can be problematic—analytical
reporting provides tangible information to create strategy and direction."

4. Describe your familiarity with SQL queries.

SQL is the standard language for relational database management systems. Since SQL allows you to
work with structured data where there are relations between different variables, SQL queries are
commonly used in the business analyst role.

Though it's not necessary for a business analyst to demonstrate advanced technical skills, certain skills
are valuable. You may be asked to explain the elements of a SQL statement so employers can assess
your related technical skills and advanced analysis skills. In addition to providing definitions that
demonstrate your knowledge, you might also consider providing an example of how you have used
SQL to make an impact in your previous BA work.

Example: "There are four parts to an SQL statement. The DDL, or the data definition language,
defines data structure. The DML, or data manipulation language, is used for inserting, deleting and
modifying data. The DCL, or data control language, controls access to data stored in the database.
Finally, the TCL, or transactional control language, organizes data adjusted by the DML. I have used
SQL statements to determine which of my client's customers are purchasing which products, which
has helped them make important decisions about future product lines. This work has made them a
repeat customer three years running."

5. What tools do you consider the most important for a business analyst to do their job
well?

This question allows an interviewer to test your basic technical skills and familiarity with standard
business analytics applications and those they may use at the company. BAs commonly use tools like
Microsoft Office Suite, though you may have used other tools or programs in your work. Tailor your
answer to highlight your own unique experience and skills.

Example: "I commonly use tools like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, MS Visio and Rational tools. I also have
advanced SQL skills—using SQL is helpful when analyzing items like customer purchases that would
overwhelm Excel."

6. Describe how you typically approach a project.

Understanding a candidate's workflow can help employers gauge their teamwork, project management
and organizational skills. To answer, explain general phases you work through with standard
deliverables you typically produce instead of listing specific processes or tasks the interviewer may not
be familiar with. Focus on your experience to describe your skills and how you use them.

For example, if you worked on the project's planning stages, you could mention deliverables such as a
communication plan, a work breakdown structure (WBS), a requirements management plan and a
business analysis approach, including whether it is plan- or change-driven.

Speak about how you have customized specific approaches to the needs of a given project. You can
follow up by asking about the organization's projects and processes to give yourself a better sense of
how you would fit in and show the interviewer that you are invested in how they work.

Example: "I first listen to what a client needs, paying attention to what they articulate as their goals
for the project. I then take a deeper look into our data to figure out how to guide them toward success
or how to change how they look at their goals to move forward more positively. Of course, every
project and every client requires something new, so I always consider the specific situation instead of
automatically imposing a one-size-fits-all solution."

42
Read more: How to Use the STAR Interview Response Technique

7. Name two diagrams you use as a business analyst, and describe how they impact your
work.

The interviewer may ask this question to ensure that you are familiar with standard BA documents and
how to apply them to a client's case. Even if they do not directly ask about your experience here,
providing examples can validate your ability to bring value to the employer.

Example: "Two diagrams I prefer using are activity diagrams and use case diagrams. Activity
diagrams show the diverse activities that take place across various departments. I use them to show
who interacts with a system and the primary goals they achieve with it. I find use case diagrams to be
handy when I need to visualize the functional requirements of a given system so I can make smart
choices when it comes to design and to figure out development priorities."

Read more: SWOT Analysis Guide (With Examples)

8. How do you explain your analysis to someone who does not understand the technical
terms and jargon?

Often, a business analyst performs complex calculations and presents them to stakeholders and
directors. The ability to explain how you reached a particular decision is essential for this job. When
interviewing for a position, your potential employer might want to hear how you approach these
situations.

Example: "When presenting my results and analysis to someone who lacks an analytical background,
I prefer to avoid technical jargon and terms and use words they are familiar with and can easily
understand. For instance, when speaking to a marketing professional, I frame the results based on the
impact of marketing ratios for the healthcare facility. When speaking to a finance professional, I
ensure my results and analysis focus on the impact the new business proposal has on the spending
and earnings of the facility."

9. Give an example of a time when you failed to meet a project deadline. How did you
overcome the situation?

This question is important because projects are often time-sensitive and might overshoot their
deadline. Through such questions, hiring managers understand how well a candidate can handle and
manage such situations and minimize the chances of them happening again.

Example: "In my previous job, I worked on a project that missed its deadline. Due to our inefficiency
in planning, the team faced challenges and we couldn't meet the project deadline. As a result, in every
project I take, I focus on completing the planning stage more seriously and ensure the team is aware
of the planning stage to avoid any issues."

10. What questions do you have?

Asking intelligent questions during your interview shows that you know how to ask the right questions
to get the right information—a necessary skill for business analysts. This is your chance to converse
thoughtfully with your prospective employer or colleague. Make sure to use active listening skills
during your interview to inform your questions. The person interviewing you should feel that you are
invested and engaged throughout the interview.

Example "I often work with clients looking to expand their business, and I am good at guiding them to
make intelligent decisions that prioritize their strengths. What does a typical client look like for you?"

43
Basic Business Analyst Interview Questions

1. What is the difference between a Data Analyst and a Business Analyst?

Let’s look at a brief comparison of Business Analysts vs Data Analysts.

Data Analyst Business Analyst

Applies statistical and mathematical models to Maps out business processes and identifies
uncover patterns, trends, and correlations in data areas for improvement
Focuses on data and analytics Focuses on business processes
Examples of tools and technologies: SQL, Excel, BPMN, UML, JIRA, Excel, PowerPoint are few
Python, R, Tableau examples of tools and technologies
Works with large datasets, performs data cleaning, Conducts research and interviews stakeholders
transformation, and statistical analysis to understand business requirements

Learn more about the differences between Data Analyst and Business Analyst from our
blog.

2. List the core competencies of a Business Analyst.

Some Business Analyst skills are:

1. Analytical thinking and decision-making

2. Business and industry knowledge
3. Business process management
4. Technical and soft skills
5. Problem-solving and negotiation skills

3. What is a Feasibility study?

The requirements and problems of a business/project should be studied and understood by a BA, and
he/she should set a scope for the business problem. The feasibility study identifies the possibility
(success rate) of the proposed idea for a business problem. It helps identify new opportunities and
focus on the project.

4. What are the different tools used in Business Analytics?

Here is a list of Business Analytics Tools:

1. MS Office and SQL

2. Blueprint
3. Python and R Programming
4. QlikView and Tableau
5. Axure
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5. Explain the business analysis process flow.

1. Information gathering
2. Identify the key stakeholders
3. Identify the business objective

44
 4. Determine the available options
5. Scope the definition
6. Define the delivery plan
7. Define the requirements of the project
8. Implementation and evaluation

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6. How do you perform risk management in your project?

A risk is characterized as an unpredictable occurrence that poses a potential threat to the ongoing
operations of a business, potentially impacting its revenue or even profitability. Various risk
management techniques can be employed to address such risks, including risk avoidance, reduction,
transfer, and acceptance. It is imperative to undertake a systematic process of identifying, analyzing,
evaluating, and controlling risks within a business context.

7. Differentiate between Risk mitigation and Risk avoidance.

Risk Mitigation Risk Avoidance
Risk mitigation is what to do when a risk occurs. Risk avoidance is what to do to avoid the
risk.
It reduces the probability of a risk’s occurrence. It avoids the risk by eliminating the cause.
It checks whether any impact occurs for the The impact of the threat’s occurrence is
project/business. reduced to 0%.
Cost is high in case any risk occurs. Cost is eliminated in risk avoidance.

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8. What are the different phases of an IT project?

There are five phases in project management, which include:

1. Project initiation
2. Project planning
3. Project execution
4. Project monitoring and control
5. Project closure

9. Differentiate between a Software development life cycle and a Project life cycle.

45
 Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Project Life Cycle (PLC)
Used for developing particular software products Used for developing a new product in the
business
Mostly involves single software across different phases Involves multiple software in a single
customer scenario
SDLC phases include requirement gathering, design, PLC phases include Idea generation,
coding, documentation, operations, and maintenance screening, research, development, testing,
and analysis

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10. What are the tasks and responsibilities of a Project Manager?

A Project Manager is responsible for taking decisions, controlling risks, and delivering the project on
the stipulated time. His/her responsibilities include:

1. Defining the scope

2. Resource planning
3. Cost and budget estimation
4. Risk analysis

Quality controlIntermediate Business Analyst Interview Questions

11. What do you mean by critical path analysis?

A project will involve a set of activities from start to finish. A critical path is the set of activities that
includes the longest path in the whole project. So, critical path analysis is a key component in reducing
project timelines and controlling costs.

12. How does CATWOE help in business analysis and decision-making?

Customers, Actors, Transformation process, Worldview, Owners, and Environmental constraints

(CATWOE) help in making decisions ahead of time. It includes analyzing how those decisions will affect
customers (C); who are involved as actors (A); what different transformation (T) processes are that
might affect the system, global picture, and worldwide (W) issues; who is responsible/has ownership
(O) for the business; and what the environmental (E) impacts of the project/business.

Get to know more about agile business analyst and get ahead in your career!

46
13. List various components of strategy analysis.

To develop a strategic plan for an organization, the key components are:

1. Vision
2. Mission
3. Objectives
4. Strategies
5. Action plan

14. What is business modeling?

Business modelling encompasses the process of determining the value proposition of a business and
formulating a systematic approach to its operations. This approach referred to as business modelling,
entails the establishment of a vision, mission, and strategies that outline the path to accomplish
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Business Analysis from Belhaven University

15. List various software engineering processes.

1. Gathering of requirements
2. Analyzing
3. Designing
4. Implementing
5. Testing
6. Deploying in the business environment
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16. Differentiate between Agile and Waterfall models.

Agile Model Waterfall Model
Flexible in nature Structured software development methodology
Focuses on customer The internal process does not require customer
satisfaction, majorly participation
Flexible to changes in Requirements must be clearly defined; changes are
requirement difficult to implement
Incremental approach Sequential design process
Testing can be done in every Testing is performed only in the final phase
phase

17. What is RUP methodology?

The Rational Unified Process (RUP) is a methodology for developing software applications, offering a
range of tools to facilitate the coding of the final product and tasks associated with this objective. RUP
adopts an object-oriented approach, ensuring efficient project management and the production of
high-quality software.

Get to learn more about the agile business analyst.

18. What is RAD methodology?

Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a software development methodology that emphasizes rapid
prototyping and iterative development. It aims to expedite the software development process by

47
quickly delivering functional prototypes and involving end-users and stakeholders throughout the
development cycle.

The development process in RAD is divided into smaller iterations or increments, known as “RAD
cycles” or “RAD iterations.” Each iteration typically lasts a short duration, ranging from a few weeks to
a few months. During each cycle, the development team collaborates closely with users and
stakeholders to gather requirements, design, develop, test, and deploy a working prototype or a
subset of the final system.

RAD methodology emphasizes using visual modelling tools, prototyping techniques, and code
generators to accelerate the development process. The primary goal is to rapidly develop and deliver
usable software, incorporating feedback from users and stakeholders in subsequent iterations. This
iterative approach allows flexibility and quick adaptation to changing requirements and market
conditions.

Key features of RAD methodology include

 active user involvement,

 collaborative development,
 emphasis on prototyping and iterative development, and
 the use of tools and techniques to expedite the development process.

It is particularly suitable for projects with well-defined objectives, where time-to-market is critical, and
user feedback is crucial for success.

Organizations can streamline development by adopting the RAD methodology, improving

communication and collaboration, and delivering software solutions that align closely with user needs
and expectations.

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19. What are project deliverables?

Project deliverables are a set of measurable goods and services that are delivered to the end customer
at the completion of a project. It is the outcome of the project.

20. List the components of the Requirements Work Plan.

1. Project description
2. Key issues
3. Deliverables
4. Goals and objectives
5. Strategy
6. Resources
7. Budget and time

48
Advanced Business Analyst Interview Questions

21. What is the purpose of the Requirement Traceability Matrix?

Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) is used to record all the requirements given by a client, so the
purpose of RTM is to ensure that all of the mentioned requirements are met.

22. What is business process modeling?

Business process modeling is a part of business process management, which is used to improve the
business process. It is the representation of an organization’s business process.

23. List the benefits of business process modeling.

1. It is used to show a clear understanding of the business processes.

2. It provides consistency and control over the processes of the project.
3. It is used to identify and eliminate errors and bottlenecks.
4. It gives a pathway for a clear start and ends to the process without hassles.

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24. What is the use of UML?

Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a general-purpose, developmental modeling language that

provides a standard way to visualize the system. It is used to:

1. Reason for the system behavior

2. Detect and eliminate errors
3. Propose design plans to stakeholders

The below diagram demonstrates the use of UML:

49
25. How do you analyze performance metrics?

1. Make sure that your key deliverables are met.

2. The budget and time for the project should not be extended.
3. Quality deliverables are maintained.

26. What do you think is the scope of Business Analysts in the Agile methodology
perspective?

With Agile methodology, Business Analysts act as a bridge between the development team
and stakeholders. They act on key deliverables to prioritize and deliver the project in the
stipulated time and budget.27. What is meant by scope creep?

Scope creep is defined as uncontrolled or sudden changes or deviations in the project’s scope without
changes in other resources of the project. It is due to the failure in proper monitoring,
miscommunication, etc.

28. List the elicitation techniques in Business Analytics.

Elicitation is a practice of collecting requirements from end customers and stakeholders; it is a

requirement-gathering process. Various techniques involved in this are:

1. Brainstorming
2. Document analysis
3. Focus group
4. Interface analysis
5. Interview
6. Observation
7. Prototyping
8. Requirements workshop
9. Reverse engineering
10. Survey

29. What are the initial steps involved in product development?

1. Market analysis
2. SWOT analysis
3. Personas

50
4. Competitor analysis
5. Identifying the strategic vision

30. What is the BPMN gateway? What are its elements?

BPMN gateway is used for controlling the sequence of processes and flow of interaction, which is in a
way a processing modeling component.

The elements of BPMN gateway are:

1. Flow objects
2. Data connection objects
3. Swimlanes
4. Artifacts

Have you got more queries regarding these interview questions for Business Analysts?
Come to our Community and get them clarified today!

31. What are some of the steps that you can take to avoid scope creep?

The following steps can be very useful in avoiding scope creep:

 Highly readable documentation about the project scope

 Defining proper change management schemas
 Accurate documentation of new requirements in logs
 Avoiding the addition of a lot of extra features to existing entities

32. Differentiate between BRD and SRS in Business Analysis.

Business Requirements Document System Requirements Specification
High-level functional specification of Technical specification of software
software
Created by Business Analysts after client Created by Systems Architects with
interaction technical expertise
Derived from the client’s requirement Derived from BRS after client engagement

33. What is Gap analysis?

Gap analysis is a widely used technique in business analysis that is used to understand and analyze
the gaps that exist between the goal system and the existing system and its functionalities.

51
It can also be considered a performance-level assessment between the current functionalities and the
goal functionalities.

34. What is requirement prioritization in Business Analysis?

Requirement prioritization, as the name suggests, is a structured process that is used to allocate the
requirements based on urgency with respect to many factors, such as:

 Project phase
 Delivery schedule
 Cost capping

35. What are the techniques used for requirement prioritization?

There are a variety of techniques used for requirement prioritization, and the following are some of the
most widely used ones:

 MoSCoW Method: This technique categorizes requirements into four prioritization levels: Must
have, Should have, Could have, and Won’t have. Must-have requirements are essential for the
project’s success, while the other categories indicate decreasing levels of importance.
 Kano Model: This technique categorizes requirements into three categories: Basic, Performance,
and Excitement. Basic requirements are expected and must be fulfilled, performance
requirements lead to customer satisfaction, and excitement requirements are unexpected
features that can delight the customer.
 Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP): AHP is a structured technique that allows decision-makers to
compare and prioritize requirements based on their relative importance. It involves creating a
hierarchy of requirements and assigning weights to each requirement based on pairwise
comparisons.
 Cost of Delay: This technique considers the impact of delaying a requirement. Requirements with
a higher cost of delay are prioritized higher, as their delay can result in significant negative
consequences or missed opportunities.
 Weighted Scoring: In this technique, requirements are evaluated based on specific criteria, and
each criterion is assigned a weight indicating its relative importance. The requirements are then
scored against each criterion, and the scores are multiplied by the corresponding weights to
calculate an overall prioritization score.
 Theme Screening: This technique involves identifying and prioritizing requirements based on the
alignment with project goals, business objectives, and strategic themes. Requirements that align
closely with the project’s vision and objectives are prioritized higher.
 User Story Mapping: This technique involves creating a visual representation of requirements in a
hierarchical manner. It helps in identifying dependencies between requirements and allows teams
to prioritize based on the critical path or essential user journeys.

100-Point Method: In this technique, stakeholders are given a fixed number of points (e.g., 100) to
distribute among the requirements based on their importance. The requirements with higher point
allocations are considered higher priority.The role of a business analyst is to understand the business
requirements, integrate them with technology, and act as the bridge between various stakeholders.
The business analyst job profiles are very lucrative, full of potential, and offer higher remuneration.
Whether you are a professional business analyst or aspiring to be one, preparing for popular business
analyst interview questions is imperative.

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 It is essential to prepare for a business analyst interview in advance as the competition level is high,
and there are multiple candidates with similar skill sets and experience levels. Therefore, highlighting
your technical capabilities in a limited timeframe is the only way to impress your potential recruiter
and prove your expertise. Here is a video on Business Analyst Interview Questions and Answers that
will acquaint you with the top questions you can expect in any business analyst interview.
Basic Business Analyst Interview Questions
1. What is the role of a business analyst in an organization?
It is the most fundamental question you can expect during your interview. You can answer this
question by explaining that a business analyst is a liaison or a link between different stakeholders
belonging to different domains in an organization. A business analyst should have the capabilities to
fulfill the business objectives and balance the needs of various stakeholders.
Read more: How to Become a Business Analyst in 2023
2. How do you see yourself fit for the role of business analyst in our company?
With this type of business analyst interview questions, the interviewer wants to assess your
understanding regarding the job role and whether you match the company's expectation of the desired
candidate.
You can answer this question in two parts:
 Firstly, focus on your education by stating relevant coursework related to the job.
 Secondly, illustrate your experience, attitude, and skills that make you a good fit for the company.
You can give examples of the previous works that show the interviewer what benefits you will bring to
the company. Make sure your answer has a problem and the solution you implemented.
Pro Tip: Make sure you also focus on the skills outlined in the job advertisement when you are
highlighting and explaining your experience and competencies.
3. What, according to you, are the core competencies of a Business Analyst?
It is one of the most common business analyst interview questions. Although every company is
different, the core requirements of a business analyst profile are quite similar. Make sure to go over an
organization's job description in detail to understand the required core competencies and include them
in your answer.
You can answer this by stating that a business analyst must have exceptional communication and
negotiation skills. Analytical thinking, problem-solving, and decision making are also vital attributes. A
business analyst should have industry knowledge, business process management skills along with
technical proficiency.
Pro Tip: Make sure to highlight the attributes that you possess and can bring to the job.
4. List some of the skills and tools used by Business Analysts.
Answer this question by combining both the technical and non-technical tools/skills used by business
analysts.
 Technical skills/tool – MS Office Suite, Google Docs, database knowledge, ERP systems, SQL, and
more.
 Non-Technical/business Analysis skills – Documentation, requirement elicitation, business process
management, and more.
Pro Tip: You can tailor your answer to highlight your unique skills and experience.
5. Do you have any technical skills? Can you list your database skills or business intelligence skills?
Your technical skills are directly proportional to your value in the organization.
It is not compulsory to have advanced technical skills like relational databases and SQL, but the more
technically proficient you are as a business analyst, the better. These skills are most desirable and
widely used, so if you have some experience in using these technologies, make sure you explain them
to your interviewer.
You can describe the specific Business Intelligence tools you have used. If you have experience in
handling the system the organization uses, highlight that to your interviewer.
6. What is INVEST?
INVEST is an abbreviation of Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Sized appropriately, and
Testable. This term is used by business analysts and project managers to deliver quality services and
products.
7. Are you aware of the different techniques like MoSCoW and SWOT?
A business analyst should be aware of the processes used to create and implement strategies for
identifying an organization's needs and delivering the best results.
With this question, the recruiter wants to know whether you understand these terms and can
incorporate them into your working policies.
MoSCoW stands for Must or Should, Could or Would. A business analyst should implement this process
by comparing every demand with other needs to prioritize the framework requirements. For example,
is this requirement a must-have or should have?

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 SWOT or Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Analysis is the most widely used
technique in organizations for proper resource allocation. A business analyst should be able to identify
the strengths and weaknesses of any corporate framework and translate them into opportunities and
threats.
Pro Tip: There are many other business techniques like MOST and PESTLE, and you can learn more
about them to prepare for your business analyst interview.
Read more: What does a Business Analyst Do?
8. What do you mean by project deliverables?
These are the set of measurable services and products delivered to the end customer after project
completion. It is the outcome of the project.
9. How do you keep yourself updated about the latest business trends and knowledge?
With this business analyst interview question, the recruiter wants to evaluate if you are motivated
enough to keep pace with emerging latest business developments and trends.
The interviewer wants to know what actions you take to keep your knowledge and skills updated. You
can answer this question by including references to news and industry publications. You can also list
the events and conferences you attend to connect with the business community.
10. What are the various stages of a business project?
The main stages of any business or IT project are Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring, and
Closure.
Technical/Problem Solving Business Analyst Interview Questions
11. Explain UML and its uses?
UML or Unified Modeling Language is a general-purpose, developmental modelling language that
provides a standard way to envision the system. It is used to rationalize the system behaviour for the
detection and elimination of errors/bottlenecks.
12. Can you explain SRS and its key elements?
SRS stands for System or Software Requirements Specification. It is a set of documents describing the
features of a software application or system.
It includes various elements required by the stakeholders and customers to convince the end-users.
The critical aspects of an SRS are:
 Scope of Work
 Non- functional and functional requirements
 Data Model
 Dependencies
 Assumptions and Constraints
 Acceptance Criteria
13. What is BRD? How is it different from SRS?
BRD is an abbreviation for Business Requirement Document. It is a formal contract between the
organization and the client for the development of the specific product.
 BRD is a functional specification of the software whereas SRS is both BA creates it after their direct
interaction with the clients
 BRD is created by a business analyst after their direct interaction with the clients, whereas SRS is
designed based on technical expertise and needs.
 SRS is derived from BRD
14. What do you understand by requirement? Can you differentiate between requirements and needs?
A requirement is a targeted solution and representation to achieve specific business objectives.
Stakeholders evaluate the project based on set conditions/requirements before its implementation. All
the elements are correctly documented for reference purposes. Needs are the high-level
representation of the terms and the result.
For example, you need to get a business analyst job, and the requirements to apply for this job are
resume, educational background, and interview practice.
15. How can you say that a requirement is good or perfect?
A requirement is said to be perfect if it is Specific, Measurable Attainable Relevant, and Timely or in
short SMART. The description of a condition should be specific, and all the parameters required for
success should be measurable. All the needed resources should be attainable and relevant to the
project. All the conditions/elements should be revealed timely.
16. What is the purpose of the Requirement Traceability Matrix?
It records all the requirements given by a client and ensures that all the necessities are met.
17. What is business modelling?
Business modelling is a step- by -step approach for identifying the value proposition for operating the
business.
The key attributes of business modelling to develop a strategic plan for an organization are:

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 Vision
 Mission
 Objectives
 Strategies
 Action plan
18. What is the project life cycle? Which models will you employ, and why?
A project life cycle is a framework implemented by a business analyst to split a project into
manageable phases and signify the decision points throughout the project lifespan. The different
models are the Waterfall model, Spiral model, Iterative model, Agile model, and V-shaped model.
You can answer by stating that selecting a life cycle model is exclusively based on the type, scope, and
limitations of the project. You can give an example of any model which you used in a project.
19. What do you understand by Gap Analysis, and what are the types of gaps that can occur during an
analysis?
Gap Analysis means the analysis of the differences between the functionalities of an existing and the
targeted system. The gap means changes that are required to accomplish the proposed result.
 Profit Gap is the change between the actual and estimated profit of a company.
 Manpower Gap is the change between the actual and required workforce strength in a company.
 Performance Gap is the difference between the expected and actual performances.
 Market Gap is the variation between estimated actual sales.
20. What strategies will you follow to design a use case?
A use case should be concise, well-defined, and correctly documented.
The strategies or approaches in designing use cases are:
 The first phase is the users' identification to create a role-profile for every user category and
recognition of goals associated with every role.
 The second phase deals with the structure and creation of use cases by capturing both functional
and non-functional requirements. Include use case diagrams and user interface details.
 The final phase is reviewing and validating the use cases.
Scenario-based/Role-specific Business Analyst Interview Questions
Hiring managers may ask these during a business analyst interview to evaluate your role-related or
scenario-based knowledge in different situations:
21. Explain your typical work tactic for a project?
It is one of the most crucial business analyst interview questions asked by a recruiting manager to
assess your work strategy, teamwork, and project management skills.
To answer this question, you can explain the general steps you follow with standard deliverables. For
example, if you have managed the planning phase of a project, you could mention deliverables like a
requirements management plan, work breakdown structure, or a communication plan.
Each business faces different situations and has distinct needs, but these fundamental steps are
essential to achieve a task successfully:
 Firstly, you must clarify your role and determine the stakeholder's perspective in the project. You
should define primary objectives along with reconciling the expectations conflict among
stakeholders.
 Create a work plan listing steps, timelines, and deliverables.
 Define actionable and concise requirements.
 Ensure technical implementation, as many solutions require the support of IT teams.
 Create documentation and train end-users to implement the solution.
 Finally, assess the value of the project. Did it work, or any follow-ups are needed?
You should focus on your experience to describe your skills and explain the customized tactics you
use.
22. What documents are needed by a business analyst? Which documents have you prepared in your
previous works?
A project lifecycle uses many documents, and it depends on the utilization process of a business
analyst.
 Initiation document
 System Requirements Specifications document
 Business requirement document
 Functional requirement document
 Requirements Traceability Matrix
 Use case Specifications document
 Change Request Document
 Gap Analysis Document

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 With this question, the hiring manager wants to understand if you have used several types of
documents and assess your capability of delivering both business and technical specifications.
Pro Tip: Make sure to use only those documents you are familiar with and explain in detail.
23. What is the requirement elicitation? Have you ever participated in these elicitation meetings?
It is a technique to gather information from stakeholders and users. It involves approaches or
strategies to collaborate with clients or users directly.
Some requirement elicitation techniques are-
 Document analysis
 Interviews
 Prototyping
 Brainstorming
 Workshops and observations
 Surveys/Questionnaire
You can answer the second part of the question by explaining how you have used these techniques
and how they impacted your project.
24. What are the various kinds of diagrams you use as a business analyst? How do they impact the
work?
Your hiring manager may ask this role specific question to ensure that you understand standard
business analysis documents and how to apply them to a client's case. You must list your past
experiences and examples to validate your credibility and value.
The most used diagram models by business analysts are:
 Flowcharts – These are the diagrammatic depiction of the complete flow of the system. They make
it easy for all the stakeholders, whether technical or technical, to understand the operation.
 Activity Diagram – These diagrams illustrate the diverse activities and their flow across various
departments.
 Use case Diagrams – These diagrams model the functionality of a system using a set of actions,
functions, and services that the system/project needs to perform.
These diagrams are beneficial in visualizing the functional requirements of a system and finalizing
development priorities. They also identify any external/internal factors that should be considered as
they can influence the project.
 Sequence Diagrams - These diagrams illustrate the interaction between different objects and the
time sequence of the message flow between them.
 Collaboration Diagrams - These are also called interaction or communication diagrams. They are
the illustration of the relationships and interactions among software objects in the Unified Modeling
Language.
Many diagrams can be used in business analysis, and you can say that you follow a more coherent
approach of merging different models to produce results.
25. What is the exception and alternate flow in a use-case diagram? How are they different from basic
flow?
 The basic flow is the representation of the operation of activities as required by the company.
 Alternate flow is the representation of actions or activities other than basic flow. It leads to
achieving the goals of use-cases using different steps.
 Exception flow represents the actions executed in case of errors. It leads to NOT achieving the goal
of a use case.
26. What are personas, and how they are useful in user-centred design methodology?
Personas are created in place of real users to understand their behavioral patterns in different
scenarios. In user-centered design methodology, a system is developed, keeping the viewpoint of end-
users in mind. Personas help create such systems.
27. Define analytical reporting.
A business analyst needs to comprehend the significance and drawbacks of analytical reporting, and
you must be ready with an answer during your business analyst interview.
You can start your answer by a brief definition of analytical reporting. It is a type of business reporting
that offers data analysis, information, and recommendations. The recommendations are the critical
attributes that make it different from informational reporting.
After that, you can describe the impact your analytical reporting made in previous roles. Focus on
showing how you can create recommendations from data sources and demonstrate your analytical
skills.
28. If there are multiple stakeholders in a project, how do you influence them? Also, explain how you
would work with a difficult stakeholder?

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With this type of business analyst interview questions, the recruiter is trying to understand how you
implement your various competencies, especially communication, negotiation, problem-solving,
decision making, influencing, and collaboration skills.
As a business analyst, you will deal with various people at different positions with distinct personalities.
This question is crucial as it conveys whether you can successfully navigate interactions with different
stakeholders or not.
Dealing with difficult stakeholders is a significant responsibility for any business analyst. Use the STAR
method to explain the situation you were dealing with, what your task or role was in the case. Outline
the action you took to resolve the problem. Finally, describe the result & learnings of your actions.
29. How can you manage the post-implementation and pre-implementation problems of a
project?You can answer this by briefly explaining both the problems. The problems that declare their
presence before the project implementation are called pre-implementation problems. The difficulties
arising after the project implementation are called post-implementation problems, and most of the
concerns fall in this category.
After that, you can explain that a business analyst cannot overcome all these problems but can limit
them up to the maximum extent within a minimum time frame.
30. During the development of a system, how do you manage frequently changing customers'
requirements?
It is one of the most frequently asked business analytic interview questions. The first task of a business
analyst is to draft a document stating the number of changes that are allowed, and after a certain
point, no amendments will be accepted. It is vital to get this document signed by the user.
In case the change required is accepted, make sure to note down all the changes and find out their
overall impact on the project. Calculate the timeline, cost, and resources needed for this change.
31. What is Scope creep and how can you avoid Scope creep?
Scope creep is a problem that can occur during the development of a project, when the scope of the
project gradually expands beyond its original parameters. This can happen for a variety of reasons,
such as changes in the requirements or objectives of the project, or simply due to poor planning.
Avoiding scope creep can be difficult, but it is essential in order to keep a project on track. One way to
do this is to have a clear and concise definition of the project's scope from the outset, and to make
sure that all stakeholders agree on this definition. It is also important to have a well-defined change
management process in place, so that any changes to the scope are carefully considered and
approved by all relevant parties. Finally, regular communication with all stakeholders can help to
ensure that everyone is aware of the project's current parameters and objectives.
If you are experiencing scope creep in your own project, it is important to take action to address the
problem as soon as possible. Allowing the scope to continue to expand unchecked can lead to
significant delays and cost overruns, and can ultimately jeopardize the success of the project.
32. What is requirement prioritization? What are the different techniques used for it?
Prioritizing requirements is a critical part of the requirements gathering process. It helps ensure that
the most important requirements are addressed first, and that resources are used efficiently. There are
a variety of techniques that can be used to prioritize requirements, including cost-benefit analysis,
value-based prioritization, and stakeholder analysis.
Cost-benefit analysis is a technique that assesses the costs and benefits of each requirement. This can
be used to identify which requirements are most important in terms of cost-effectiveness. Value-based
prioritization is a technique that assesses the value of each requirement, based on factors such as how
important the requirement is to the user, how likely it is to be used, and how complex it is to
implement. Stakeholder analysis is a technique that assesses the importance of each requirement
based on who will be affected by it. This can help identify which requirements are most important to
the stakeholders involved.
No matter which technique is used, it is important to involve all stakeholders in the decision-making
process. This will help ensure that the requirements that are prioritized are those that are most
important to the project.
33. What is the fundamental difference between a requirement and need in a business analysis
perspective?
There is a fundamental difference between requirements and needs in a business analysis perspective.
Requirements are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound statements that describe
what the business wants to achieve. On the other hand, needs are broader statements that describe
the general problem or opportunity that the business is trying to address. In order to create effective
requirements, the business analyst must understand the needs of the business and then translate
them into specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound requirements.
34. What are non-functional requirements and how do you capture them?

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 Non-functional requirements are those that specify conditions that a system must meet in order to be
successful. They are often contrasted with functional requirements, which detail the specific behaviors
that a system must exhibit.
There are many different types of non-functional requirements, but some common ones include
performance, security, scalability, and usability. Capturing these requirements can be challenging, as
they are often less well-defined than functional requirements.
One way to approach this is to think about the different types of users that will be using the system,
and what their specific needs are. For example, if you are building a website, you will need to consider
the needs of users with different levels of internet access speed, as well as those with different levels
of computer literacy.
Another way to capture non-functional requirements is to use scenarios. Scenarios are stories that
describe how a system will be used in a real-world setting. They can be useful for uncovering
unanticipated requirements, as well as for helping to define the acceptable limits of system
performance.
Overall, non-functional requirements are an important part of any system development project. By
taking the time to think about the different types of users that will be using the system, and by using
scenarios to capture real-world usage, you can ensure that your system meets the needs of all its
users.
35. Which documents are used to capture non-functional requirements?
There are a few different types of documents that can be used to capture non-functional requirements.
One type of document is called a use case. Use cases can be used to capture information about how a
system should work and what its capabilities should be. Another type of document that can be used to
capture non-functional requirements is called a business requirements document. This type of
document can be used to capture information about the business goals of a system and what functions
it should perform. In addition, technical specifications can also be used to capture non-functional
requirements. These types of documents can be used to capture information about the technical
details of a system and how it should be implemented.
36. What is an activity diagram and what are the important elements of it?
An activity diagram is a graphical representation of the sequence of activities that take place in a
system. The main purpose of an activity diagram is to model the flow of control within a system.
There are four important elements that should be included in an activity diagram:
1. Activities: These are the actions that take place within the system.
2. States: These represent the different states that an activity can be in.
3. Transitions: These indicate the order in which the activities take place.
4. Objects: These are the objects that are affected by the activities.
37. What is the difference between exception flow and alternate flow?
The main difference between exception flow and alternate flow is that exception flow deals with
unexpected events that occur during the execution of a program, while alternate flow deals with
expected events.
Exception flow is used to handle errors or unexpected conditions that may occur during the execution
of a program. Alternate flow is used to specify the order in which different parts of a program are
executed.
Exception flow is typically used to deal with errors, such as unexpected input from a user or an
unexpected condition that occurs during the execution of a program. Alternate flow is typically used to
specify the order in which different parts of a program are executed. For example, alternate flow can
be used to specify that one part of a program is executed if a condition is true, and another part of the
program is executed if the condition is false.
Exception flow and alternate flow are both important concepts in programming. Exception flow is used
to deal with unexpected events that may occur during the execution of a program, while alternate flow
is used to specify the order in which different parts of a program are executed.
38. Do you think a business analyst should be involved in testing?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the level of involvement of business analysts in
testing will vary depending on the specific project and organization. However, in general, it is
beneficial for business analysts to be involved in testing, as they can provide valuable insights into the
requirements and help ensure that the final product meets the needs of the business.
39. What does INVEST stand for?
INVEST stands for Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Sized-Appropriately, Testable.
Independent
A user story should be self-contained and not depend on other user stories. otherwise, it risks
becoming a blocker for other features.

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 User stories should also be independent from one another so that they can be prioritized and worked
on independently.
Negotiable
User stories should be written in a way that leaves room for negotiation. They should not be too
specific or too detailed. This allows for flexibility and allows the team to add their own insights during
implementation.
Valuable
A user story should always represent value for the user. It should be something that the user wants or
needs.
Estimable
User stories should be small enough that they can be estimated. If a user story is too big, it should be
broken down into smaller user stories.
Sized-Appropriately
User stories should be the right size. They should not be too big or too small. The team should have a
good understanding of what the user story is and what it entails before starting work on it.
Testable
User stories should be testable. This means that they should have Acceptance Criteria that can be
used to verify that the user story has been implemented correctly.
40. What is Pareto Analysis?
Pareto analysis is a technique used to identify the most important factors that contribute to a
particular problem or goal. It is named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who developed the
concept in the early 20th century.
Pareto analysis can be used in any situation where there are multiple contributing factors to a problem
or goal. It is especially useful in business and quality management contexts, where it can help identify
the most important areas to focus on in order to achieve the greatest improvement.
To carry out a Pareto analysis, all of the contributing factors must first be identified and then ranked in
order of importance. The most important factor is then addressed first, followed by the second most
important, and so on.
Pareto analysis is a simple but powerful tool that can help to prioritize efforts and resources for
maximum impact. It is also known as the 80/20 rule, due to the common finding that 80 percent of
problems are usually caused by 20 percent of the factors. This rule is not always accurate, but it is a
good general guideline to keep in mind.
If you are facing a problem with multiple contributing factors, Pareto analysis can help you to identify
the most important ones to focus on. It is a simple but powerful tool that can make a big difference in
the effectiveness of your efforts.
41. What is BPMN and what are its basic elements?
BPMN, short for Business Process Model and Notation, is a standard graphical notation used to model
business processes. BPMN was created to provide a common language that both business users and
technical developers could use to document and communicate business processes.
The basic elements of BPMN are:
 Event: An occurrence that triggers a process
 Gateway: A decision point in a process
 Activity: A task that needs to be performed
 Data Object: Information that is required or produced by an activity
These elements can be combined to create a visual representation of a business process. BPMN
diagrams are typically used to model processes that are repetitive and have well-defined start and end
points. However, they can also be used to model more complex processes that are less structured.
BPMN diagrams can be created using a variety of software tools. Some of these tools are designed
specifically for creating BPMN diagrams, while others are general-purpose diagramming tools that
support BPMN.
BPMN is a powerful tool for modeling business processes. It can be used to document and
communicate processes, and to identify potential improvements. When used correctly, BPMN can help
organizations to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.
42. What is Kano analysis?
Kano analysis is a quality management tool that helps businesses identify customer needs and
preferences. It can be used to improve product development, customer satisfaction, and marketing
strategies.
The Kano model was developed in the 1980s by Japanese quality management expert Dr. Noriaki
Kano. It consists of five levels of customer needs:
1. Basic needs: These are the essential features that customers expect from a product or service.
They are also known as "must-have" or "threshold" requirements.

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2. Performance needs: These are the features that improve the product's or service's performance.
They are also known as "satisfiers."
3. Excitement needs: These are the features that make the product or service more exciting or
appealing to customers. They are also known as "delighters."
4. Reverse needs: These are features that customers do not want and can even be considered
negative. They are also known as "dis-satisfiers."
5. Unknown needs: These are features that customers may not even know they want or need until
they see them. They are also known as " latent" or "unstated" needs.
The Kano model can be used to assess customer needs at each stage of the product development
process, from initial planning to final delivery. It can also be used to evaluate customer satisfaction
with existing products and services.
Kano analysis is a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. It can help them identify customer needs
and preferences, improve product development, and create more satisfied customers.
43. What is Benchmarking?
Benchmarking is the process of comparing the performance of a company or individual against others
in the same industry. This can be done in terms of specific metrics such as profitability, productivity, or
customer satisfaction. Benchmarking can also be used more broadly to compare any aspect of a
business's operations.
The main purpose of benchmarking is to identify areas where a company can improve its performance.
By understanding how others in the industry are operating, a business can develop strategies to better
compete. Benchmarking can also help companies keep track of their own performance over time and
ensure that they are making progress towards their goals.
44. How do you decide that as a business analyst you have gathered all the requirements?
There is no definitive answer to this question, as it will vary depending on the specific project and
requirements. However, there are some general guidelines that you can follow in order to ensure that
you have gathered all the necessary requirements.
To start with, you should always consult with the project stakeholders to get their input on what they
feel are the most important requirements for the project. Once you have a good understanding of the
stakeholders' needs, you can then begin to compile a list of all the functional and nonfunctional
requirements for the project.
It is also important to keep in mind that requirements can change over time, so you will need to
periodically review and update your list of requirements as needed. Finally, when you are confident
that you have gathered all the requirements, you can then begin to work on creating a project plan
and budget.
45. How do you perform requirement gathering?
There are many ways to perform requirement gathering, but some common methods include
interviews, focus groups, surveys, and document analysis. When choosing a method, it is important to
consider the type of information you need as well as the resources available to you.
Interviews are often used to gather requirements because they provide an opportunity for in-depth,
open-ended conversation. They can be conducted in person or over the phone, and they work well
when you need to gather detailed information about someone's thoughts or experiences. However,
interviews can be time-consuming and expensive if you need to speak with a large number of people.
Focus groups are similar to interviews in that they provide an opportunity for open-ended discussion.
However, they involve a small group of people who are asked to discuss a topic together. This can be
a useful method for exploring different perspectives on an issue and for generating new ideas.
Surveys can be used to gather quantitative data about people's opinions, experiences, or knowledge.
They can be administered in person, by mail, or online, and they are often used when researchers
need to collect data from a large number of people.
Document analysis is a method of gathering information by analyzing existing documents. This can be
useful for understanding historical trends or for collecting data that is not easily measured through
other methods. When using this method, it is important to consider the bias that may be present in the
documents you are analyzing.
46. Why is it necessary for a business analyst to get involved during the implementation of
requirements?
There are many benefits to having a business analyst involved during the implementation of
requirements. First, the business analyst can ensure that the requirements are clear and
unambiguous, which can help avoid misunderstandings and errors during implementation. Second, the
business analyst can work with the development team to ensure that the requirements are properly
implemented and meet the needs of the business. Third, the business analyst can provide valuable
feedback to the development team during testing and validation, which can help improve the quality

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 of the final product. Finally, the business analyst can help document the requirements and the
implementation process, which can be useful for future reference.
47. What is the difference between Business analysis and Business Analytics?
There are a few key differences between business analysis and business analytics. Business analysts
tend to focus on identifying opportunities and improving processes, while business analytics
professionals focus on analyzing data to support decision-making. Additionally, business analysts
typically have more of a business-focused background, while business analytics professionals often
have stronger technical skills. Finally, business analysts may work more closely with business
stakeholders to understand their needs, while business analytics professionals may spend more time
working with data.
Despite these differences, the two disciplines are often complementary, and many organizations find
that they need both business analysts and business analytics professionals to function effectively. By
combining the skills of these two groups, organizations can gain a better understanding of their data
and use it to improve their business operations.
48. What is process design?
Process design is the creation of a process to achieve specific objectives. It involves the specifying of
operating conditions, raw materials, equipment, and other aspects of the process. Process design also
includes the determination of desired output levels, process flow diagrams, and other process
characteristics.
49. What is the Agile Manifesto?
The Agile Manifesto is a set of principles for software development that emphasizes individuals and
interactions over processes and tools, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and
responding to change over following a plan.
50. What are the essential qualities of an Agile BA?
An Agile Business Analyst is someone who understands the agile methodology and is able to help a
team work within that framework. They need to be able to communicate effectively, be organized, and
have a strong attention to detail. They should also be able to work well under pressure and be able to
adapt to changes quickly.
51. When should you use the Waterfall model instead of Scrum?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the decision of which software development
methodology to use depends on several factors specific to each project. However, in general, the
Waterfall model may be more appropriate for projects with well-defined requirements and deliverables,
while Scrum may be more suitable for projects that are more flexible and evolving. Ultimately, the
decision of which methodology to use should be based on a careful evaluation of the specific needs of
each project.
52. What are the four key phases of business development?
1. The first phase of business development is known as the ideation stage. This is when an
entrepreneur has an idea for a new business venture. They will need to research the feasibility of
their idea and develop a plan to bring it to market.
2. The second phase of business development is the implementation stage. This is when the
entrepreneur begins to execute their business plan. They will need to secure funding, build a team,
and develop their product or service.
3. The third phase of business development is the growth stage. This is when the business starts to
gain traction and grow. The entrepreneur will need to focus on scaling their operations and
expanding their customer base.
4. The fourth and final phase of business development is the exit stage. This is when the entrepreneur
decides to sell their business or take it public. They will need to plan for this eventuality and ensure
that their business is in a position to be successful.
53. What do you know about Kanban?
Kanban is a popular system for managing workflows, and has been used in a variety of businesses and
industries. It is based on the Japanese word for "sign" or "card," and was originally developed as a way
to manage assembly line production in manufacturing.
Kanban has since been adapted for use in other industries, and has been found to be helpful in
managing workflows in a variety of businesses. In recent years, it has become popular in the software
development industry as a way to manage agile software development.
54. Mention some of the most important Agile metrics.
There are a number of metrics that can be used to measure the success of an Agile software
development project. These include:
Velocity
This measures the amount of work that is completed in a given time period. It is a good indicator of
productivity and can be used to predict how much work can be completed in future sprints.

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Lead Time
This measures the time from when a user story is created to when it is delivered. It can be used to
identify bottlenecks in the development process and to improve the flow of work.
Cycle Time
This measures the time from when work on a user story starts to when it is completed. It can be used
to identify areas where the development process is taking too long and needs to be streamlined.
Defect Density
This measures the number of defects per unit of code. It is a good indicator of the quality of the code
and can be used to identify areas where the quality needs to be improved.
Test Coverage
This measures the percentage of code that is covered by tests. It is a good indicator of the quality of
the tests and can be used to identify areas where the test coverage needs to be improved.
These are just some of the most important agile metrics. There are many other metrics that can be
used to measure the success of an agile project. The important thing is to choose the right metrics for
your project and to use them to drive improvements.
55. Explain the term ‘increment'?
The term ‘increment’ is used to describe the process of adding a value to a variable. For example, if we
have a variable called ‘counter’, and we want to add one to it, we would say that we are incrementing
the counter by one. Similarly, if we have a variable called ‘total’, and we want to add 10 to it, we would
say that we are incrementing the total by 10.
56. What are the different types of Agile methodologies?
There are several types of Agile methodologies, each with its own unique approach to software
development. The most popular Agile frameworks include Scrum, Kanban, and Extreme Programming
(XP).
Also Read: Benefits of Agile Methodology
57. Is there any difference between incremental and iterative development?
Both incremental and iterative development are software development processes that focus on
delivering small, frequent updates rather than large, infrequent ones. The main difference between the
two approaches is that incremental development delivers functionality in small, discrete chunks, while
iterative development focuses on delivering larger pieces of functionality incrementally.
58. Difference between extreme programming and scrum?
There are a few key differences between extreme programming (XP) and scrum. The most notable
difference is that XP focuses on code quality and customer satisfaction, while scrum emphasizes
delivering working software quickly. Additionally, XP requires developers to work in close collaboration
with customers, while scrum relies on input from a product owner. Finally, XP uses a "test-first"
approach to development, while scrum employs an "iterative and incremental" approach. Despite
these differences, both XP and scrum are agile software development frameworks that emphasize
collaboration, customer involvement, and iterative development.
Miscellaneous Business Analyst Interview Questions
59. What is a Pugh matrix?
One of the most popular techniques for determining the optimal answer after several other solutions
have been developed is the Pugh Matrix. The Pugh Matrix's success lies in its lucidity. The tool is pretty
easy to use and doesn't need a lot of math.
60. What is the difference between a Data Analyst and a Business Analyst?

Data Analyst Business Analyst

Business analysts
assist in discovering
Data analysts collect, filter, examine,
challenges,
visualize, and present existing data to aid in
opportunities, and
business choices
solutions for their
companies.

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 Their work includes:
 assessing the
present operations
and IT
infrastructure of an
organization
Their work includes:  examining
 defining a problem or business procedures and
requirement while working with speaking with
company executives and stakeholders team members to
 discovering and gathering data find areas that
 data cleaning and preparation for need improvement
analysis  providing
conclusions and
recommendations
to management
and other
important
stakeholders

61. What are various core competencies of a Business Analyst?

1. Sound Listening Skills
2. Understanding of Delegated Objectives
3. Ability to conduct a stakeholder meeting
4. Documentation and preparation of reports
5. Being Responsible for Time Management
6. A solid understanding of business structures
62. What is a feasibility study?
It seeks to determine the viability of a project and how feasible a project or idea is. Any project's early
design phase includes it. It is carried out to unbiasedly identify the advantages and disadvantages of a
potential venture or an established company. It is done so that the following questions can be
addressed:
1. Does the business have the necessary tools and technology?
2. Will the company's investment yield a high enough return?
63. What are the different tools used in Business Analytics?
1. Excel: It is among the most affordable, easily accessible, and user-friendly. Its robust capabilities,
like form generation, PivotTable, VBA, etc., can handle both small and big data sets.
2. Microsoft Power BI: It excels in data visualization and facilitates the creation of interactive user
reports. It provides data warehousing features like data preparation and discovery, enabling users
to spot current trends and send reports.
3. Tableau: It can connect to any data source and produce data visualizations, maps, and dashboards
that are fully configurable. With its robust data discovery and cleaning abilities, users may quickly
complete analytical tasks.
4. Qlik Sense: It allows users to create charts, interactive dashboards, and many other types of
visualizations. It is a cloud-based analytics program that enhances the standard of data processing
and mining via cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning.
5. MicroStrategy: It provides online services, data visualizations, and data discovery.
64. Explain the business analysis process flow.
Before beginning a project, a business analyst must complete the business analysis phase. This
process comprises a number of steps involving tasks, techniques, and documents. The steps in the
business analysis process flow are:
1. Gathering all project-related data
2. Identify all the stakeholders involved and organize a review meeting.
3. Examine all of the project's pertinent documentation.
4. Make a note of every fact and piece of information you find.
5. Have an in-detail understanding of the problem domain
6. Introducing your Business Requirement
65. How do you perform risk management in your project?

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 Risk management may be defined as finding, evaluating, and restricting hazards. Planning will help
you avoid legal issues and mistakes, and you'll be prepared to shift course if anything unexpected
happens.
1. Identify all risks
2. determine probability
3. Identify the impact it may have
4. minimize the danger by treating the risk
5. Observe and evaluate the risk
66. Differentiate between risk mitigation and risk avoidance.

Risk Mitigation Risk Avoidance

When a danger materializes, risk mitigation is what is What you do to avoid danger
done. is called risk avoidance.

By removing the cause, it

It lessens the likelihood that risk may materialize.
reduces the danger.

It examines if the project or business is affected in any Threat incidence impact is

way decreased to 0%.

In the event of any risk, the cost is substantial. It results in cost elimination

67. What are the different phases of an IT project?

Stage 1: Beginning
Stage 2: Planning
Stage 3: Execution
Stage 4: Supervising/Controlling
68. Differentiate between a software development life cycle and a project life cycle.

Software development life cycle Project life cycle

 Used in the
 Used to create certain software products development of a new
business product

 Involves several
software components
for a single client
 Mostly uses a single software over many stages situation.

 Processes include requirement collecting, design,  Processes include Idea

coding, documentation, operations, and generation, screening,
maintenance. research, development,

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 testing, and analysis

69. What are the tasks and responsibilities of a Project Manager?

1. Formulating budget projections
2. Budgetary management
3. formulation of business strategy
4. Specifying the Work to Be Done
5. Creating a Gantt chart and a timeline
6. progress evaluation
7. Reporting on Progress
8. quality control
9. Staffing
10. Strategic supervision
11. Vendor management
Product Owner Interview Questions and Answers Agile Management
A product owner in Scrum team who is responsible for the outcome of the project. He maximizes the
value of the product by managing and optimizing the product backlog. A product owner's key
responsibility is to define user stories and create a product backlog. No matter whether you are a
beginner or an intermediate or an experienced product owner, this write-up will aid you in increasing
your confidence and knowledge of product owner. The questions below are divided into various topics
catering to product owner. They range from story grooming, user story splitting and estimation, burn
down charts and more. Also, this guide provide step-by-steo explanations for every question which will
help you understand the concepts well. With Product
1.As a product owner, what are the typical activities done by you?

This is a frequently asked question in Product Owner interview questions.

This would be one of the initial questions, which will help interviewee to open up and also will give
interviewer the opportunity to understand the exposure of the candidate.
The answer will vary a bit from candidate to candidate but will typically will be: Sprint Planning, Sprint
Review, Sprint Retrospective, and GroomingIf the PO says Daily Scrum (Daily Standup), ask what he
does thereIt is ok for PO to attend daily scrum, but he just needs to be an observer there and should
not speak.

2.Are you part of story grooming / User story splitting and estimation discussion?
YesPO helps the team in understanding the user story which will help them in right user story splitting
and correct estimation.While PO will act as an SME for User story point of view, he will help team to
understand it better, he will NOT give or suggest story points in User story estimation.

3.Can Product Owner and Scrum Master be the same person?

NoProduct Owner and Scrum Master are two separate roles and mixing them can have a very negative
effect on the development process.Both role requires 100% involvement.One person will not be able to
fulfil all his responsibilities in 100 %Scrum Master sometimes needs to act as a mediator between the
development team and PO when their goals start to divergeIn such case, if the same person is acting
as both, there will be a conflict of interest.

4How do you prioritize your Product backlog items ?

Expect to come across this popular question in interview questions for Product Owner.
Typical answer will be MoSCoW – Mo (Must be), S(Should be), Co(Could be), W(Won’t be).But a good
and experienced PO will also talk about other techniques such as WSJF.

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5.What are the characteristics of a good Product Backlog Item?
A good product backlog item should be DEEP – D (Detailed appropriately), E (Estimated), E
(Emergent), P (Prioritized).

6In Product Backlog Refinement meeting, do we focus on items of upcoming sprints or the current
sprints?

A must-know for anyone heading into a Product Owner interview, this question is frequently asked in
Product Owner interview questions.
Product backlog refinement meeting is for the upcoming sprintThe Items in the current Sprint are no
longer on the Product BacklogThey are in the Sprint Backlog.

7.As a Product Owner, do you write user stories and give it to development team.
No.A Product owner gives a big user story to the development teamIt is the team that discusses it
further and splits it.

8.What are the characteristics of good user story?

A good user story should be Independent (I), Negotiable (N), Valuable (V), Estimable (E), Small (S),
Testable (T)In short – INVEST.

9.During User story splitting and estimation, you find that Development team is struggling to do
so.What will you do?

It's no surprise that this one pops up often in interview questions for a Product OwnerAs a Product
owner, I will see if there is any challenge in understanding the large user story given by me or in
understanding the business requirementI will discuss and with them and will answer those
queriesHowever, if the issue is because of an incorrect splitting technique, I will inform Scrum Master
to facilitate it further and plan for any grooming or training session.

10.What is ‘Definition of Done’? Who creates itDefinition of Done (DoD) is the shared understanding of
what “Done” means for a user storyIt is a simple list of activities such as writing code, coding
comments, unit testing, integration testing, release notes, design documents, etc.
The Development team creates DoD

11.What is acceptance criteria? Who sets it?

Acceptance Criteria is a set of accepted conditions or business rules which the user story or feature
should satisfy and meet, to be accepted by the Product ownerThey are a set of statements, each with
a clear pass/fail result, that specify both functional and non-functional requirements applicable at the
current stage of project integration.
The Product owner sets the acceptance criteria.

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12Is Definition of Done is same as Definition of Ready?
NoDefinition of Done (DoD) is a simple list of activities such as writing code, coding comments, unit
testing, integration testing, release notes, design documents, etcDefinition of Ready (DoR) is a sort of
criteria or at times checklist that determine whether a story is “Ready” to be picked it for next sprint.

13.Can the same person be Product owner for multiple scrum teams?
As long as it’s the same product on which different teams are working and the product owner can give
sufficient time to each of the team, is it acceptable.

14Can there be more than one PO for in a scrum team ?

A common question in Product Owner interview questions, don't miss this one.
No.A team should not have more than one PO or a committee of product owner acting as a POPO is
someone who steers the scrum team towards the product vision and goalHaving more than one PO will
create confusion and issues of alignment of development team with the product.

15How does Burn Down charts help a Product Owner track the progress of a Sprint ?
Burn-down chart is a graphical representation of work left to do versus timeThe outstanding work (or
backlog) is often on the vertical axis, with time along the horizontalThat is, it is a run chart of
outstanding workIt is useful for predicting when all of the work will be completed

16.As a product owner, can you decide to cancel a sprint?

YesIt’s only the product owner who has the authority to cancel the sprintHowever, this should be in
consultation with business stake holders and development team.

17.What would happen to the “Done” Product Backlog items when the Sprint is cancelled?
In case the sprint is cancelled, any ‘Done’ product backlog item should be reviewedIf they are
potentially releasable, product owner will accept it.

18What should be done to sprint backlog item which could not be completed till the end of sprint?

One of the most frequently posed Product Owner job interview questions, be ready for it.
Sprint backlog item which could not be completed during the sprint as per DoD, will not be
demonstrated during sprint review.Extending it to next sprint might not be good idea.Rather than
extending it to next sprint, the right approach is to move it to product backlog and then re-evaluate, if
it should be picked for next sprint.

19Does a Product Owner needs to be a technical or techno-functional person ?

There is nothing wrong in a Product Owner coming from a technical background, but a PO should never
be part of the development team.Also, a PO coming from technical background should practise restrain
and should not act as a technical SME during story splitting etc.

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20.Your development team is repeatedly failing to fulfil the sprint commitment.As a product Owner,
what can you do?
It is very important for Product Owner to look and understand the reason for development team failing
the sprint commitmentThere might be multiple reason for thatIt might be because of incorrect
estimation or over commitmentIt might be because of lack of trust and collaboration in the teamIt
might be because of not understanding the user story and not slicing it correctly.A PO needs to
identify it and based on it, needs to work with the development team and Scrum master to find the
solution.

21.As a product owner, is it your responsibility to track or measure the performance of your project?
Yes.While development team is one who measures sprint performance, it’s the product owner, who
measures project performance.

22.Does your Agile project has proxy product owner ? If yes, how is he different than a Product Owner?
In practise, distributed agile projects , especially those working on on-shore/off-shore model has a
proxy product ownerProxy product owner acts as local product owner to answer to development team
questionsThey do not own the product backlog but helps the product owner in managing and
maintaining it.

23.Who sets sprint goal ?

Product owner.Defining sprint goal or objective is one of the most important goal of product owner.

24.According to you, what are the qualities or characteristics of a good product owner ?
A good product owner is someone who should be
1. Available and engaged with the team.
2. Have good knowledge or product and domain.
3. Good at communication.
4. Empowered to take decisions related to the product.

25 What is a Product increment?

A staple in Product Owner interview questions, be prepared to answer this oneA product increment is
the cumulative sum of all the PBIs completed during the sprint and the value of the increments of all
previous sprints.

26As a product owner, you feel that the team is estimating most of the user stories to the upper
maximum limit and creating lot of paddingThis results into very less throughput and practically,
estimation losing its importance, As a Product Owner, what will you do ?

Since a product owner is part of estimation meeting, for larger stories, he may try to explain it to the
development team to ensure that they have understood it correctly and have sliced it properlyIf still he
finds a challenge, he could further discuss it with Scrum masterThe SM can coach the team further.

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27Tell me about your favourite product you used this morning.Why is it a good product?
There cannot be a fix answer to this question.What interviewee will be looking for is that the product
owner should talk about design, functionality and usefulness of the product and should clearly
articulate it.Also, the interviewer will give some point on the creativity of the product being picked.

28.One of the Agile value is ‘Working software over comprehensive documentation”.Your team seems
to live with it.While they create a world class product, they are reluctant to documentThis results into
many practical challenges.As a product owner, how do you deal with itAgile manifesto uses the term
‘Over’, which means a higher preference to working software, it does not say that we do not need any
documentation in agileThis means one should do the necessary documentation to support the
development and use of the product.An open discussion explaining the development team about it
with involvement of Scrum master would help.

29How is PO and SM collaboration important? How do you collaborate with scrum master?

The role of PO and SM has some overlaps and a good coordination between the two is key to a
successful scrum teamScrum Master facilitates activities like backlog grooming, Scrum master
communicates the outcome of sprint retrospective to Product owner so that next sprint could be
improvedSince Scrum master works closely with scrum team, he also helps the product owner to
overcome any teaming challenge within development teamIn general, the role of SM and PO
complements each other.

30.When it comes to creating design of a product, agile focuses on doing design early in the
project.What does that mean?
Early design in Agile means creating just enough design up front to give a good foundation to start
from and helps to mitigate risk, without wasting unnecessarily time.As the product evolves, the design
emerges.

Intermediate
1What do you mean by “Product”?

A ‘product’ is a tangible/non-tangible item created to produce specific value for a group of customers
and to the organization that provides it.A product can be anything, it can even be an idea.From that, a
spoon would be a productThe Facebook application would be a product.Agile consulting services would
be a product.A painting would be a product.A product can be something physical (the spoon)It can be
a digital product (Facebook application, an e-book or online videos)It also can be a service
(consulting).As stated by Mike Cohn – “Products Can Be Defined Recursively” which means a product
can exist within another product.Another important thing to note is, the product should deliver some
value to the customer.Even the smallest entities in the product (sub-product) should be beneficial to
the market.

2. What is a Scrum framework?

Scrum is an iterative and incremental way of delivering value to the customers in a time-boxed
mannerIt is a simple framework for effective team collaboration on complex productsJeff Sutherland,
together with Ken Schwaber created Scrum as a formal process at OOPSLA'95Scrum is a very

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lightweight model and easy to understand the model for any team but though it is easy to understand
it is really difficult to master.
The foundation of scrum lies in its values which are Courage, Focus, Commitment, Respect, and
Openness, any team opting for scrum should be open to adopting these values to make the team
successful.As mentioned earlier, scrum is really lightweight and it does not prescribe much of
hierarchy or embedded roles, it just talks about three(3) basic roles – The Product Owner, The Scrum
Master, and the Scrum Team, that it! Scrum Teams are self-organizing and cross-functionalSelf-
organizing teams select how best to achieve their work, rather than being directed by others outside
the team.Cross-functional teams have all capabilities desirable to achieve the work without depending
on others not part of the team.As per the survey by Version 1, scrum is the most widely used
framework across the globe, isn’t it interesting!!

3How are traditional requirements different from User Stories?

Before talking about the traditional requirements, let’s understand what a user story is.Nowadays, if
you are in an agile organization, everyone would be talking in terms of user stories.
User stories are short descriptions of functionality told from the user’s perspective where the focus is
on why and howThe user story concentrates on the experience — what the person using the product
wants to be able to do.A traditional requirement concentrates on functionality — what the product
should do, it talks more in terms of the ability of a productTraditional requirements documents go into
excessive detail on how an area of software should be designedThey typically provide instructions to
the software team on how to build it.Requirements documents often contain things like executive
summaries, scope, risks, and moreIn contrast to the traditional requirements, a user story is a much
simple with acceptance criteria to define the completion.Also, a user story talks about what exactly is
the user’s need at the very lowest level of implementation.

4.Where are the customer requirements stored?

All the requirements generated from a customer needs are stored a Product Backlog.Whenever a
requirement is received, it is first placed in the product backlog, the business owner or the product
owner can then prioritize the items as per the market and customers’ needsIt is a kind of a bucket
which accumulates all the necessary items to deliver a complete productThere are several ways to
create a product backlog, some use manual charts, others use excel or the tools available supporting
Agile such as Rally, Version 1, etc.One should always remember, the product backlog is not a
substitute for a requirements specification. Any feedback from the customer during the demo or and
the grooming call should be captured and logged in the product backlogThis way it makes sure nothing
gets missed, even if it is a low priority item.

5 What is a Definition of Ready and what are its components?

A staple in Product Owner interview questions, be prepared to answer this one.

The product backlog consists of a wide variety of items such as – new requirements, enhancements,
bug fixes, refactoring stories, etc., but making sure the items are in a state for a team to commit is
really importantTo elaborate more, the items which the team commits in a sprint should meet a few
criteria to make sure it has everything required to work upon it.
The definition of Ready is an agreement between the team and the product owner where the backlog
items have to pass through a few agreed points to mark it as ready.For Example, Definition of Ready
for a story will have User Story defined, User Story dependencies identified, User Story sized by the
delivery team, performance criteria identified, no open questions, the team has a good idea what it will
mean to Demo the User Story.
In the same way, we can have the definition of ready for the features as well.Although, the
components might differ from product to productThis shared definition then allows the team to discard

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the stories that don’t have clearly defined acceptance criteriaIt will save a lot of time if each user story
meets Definition of Ready before the Sprint Planning meeting.

6Who owns the product backlog and prioritization?

The product backlog is owned by the product owner, it is one of the roles in a scrum team and is
aligned completely to the productPer scrum guidelines, the product owner is responsible for
maintaining the product backlog.But that doesn't mean Product Owner is only the input source for the
product backlogAny stakeholders (Business analyst/Tech architect/software
architect/tester/developer/customer) in the organization/project can contribute to the product
catalog.But Product owner has the ultimate responsibility for prioritizing them (with or without
Development Team)It is the responsibility of the product owner to capture and add anything and
everything into the backlog.Also, the product owner will make sure that the items in the backlog reflect
the prioritization as the market needsThe item delivering the highest value should be at the topThere
are several ways a product owner can use to prioritize the backlog such as – Ranking, Moscow, and
Hundred Dollar method, etc., the goal is to keep the backlog healthy and prioritized.You can even say
that the product owner is the mini CEO for his own area.

7What is the Release Burndown Chart?

A Release Burndown Chart is one of the information radiators for an agile project team and is a way for
the team to clearly see what is happening and how progress is being made during each sprintThe
release burndown chart has sprints or timeline on the X-axis and the story points on the Y-axisJust by
the glance of the chart, you can tell exactly how the release is goingIt captures how much scope has
been increased during the course of a release, it also gives us the insight into the stories getting
acceptance on time from the PO or the stakeholders.With the help of this chart, we can even identify if
there are any risks to the delivery in the said amount of timeIt is majorly used by the product team,
management and sometimes the stakeholders to assess the delivery of the releaseIt is an important
chart when we work with business owners as it also gives the view of items which might creep out of
the boundaries.

8Why there is no project manager and no agile product manager?

It’s true that Scrum doesn’t define any project manager or agile product manager role, it only
mentions three roles – development team, scrum master and the product owner.Each of them has
their own boundaries and responsibilities.But, even before the delivery team starts working on the
product, there is a lot to do like, team formation, procurement, risk management, etcThese are not
mentioned in any of the three roles definedSo yes, even in agile development, we do have a project
manager who takes care of all these things and ensures smooth startup of the teams.Even
scaledagileframework.com talks about the evolving role of managers in Lean-Agile development.Like
the project manager, the agile product manager role also exists, it is the same as the usual product
owner role, and it is just how you want to address itThe role and responsibilities are the same because
it’s just another name for a product owner.

9What is the relationship between vision and product roadmap?

Vision is a sort of a goal you see for your organization, the product or even for yourself.“Vision is
knowing who you are, where you’re going and what will guide your journey.”– Ken Blanchard and Jesse
StonerThus, there are three elements which constitute a vision on a broader level, the purpose, the
picture, and the values.Connecting the vision to our topic today, we will talk specifically about the

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product vision.For any product, it’s really important to understand why we are building it, what
purpose will it serve to the customer or the client.
Next comes the picture where we see how the end result should look like and lastly what value will it
deliverThe vision statement can be just a few lines and it is not going to be very elaborative or
prescriptiveTo achieve this vision, a roadmap is created, it is a powerful means to define how a
product is likely to grow, to align the stakeholders, and to procure a budget for developing the product
and it is also a visual summary that maps out the vision and direction of the product offering over
timeIt outlines goals, milestones, and deliverables for a product in development.

10What are the different estimation levels in Scrum?

This question is a regular feature in Product Owner interview, be ready to tackle itEstimation plays an
important role when we talk about the product backlog.Estimating is about creating a shared
understanding of the requirements, and a shared understanding of the solution.When teams have
problems estimating, it’s almost never an estimating problem, it’s a shared understanding
problem.Estimation can be done at two levels:
Product Backlog level – Estimation at the product backlog level helps the team to predict much
can they deliver in said time, it can be a release of three months or six months or as per the product
needIt also helps the product owner in making prioritization decisions.Another purpose to estimate
items on the product backlog is that team members become more well-informed about the detail by
thinking about it enough to estimate it.
Sprint backlog level – Estimating at the sprint backlog level helps the teams to understand how
much work they can pull into a sprintThe estimates at the sprint level are more precise which
increases the possibility of the team completing all they say they willIn addition to it, this also helps
the team to better synchronize their workWhen the team estimates at the product backlog level, it
gives a rough or a high-level estimate, this gets further refined when they estimate at the sprint level.

11What is the difference between estimating and committing?

When the agile team works on the product backlog, they break it down into chunks and align them into
a roadmap for the delivery, during this process, they also estimate the product backlog which gives
them the visibility on its completion, the functional approach, and complexity.Estimates tell at the high
level of what it takes to deliver the item.Commitment, on the other hand, is the promise from a team
assuring the delivery of items taken in a sprint or in a release.During the sprint planning meeting, the
team pulls in some items as per the collective capacity and makes a commitment to the product owner
or the stakeholders for its delivery in a time-boxed mannerBoth estimating and committing are
important activities in the scrum but they serve totally different purposes.Estimates are never a
commitment from the team.An estimate is our best guess for what can be achieved and by when.One
should always remember - Committing does not guarantee the delivery of items, there might be
situations where the team gets stuck because of some very valid and reasonable impedimentThere are
several ways a team can estimate the backlog.

12What are the methods of keeping a healthy backlog?

To start with any project, there is a need to have a backlog, it might not be perfect but at least it
provides a starting point for the teamsThere are challenges if we don’t have a proper backlog, which
can be, backlog consisting of very big items or sometimes the items do not define the exact
deliverable and miss on the detailsHence, there is a need to keep it healthy, so that it can be used by
the teams to openly see what is next, what it can be worked upon, and what they have to plan for the
futureA healthy backlog has 1–2 sprints of work ready to go for the team to work on which should
include tech debt, bugs, and new feature workThe backlog should be visible to all the team members
and everyone in the team should be encouraged to contribute so that nothing gets missed, like, new
additions the team feels can add value to the client or any tools the team wants to replace to increase

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productivity and capability.Most importantly, a healthy product backlog is regularly ordered and
prioritizedThe product owner has to keep the pile of items in a ready state which can be defined under
the definition of ready.

13How is backlog grooming done?

The backlog grooming is intended for making sure that the team has the backlog which is relevant,
detailed and estimated to a degree appropriate with their priorityIn the backlog grooming meeting, the
scrum team sits together to discuss the items from the product backlog and this meeting is done on a
regular basis to keep the backlog healthy and up-to-date.
They pull the items as per the priority order and refine them with rigorous discussion and
brainstormingThey even talk about the blockers that might come up in their way and also the
dependencies, whether it is upstream or downstreamIn the backlog grooming the team takes up an
item from the backlog and discuss how they can work upon it, they even talk about the ways of
implementationThis meeting gives the team the time they need to understand new stories before
estimating and working additionally providing time to optimize the designIt also helps in streamlining
the planning meeting by saving the hours the team would have spent.By devoting time to backlog
upkeep, the team safeguards that this preliminary planning occurs prior to the sprint planning
meeting.

14What is the importance and benefits of prioritizing the product backlog?

The Product Backlog is the master list of all functionality desired in the product in a prioritized
order.Backlog prioritization is required to organize the product backlog items (user story/Defects/Spike
etc) to make the sequence of its development and deploymentPrioritization leads the team’s work by
concentrating the team on the most important itemsIt also freezes the backlog contents gradually.
The product backlog items are detailed according to their priorityThis constructs flexibility into the
process and allows deferring decisions about the lower-priority items, buying the Scrum team more
time to assess options, collect feedback from customers, and obtain more knowledgeThis eventually
results in better results and a better product.Few of the business benefits of prioritization includes –
Faster return of investment, better management of dependencies, minimizing risks and focus on value-
driven developmentPrioritization not only helps the business but also the teams – They can do
effective grooming by saving the time of selection, better visibility to pick up stories within the current
scopeThe team can pick up the first few items from the prioritized list to discuss and work upon, in this
way a lot of confusion is eased out on what needs to be worked upon.

15 What is the goal of release management?

The main goal of release management is creating value to the customerThe deployment of releases
into production and the establishment of effective use of the service are the goals of release and
deployment management processTo meet this requirement, they create a clear and comprehensive
release and deployment management planThis helps the customer and the teams to align their
activities, the release management team chalks out the dates which is then targeted by the teams.
The release management team is also involved in building, installing, testing and deploying release
packages efficiently and successfully as per the schedule.During all this, the release management
team also makes sure that there is a minimal unpredicted impact on the production services and
above all, they ensure that the customer or the users are satisfiedThe definitive goal of service
management is meeting and even exceeding customer expectations and ensuring customer
satisfaction in service delivery.
16What does it mean when we say “planning is adaptive, iterative, and collaborative”?

The Product Owner has to understand that planning is adaptive, iterative, and collaborative which
means, planning takes place at different levels in Scrum:

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Product, release, sprint, and day.Each level has some output which gets as an input for the next
level.When we talk of planning in Scrum, it is more dynamic and change as more information about the
customer needs and the product being developed becomes availableThe product gets build over every
iteration, at the end of every sprint, there is an increment which gets added to the productThe team
plans for each iteration in a release with the collaboration of the product owner and the stakeholders.
The release planning activities are carried out by the Scrum team often with the help of stakeholders,
for instance, in the sprint review meeting, the team presents the backlog they have worked upon and
take the acceptance from the product ownerIf there is any feedback on the items, it will be added in
the product backlog and later would be prioritized by the product ownerThe product owner ensures
that the necessary release management activities take placeIt is more of a collaboration among the
product owner and the teams which results in the success of the product.
17Explain the concept of technical debt.

The term technical debt was coined by Ward Cunningham and mentioned that some problems with
code are like financial debt.As per Ward “With borrowed money, you can do something sooner than
you might otherwise, but until you pay back that money you will pay interest”Technical Debt is
something where you are required to do refactoring or improvement related to the source code and its
architectureFactors adding up to technical debts cab be issues related to architecture, structure,
duplication, test coverage, comments and documentation, potential bugs, complexity, code smells,
coding practices and style.All these types of issues incur technical debt because they have a negative
impact on productivity.Any compromise with the quality during the development lifecycle leads to
technical debts, the software becomes fragile and expensive to extend and maintain.With the
evolution of agile, we have witnessed a gradual decrease in the amount of technical debt and this was
feasible because now we follow shorter cycles and frequent software updates require high quality,
hence, the chances of piled up issues lowerAs per Atlassian “Technical debt is the difference between
what was promised and what was actually deliveredPreventing technical debt is what allows
development to be agile in the long run.”
18Why do we say software should be released early and frequently?

Early and frequent delivery not only helps the team but also the customers.When we start working in
iterations, there is an increment that gets added to the product, this increment is always (most of the
cases) the highest priority item as expected by the customersSo, every time the customer gets the
finished work which they have been seeking as critical or something which was highly desired.
Short iterations also give the customers the time they need to shift the priorities and align the
requirements as per the market needs.On the contrary, the team also gets positive notes while
working with software development in short cycles, which is early feedbackThey get the feedback as
and when they reach out to the customers with some finished itemsSometimes, during the demo the
customers get to see what exactly has come out of the requirements shared by them, accordingly,
they tweak and provide feedback which is then converted into a story and taken up by the teamsThe
early and frequent release also ensures that the scope of change will be small as compared to
releasing something bigHere, every release (“iteration”) has a specification, development and testing
phaseThis means that every couple of weeks the software is fully usable, although it may have very
few features at the start.

19What do you understand by velocity and how to measure it?

“Velocity is a measure of the amount of work a Team can tackle during a single Sprint and is the key
metric in Scrum.Velocity is calculated at the end of the Sprint by totaling the Points for all fully
completed User Stories.” – Scrum Inc
Velocity is a simple but powerful method for accurately measuring the rate at which the scrum
development teams consistently deliver business value.Velocity is measured in the same units as
feature estimates, whether this is story points, days, ideal days, or hours that the Scrum team delivers
- all of which are considered acceptableIt is a metric which can predict how much work a team can
complete in sprint time.
Velocity in agile is the total number of points delivered in a sprint.For example, if a team commits 30
points worth of stories in a sprint and by the end, they are able to deliver only 25 points then their
velocity will be 25 points and not 30 pointsHence, velocity is the total points delivered and NOT the

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total points committedThe velocity helps the teams to predict the amount of work they can commit as
a team, it also helps when we do our product increment planning in a Scaled Agile Framework.

20How the Product Owner and Development Team collaborate during the Sprint?

The essential trait to win the scrum methodology is the continuous communication between the
product owner and the development teamThey both need to collaborate at every step in the
development to make sure the team is delivery what is expected and there are no surprises at the end
of the sprintThe product owner helps the team to look at the bigger picture, this role helps the team to
understand the ‘Why’ of the product.During the sprint, the Product Owner helps the team in letting
them know the priority so that in the sprint planning they commit as the priorityDuring the course of
the sprint, the team touches base with the product owner as and when they feel, they can demo
something to get the early feedback rather than waiting till the end of the sprint.Along with this, the
team also sits with the product owner to groom the stories for the upcoming sprint so that they can
refine and add the required details to the story and make it in a ready state to be pulledThe constant
collaboration between these two helps in early resolution of dependencies or blockers and also
reduces the chances of developing something which is not in the scope.
21Why sprints are timeboxed and protected?

In scrum, we divide our work into iterations or cycles which are called sprintsThe output of the sprint
should add some value to the customer.For every sprint, we talk about time-boxing, which means it
will have a start date and an end dateThis timeboxing allows the customer to know when they can
expect the output from the teams, also the team knows how much they can commit so as to deliver a
quality item to the client.
Time-boxing also allows the team to focus on the value, whatever they pull as commitment is
expected to be the highest priority item from the backlog which will add the highest valueProtecting a
sprint means, the scrum master will make sure that the team does not commit more than their
capacity, else, they won’t be able to complete the work in timeProtecting a sprint also refers to
ensuring the stakeholders are not over-doing the participation in the daily activities, as it impacts the
team’s focusThe team can set some ground rules or can have working agreements to make sure they
strike a balance in the scrum ceremonies.And lastly, protection is also in terms of shielding from
outside interferences.

22What do you understand by the concept of sustainable pace?

The team targets a pace of work that can be sustained for a long time or indefinitelyThe team has to
come on an agreement on how can they give to make sure that is balancing the overall structureThe
term "sustainable pace", more general, was proposed by Kent Beck himself in replacement of the
original "40 hour week" denomination for this Extreme Programming practiceIn the first edition of
“Extreme Programming Explained,”
Kent Beck suggested working no more than 40 hours per week and never working overtime a second
week in a row.Finally, one of the principles behind the Agile Manifesto was dedicated to "Sustainable
Pace", which can be regarded as the most widely accepted definition: “Agile processes promote
sustainable development.Agile processes promote sustainable developmentThe sponsors, developers,
and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.”
As per Sustainable pace – “Sustainable Pace is not about taking it easy and going slowIt's just the
opposite, you should expend energy vigorously, and regain strength by restingIn the long run, make
sure you invest your energy wisely and set your priorities taking into account the findings of happiness
research.”

23What is the difference between the Scrum Team and the Development Team?

A scrum team is a closed group consisting of the Scrum Master, the Product Owner, and the team.All
three entities in the scrum team are aligned towards a single goalIn the scrum team, the scrum master
will make sure that the team is focused and will protect the sprint from outer interferences.On the
other hand, the product owner will align the prioritized requirements, so that the team has a lined up
stories to work on.And the third entity in the Scrum Team is the development team who is focused on
the delivery of the value to the stakeholder.

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The development team takes up the ‘actual work’ in terms of coding, testing, etc.As per the scrum.org
“Development Team consists of professionals who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable
Increment of “Done” product at the end of each Sprint.A "Done" increment is required at the Sprint
Review.Only members of the Development Team create the Increment.” The development teams are
self-organizing and cross-functional, no one directs the Development Team how to turn Product
Backlog into Increments of potentially releasable functionalitySpecific Development Team members
may have specific skills and areas of focus, but accountability lies to the Development Team as a
whole.

24Who is allowed to add items to the backlog and make adjustments to them?

Expect to come across this popular question in Product Owner interview questionsAnyone from the
team can add items to the backlog, there is no set rule for any role to add to the backlog.During the
course of development, the team can find some requirements which were earlier not identified, they
have the liberty to add that item to the backlogSometimes, the teams might identify some stories to
improve the coverage or the quality, which is a good practice to follow.Keeping this addition to the
backlog open for everyone in the teams ensures that we don’t miss the requirements, even if it is low
on the priority list.
Though anyone in the team can add items to the backlog it is only the product owner who is
responsible for prioritizing the backlog and also the one who determines what happens to the product
backlog itemIn the grooming meeting, the team sits together with the product owner and goes through
the backlog.Nowadays, teams use online tools to help and create the backlog, this not only helps to
work across the distributed teams but also helps in keeping things togetherThe sole intent of creating
the backlog is to capture all the requirements at one place.

25Can a Product Owner be the Scrum Master for a team?

The Product Owner cannot be the Scrum Master for the delivery team.Both the Scrum Master and
Product Owner are a full-time job and require strenuous efforts to fulfill their responsibilities.Also, the
two have conflicting goals, as a scrum master, you will always try to help the team commit the
optimum number of items as per the capacity but the product owner will just focus on delivering the
maximum work.Also, the product owner is responsible for delivery but the Scrum master is notIn a
case where a product owner plays a scrum master role, the scrum values and agile practices will take
a back seatThe team becomes more pressurized to deliver the backlog itemsThe scrum master role is
more on the process side and the product owner is towards the business end, mixing both the roles
misbalances the transformation journey.

26.Should the Product Owner attend the entire sprint planning ceremony?

The sprint planning meeting is divided into two parts – committing the sprint items and creating the
sprint backlog as per the capacity.During the first half of the meeting, the product owner should
actively engage with the team to get the right stories being committed as per the market priorityThe
product owner can answer any open query the team has and can also talk about the expectations on
the delivery.
This role can also help the team in providing optimum estimates by clearing out any doubts.During the
second half of the meeting where the team is creating tasks, the product owner might or might not
attend as per the situationIf the team has all the queries resolved and they understand the priority, in
this case, the product owner can step out and let the team create their tasks.But if there are few
points for contention or the team feels they won’t be able to meet the goals, the product owner should
be there to listenIdeally, the sprint planning should be attended by the scrum team which is – the
Product Owner, Scrum Master, and the development teamHence, everyone should be there to make it
a success.

27Define a Product Owner Role.

A product owner is a role in a product development team or a Scrum team who is responsible for the
product backlog, making sure that it is up-to-date in terms of priorities and has the items which
translate back to the visionThe Product Owner represents the business or user and is accountable for
collaborating with the consumer to define what features will be in the product release.
The Product Owner works with the stakeholders to get the right requirements, right in the sense, help
the users to devise the requirements which they might not see or comprehend at that pointThis not

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only improves the relationship with our customers but also helps to build up the trust.And at the other
end, the Product Owner helps the delivery team/development team understand the vision and the
requirementsHence, this role is kind of a bridge between the two ends, holding tight the two corners
and effectively enhancing the smooth communicationThis role is really critical as it handshakes at both
the ends – the development team and the stakeholders.

28What is the difference between PM, PO, and Business Analyst?

Product Owner role is much wider in its scope and comes with a lot more responsibility including
researching market trends to fill gaps with a new product.A product owner is responsible for a
particular product and works to grow it right from its inception stage to maturity with a vision.A
business analyst, on the other hand, would work on parallel lines as a product owner, but, would be
limited by the scope of the work.
Usually, a business analyst would be responsible for a particular section of the product and would work
towards its requirements or coming up with ideas to improve or innovate the process pertaining to its
scope.Both PO and BA have many similarities in terms of attributes such as strong relationship skills,
ability to think outside the box and being clear on the expectations of the work.On the other hand, the
Project Manager is the person who must ensure that the scope of a project is delivered against budget
and timeframes agreedThis requires the Project Manager to create plans, negotiate budgets,
resources, and track progress.

29What is a Product Owner responsible for?

According to Roman Pichler, the ultimate responsibility of a product owner is to ensure that the
product creates value for its customers and users, as well as for the company.“Think of the product
owner as of the person who champions the product, who facilitates the product decisions, and who has
the final say about the product,” he says.“This includes if and how feedback is actioned, and which
features are released.”
The role and responsibilities of a Product Owner are too deep so as to make sure he/she understands
the core of the product and too wide that collaboration is done at 360-degree level, being a liaison and
face of the user.Defining the vision - The Product Owner has the responsibility of creating a vision so
that the development team clearly visualize the expected outcome by the user.Managing the product
backlog - The most essential responsibility in a role a Product Owner is managing the product
backlogToday’s market is really dynamic, every customer wants to stay at the top of the new features
being introduced.Even the items in the product backlog might require some movements due to
changing prioritiesPrioritizing needs - Making choices about the priority of product backlog items in
order to deliver a maximum outcome.Anticipating client needs and acting as primary liaison.

30Who are PO’s are accountable to?

The Product Owners are accountable to everyone involved in the productThey are accountable to the
customers for quality product delivery, they have to make sure the requirements are translated well
and there is a mutual understanding of the deliverablesThe clients look up to the product owners for
their requested work and the feedback loops to be taken care of by the product ownersIn the same
way, the product owners are accountable to the delivery team to make sure they have the right set of
requirements to start their work withAlong with this, they are accountable for the milestones and the
roadmap so that everyone talks the same languageThey are even accountable to the management
because of it the management who are dealing in terms of financesThe product owner is even
accountable to their product backlog, to make it healthy! A lot goes into the accountability of the
product owner, it’s like 360-degree accountability that they have performed.Whatever work the
development team takes up, it is the accountability of the product owner and even making sure the
team develops the right thing.

31What is the definition of Release PO versus Feature PO?

When the backlog is too big to be taken care of by a single product owner, there is a need for adding a
person who can take care of the bigger pictureHence the role of a release product owner comes up.For
example, the team product owner works with the development team for feature delivery and in turn,
the release product owner will work to formalize the release of those feature to the market.
The feature product owner ensures the feature is well understood by the team and they also make
sure, it gets delivered on time if there are no impedimentsThere can several features the team can be

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working onThe release product owner takes care at the higher level to consolidate the feature delivery
through a release, they set the release dates, which can go from a month to six month timeThe feature
PO is more focused towards the team and collaborates with the delivery teams whereas the Release
product Owner interacts with the team of product owners.

32.Is the product owner a member of the Scrum Team?

As defined in Scrum, the scrum team comprises of the development team, the scrum master and the
product owner, so yes, the product owner is a crucial part of the scrum teamThe product attends the
scrum ceremonies with the development team and stays available throughout the sprint to assist the
team members in terms of requirementsThe product owner is part of the sprint planning to ensure the
team commits the right work and also which adds value to the productThroughout the sprint, the
product owner may or may not join the daily scrum but will be there to assistDuring the sprint demo,
the product owner has to be there to accept/reject the work done during the sprint and also to provide
feedback on the deliverablesThe team along with the product owner also sits together for the backlog
grooming where they brainstorm on the requirements and make it ready to be pulled up for
commitment in the upcoming sprintsIt is the product owner who acts as a bridge between the delivery
teams and the client hence, it is an important role in the scrum teamThough this role might not be
involved in the technical part they take care of the functional aspect.

33What is the common industry job title for product owner responsibilities?

Usually, the titles used in software development include Program Manager, Technical Program
Manager, Technical Product Manager, Product Analyst, or Product Owner.Each of them has a common
set of responsibilities, which have been defined below:
Creates and maintains the Product Backlog
Prioritizes and orders the Backlog as per the business value
Supports with the bifurcation of Epics, Themes, and Features into user stories that are small
enough to be completed in a single sprint.
Delivers the Vision and Goals at the beginning of every Release and Sprint.
Epitomizes the customer, interfaces and involves the client.
Takes part in the daily Scrums, Sprint Planning Meetings, and Sprint Reviews and
Retrospectives and another sync up meetings with the team.
Reviews the product development at the finish of every iteration
This role is the face of the Team to the outside world and should make sure that all methods of
communications are open and that projects have the right amount of support required to succeed.
Dismisses a Sprint if it is found that a severe change in course is required

34.Is the Product Owner or Release Product Owner Full-Time job?

Yes, it is a full-time job, where the product owner works with the team sprint by sprint for effective
delivery of the committed workIn the case of Release Product Owner, it again requires full-time
involvement where they connect with the customers to understand their need and set expectations on
the milestones and deliveryThey work on managing the dependencies on the product which might
extend to different teams, this requires a lot of effort because if any of the dependency goes unnoticed
it impacts the overall release plan.
They also work to keep the backlog stay up-to-date which ordered and prioritized requirements, this is
a critical aspect as the client satisfaction is the key, they need to stay competitive in the
market.Underestimating the role of the product owner or the release product owner can give a big set
back to the teams and the organization, they should be given space to try out things and have them
increase the collaboration with the customers and the teams.

35 Will that impedes your work as a product owner?

It's no surprise that this one pops up often in Product Owner interview questions.
Yes, for sure, if the product owner is missing control, it will impact the overall product and even the
work of the product ownerIn this case, the product owner has to set up and understand the role and
responsibility of being the PO for a scrum teamIt might be a possibility that the product owner is not
getting the space to work and his powers are being controlledHence, make sure that the person called

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the Product Owner actually OWNS the productHe has to create the product road map and set business
goals for the upcoming quarters.As a product owner, you should have good communication flowing
with the stakeholders along with good cooperationThe product owner has to work in enhancing the
product backlog and keep it aligned with the market needsIt will be difficult for a product owner to
handle a messy backlog which lacks control.

36.Should the team accept changes in the sprint as requested by the Product Owner?

Agile has helped the teams to manage changes within the development processThe Agile Manifesto
talk about the ‘responding to change over following a plan’ and the Agile principle says ‘Welcome
changing requirements’The Agile team has to strike a balance between responding to change and
working as per the sprint planIf the change is being requested by the Product Owner, the team has to
decide if they should accept it or notSome of the deciding factors can be – the volume of change, if the
change is too big, the team might ask the Product owner to break it into parts or commit the whole in
the next sprintSecond, time of change, if it is inserted early in the sprint, the team consider it rather
than in the end.
Third, if the sprint commitments are getting changed or any new changes are introduced frequently, it
should be addressed with the Product Owner.Whatever might be case, it is a negotiation between the
product owner and the development, the team gets to take the final call on the acceptance of change.

Advanced
1Please explain your product line governance.
The answer will vary a bit from candidate to candidateIf he is in a large organisation where there are
multiple team working together on the same product lines, he will talk about his peers and
coordination, the product line chain (something like Product Owner, Area PO, Product manager, Chief
PM) or in case of distributed agile team, he will also talk about Proxy PO at off shoreIf he is from a
small organisation, he will talk about him directly discussing and coordinating with Business executive
and Sales guys.

2How your role as a Product Owner different from Business AnalystA Product owner is someone who
focuses on product vision, roadmap and changing prioritiesHe does not give the solution.A Business
analyst largely translates the product vision into solutions and at times recommends different ways or
solutions.While Scrum does not requires a Business analyst, there is practise in many organisation to
have a PO, who is focussed on product part and a BA, at times called as BA or even proxy PO, who is a
techno-functional person who helps in defining then acceptance criteria, a solution etc.

3Have you heard of MoSCoW ? What is that?

MoSCoW is a Product backlog refinement technique, where Mo stands for Must be, S stands for Should
be, Co stand for Could be and W stands for Won’t be.

4Mostly the product backlog will have many items falling under Mo (Must Be) and S (Should Be) of
MoSCoWHow will you prioritize within these items?
This is a frequently asked question in technical Product Owner interview questionsMoSCoW is a
fundamental prioritization technique.Most of the PBI will be falling under Mo and S.An experienced PO
would be using various other ways to differentiate between Mo and SPopular one is WSJF – Weighted
Shortest Job First.WSJF = Cost Of Delay / Job Size.

5How will you create or help in creating a Product Roadmap?

The answer will vary from candidate to candidate based on their exposure and the size of organisation
they are working in.For a small organisation the PO might be directly involved in creating the roadmap
however in large organisation, he would be someone whose input would be required.
Typically the answer would evolve around : Continuous exploration – Taking feedback after every
release , checking how the features has been perceived by the market, analysing competitor’s
offerings and our customers’ reaction to it.Not doing upfront design and freezing the
requirementsHaving features variable for future releases and creating a roadmap which will follow
Cone Of Uncertainty.

6What does Cone of Uncertainty show ?

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Expect to come across this popular question in Product Owner interview questionsCone of uncertainty
shows, how much is known about the product over timeIts more variables and less fixed initially but as
we move, it will have more fixed and less variable.

7Typically, how much time or what percentage of your time do you allocate to user research and
understanding your customers’ needs while product discovery phase?
The answer may vary from person to person and organisation to organisationIf the person says that
they spend 50% of their time on user research, that’s excellentHowever, if a product owner says they
spend 10% or less time, it’s not goodThis means they are not doing enough customer exploration and
feedback and might also be ignoring changing market condition.

8.You have important new features prioritised to be picked up for next sprintIn that case, how will you
handle new bugs and accumulating technical debts?
When valuable new features are competing with bugs and technical debt in a product backlog, as a
product owner, with every sprint, along with the features I will include a limited number of the most
important bugs and the most pressing issues caused by technical debt.Based on the product, we can
also have some basic thumb rule set for it, such as allocating 10% of the resources to bugs, 15% to
technical debt and rest to new features.

9How would a Product Owner deal with uncooperative stakeholders?

The best (and perhaps the only) way to deal with uncooperative stakeholders is to win their confidence
by engaging them through regular meeting and discussions and demonstrating the value of agile
product developmentID it still fails, the product owner should seek help from sponsor.

10.While team estimates the user story of the current sprint, for the product roadmap, do you do or
get the estimation done for future Product backlog items (Epics/Features) ? How is that done in your
organisation? Who does it?
While team estimates the current sprint backlog, for future roadmap, which is highly flexible it is
advisable, not to involve the team in estimationThe product line (Product manager, Product Owner etc)
could do the rough estimation based on historical data.

11.As a Product Owner how do you communicate your marketplace knowledge to the Scrum Team?
It is very much required that the scrum team is aware of the changes happening in market placeIt is
one of the responsibility of the product ownerThe PO does it continuously as a part of his informal
interactions with development team and SMHe also does that through formal discussions and
meetings.

12How do you plan release of your product? Is it every sprint?

No, it is not required to release every sprint.While deployment is a planning activity and could be per
sprint or continuous, release is a business and strategic activityThe development team may continue
to create a shippable product, the shipping is a business decisionThe PO or the product manager will
plan a release date , when it makes sense from business perspective.

13.Who are your product stakeholders?

Major stake holders with whom a Product Owner interacts are – Customers, Sponsors, Key decision
makers, professionals, regulators.

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14As a product Owner how will you manage various stakeholders’ desires for the product ?

A must-know for anyone heading into a Product Owner interview, this question is frequently asked in
Product Owner interview questionsA PO can manage desires of various stakeholders by coordinating
and collaborating with them through discussion while designing product roadmap, seeking their input
and feedback in designing and defining Product backlog items and preparation of sprint events.A
consistent and constant collaboration would help.

15.Before putting an idea in a backlog as a Product Backlog item, what are the steps you performAs a
Product Owner, we should not out rightly reject any of ideas, nor can we accept all of them.Every idea
that comes needs to be analysedSo ideation needs to be followed up with analysisThe analysis can be
done in several ways like analysing through creating a prototype, working on pilot customers, based
on experience etc.Based on the result of analysis, the idea should be added to the product backlog.

16What is systems Thinking? How important is it for a Product Owner to have a Systems Thinking
approach?

Systems thinking means holistic thinkingIt gives the complete view.For a Product Owner, it is very
important to have the complete view of the product, then only he will be able to design a product
vision.Also if he has in an environment where there is a complete product management line of product
managers above him, a holistic view will help him to understand why there has been change in the
Product roadmap and why he should adjust the product backlog items

17If you are made product owner of Gmail, what changes will you bring?
That’s a great position .But with great position comes greater expectation.
The answer of this question will unwrap the product owner inside a candidate.Different candidate may
answer it differentlySomeone may talk about adding new look and feel feature or adding UX (User
Experience) etc, while few may talk about how gmail as a product would evolve, such as its integration
to other existing product, or vice versa something like G-Pay integrated with Gmail or making it a one
stop shop for all your needs – communication, collaboration, banking , shopping etcThis shows the
vision of the person.

18.
There is a recent regulatory change which does not directly impacts your product, but that opened a
new avenue of opportunity to your product.Anyone who adapts first will gain the market share.You are
just mid-way of your existing sprint, but every day counts.Will you cancel the current sprint and work
on the new opportunity features?

It's no surprise that this one pops up often in scenario based Product Owner interview questions.
If the requirement is such that it may create new opportunity or help in gaining the market share for
first mover (such as it happened for fintech companies like PayTM in India during demonetization
announced by government in 2016), the product owner should act on itThe Product Owner has the
authority and can cancel the current sprint if he deems it fit, adds item to product backlog and
reprioritize it.

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19With DevOps as new wave across industry, do we need a Product Owner for a DevOps team?

Yes.A DevOps team also works around a product.With automation, CI/CD, it becomes more important
for DevOps team to understand business requirement and needs and then automate the delivery
pipelineThe business need could not be understood correctly, and doubts answered without a Product
Owner.

20As a Product Owner, how do you think, you could achieve the next level of Product ownership?

A common question in questions for Product Owner interview, don't miss this one.
Next-gen product owner is not someone who just maintains and prioritizes the product backlog with
multiple features, next-gen PO is someone who plans how the whole product evolves and changes with
time, how new product lines evolve from the same product branch and how it remains relevant and
front runner with changing market and taste.

21What are the properties of a sprint?

One of the most frequently posed advanced Product Owner interview questions, be ready for it.
Like any other entity, the sprint also has a few properties like:
Timeboxing – Almost anything in a sprint is time-boxed, whether it is a ceremony or the sprint
itselfTimeboxing allows the space for discipline and closed boundaries for any planned activityIt helps
the team to focus; remember the good old days when the actual study would start the day exam dates
are published?
Following a fixed time box in development creates a cadence, it also helps in gathering metrics
on steady intervals, for instance, we calculate the velocity of the team every time box (Sprint).
Protected from any changes – Scrum says, once the team has made a commitment in the
Sprint Planning, the scope of the sprint will be locked.Any changes in the commitment in terms of
scope change is not encouraged.But if the change is small enough to be incorporated in a sprint, the
team should pull it up as Agile Manifesto also talks about ‘Responding to Change over Following a Plan’
The maximum duration of a sprint should be a calendar month.

22How is vision and goal aligned to the product backlog?

The product can only deliver value if it is aligned with the vision and goalsThe Product vision defines
the purpose of a Product, the intent with which the Product is being developed and what it aims to
achieve for customers and users.When the product owner discusses the backlog with the development
team, they refer to the order in the backlog which is based on the value.
“The vision plays an important role in bringing a new product to life: It acts as the overarching goal
guiding everyone involved in the development effort.” – Roman Pichler.
Vision provides a high-level view of what the future product should look like, it helps the development
teams shape the product in a way it meets the required goals, as set with the customerThe product
owner helps the team in identifying the sprint goals which are in line with the product vision so that
the teams can deliver maximum value to the customerThe vision and goals are even linked to the
MVPs (Minimum Viable Product)In Agile, the vision statement becomes a guiding light, the “what we
are trying to achieve” statement that the development team, scrum master, and stakeholders refer to
throughout the project.

23What are the desirable qualities of the vision?

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The vision forms the foundation of any product, it is something which encourages and inspires people
to stay on the right path, hence it should be clear and firm; extensive and appealingTo list out few
desired qualities of the vision, let’s look at the following points:
Clear and firm – The product vision should be easy to interpret and creates a common purpose
for the teamsIt should be able to give clarity on what’s in the future and it should not create confusion
among the teams.
Extensive and appealing – It should provide a very high-level view of where we want to go, and
also provides the development team with space to come up with ideas, to collaborative, to find
solutions, to inspire to achieve moreIt should encourage the team for better delivery in line with
customer expectations.
Brief and concise – The vision is not something which involves long written paragraphs, it
should contain only information critical to the realization of the productIt is not a list of requirements,
hence, it should not cover the minute detailsIn simple terms, it should be short and sweet.

24What is the scope of the ScrumMaster role at a high level?

The scrum master role is very vast in nature, this role wears a wide variety of hat as and when
required.At a high level, a scrum master is someone who will work with the Product Owner, help the
team in sailing through the sprint smooth and work with the management in removing the
impediments.Now, this is a high-level view but if you dive further into it, this will grow like an
icebergThis role is very crucial and important for the team in making a successful deliveryThe Scrum
Master serves as a facilitator for both the Product Owner and the team.
The scrum will help the product owner in prioritization and slicing of the features or the user stories,
the scrum master can even use a few tools available to help the PO with backlog alignment.For the
team, the scrum master will work to remove the impediments faced by the teams.Along with the
delivery, the scrum master also makes sure that the agile team lives by the agile values and principles
and follows the processes/practices that the team agreed to use.As per Mike Cohn – ‘The Scrum Master
is often considered a coach for the team, helping the team do the best work it possibly canThe Scrum
Master can also be thought of as a process owner for the team, creating a balance with the project's
key stakeholder, who is referred to as the product owner’.

25Explain one technique suitable to capture product backlog items?

Whenever there is a need from the client or the customer, it has to be captured in some form, here we
can talk about product backlogs, and we capture the requirements in the form of user storiesIt is one
of the techniques where the stories are added to the product backlogThe User Story is a tool used in
Agile software development to capture a description of a software feature from an end-user
perspectiveIt defines the type of user, what they want and why they want it, also it helps to create a
basic portrayal of a requirement.A user story template often uses the following type of format:
As a <role>, I want <feature> so that <reason>
The user stories are short enough to be accommodated in a sprint if not, they are further broken down
into smaller piecesIt is written in a language which is understandable to both the client and the team,
it is then the job of the agile team to take care of how to develop the code that will satisfy the
requirements of the user storyTo accomplish this, regular and close interaction is required from both
the parties – the client and the team.

26How non-functional requirements can be dealt with within the product backlog?

Non-functional requirements play an important role in the overall product development and
deliveryThese are the requirements without which the functional part cannot be termed as
complete.Let’s first understand what a non-functional requirement is, “Nonfunctional Requirements
(NFRs) define system attributes such as security, reliability, performance, maintainability, scalability,
and usabilityThey serve as constraints or restrictions on the design of the system across the different
backlogs.” – ScaledagileThere are different ways of handlings such requirements, like:
1. Create user stories in the backlog – The non-functional requirements can be similar to
“constraints” we put on the systemIt can be written in the same format as the usual user story.

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2. Inclusion in DoD – The team can add these requirements as part of their definition of DoneIf it
is one of the parameters in the definition, it will make sure the NFR doesn’t get missed out and the
team can keep track of it along with the original story.
3. Acceptance Criteria – Non-functional requirements may also be articulated as part of
Acceptance criteria which are circumstances that a product must fulfill to be accepted by a user,
customer or other stakeholders.

27What are the techniques used for backlog prioritization?

Prioritization as a norm means “doing the first thing first”Globally, the teams have been using several
methods or techniques for backlog prioritizationIt is really important that they understand few
techniques that can help in way of prioritization such as MoSCow, where a list of requirements or user
stories are categories into – Must Have, Should Have, Could Have and Won’t Have.Once the
classification is done into the 4 groups, the requirements are graded in order of preference within each
category.Another method of prioritization is the 100-Dollar Test or Cumulative Voting, in this method,
the stakeholders are invited for a prioritization meeting and to make a list of options to be prioritizedAll
the stakeholders are given a finite amount of virtual entities (dollars, points, etc) which has to be
divided among the given options (user stories, requirements, etc.) After that one can calculate the
total units for each requirementThere’s another model which is comparatively more simple and
effective – Stack RankingIn Stack Ranking we consider each backlog item and place it in order of
priorityThe best part of this method is there can only be one number one, hence, helps to avoid a
common issue where everything becomes a very high priority.

28What are the factors impacting the prioritization of a product backlog?

When the product backlog is being prioritized, there might be some factors which come in way of
doing it effectivelyTo list out some, first can be, the time needed for completion, though the item is on
high priority the development needs time to complete it and it is not fitting in a sprintIn this case, the
product owner has to grill out the most important part of the requirement to be shipped first.
Then we can have, Correlative or conditional relationship between urgently required tasks and other
tasksThere may be dependencies between the urgently required tasks and other tasks in the
pipelineThe team cannot deliver the prioritized requirement before resolving the
dependencies.Another one can be, timeframe given by customers for feedback is not enough for the
teams keeping in consideration the slippage.Even sometimes the customer emphasis is too much that
the product owner has to guide the customer on what market needs are and how to get maximum
return.Even the customers sometimes need direction to follow, this is where the product owner can
pitch in.

29Why quality is said to be frozen?

This is a frequently asked question in Product Owner interview questions.

In agile, we talk about the quality at all stages in contrast to the waterfall where attention to quality
was being given more towards in the beginning part of the SDLC rather than later on.We make sure
that in Agile, we have certain checkpoints to make sure whatever goes out, is as the quality
standard.And hence, we set the definition of done where we set the parameters on quality.
This definition of done is made as per the agreement between the team and the stakeholders and is
fixed for a sprint (at the minimum)The stories committed by the team can only be marked as complete
once it meets the criteria defined in the definition of doneIn the definition of done, the team can set
unit testing, code review, coverage, etc.as the parameters, if the team is working on accessibility, they
can add the criteria in terms of complianceHence, the quality is frozen at the initial level so that
whatever requirement is shipped, it should adhere to the set normsIn the same way, we can have a
quality backlog to be entering into the sprints with the help of definition of ready.

30How can a release plan help forecast the future?

When we have the data points from the historic velocity of the teams, we then can predict how much
they can deliver in the upcoming sprintsIn a release plan, we talk about the next three to six (or
whatever is the release schedule) which comprises of the sprints.With the help of the historic data can
align sprint with the numbers and subsequently can total out the effort the team can put in.
“The release plan helps you track the development from sprint to sprint, anticipate if the relevant
product backlog items can be delivered on time and budget (or how long it will take and how much it

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will cost), and to make the necessary adjustments, such as, reduce or remove a feature, or add a new
team member to the team.” – Roman Pichler.
If the teams’ average velocity is 30, we can say in the upcoming release which has six sprints, the
team can take up the work worth of 180 points.With the release planning, we can even tell ahead of
time what will be the dependencies which might crop with during the development phaseThe release
plan differs from organization to organization but the essential part of the planning of iterations.

31When is it okay to cancel a sprint?

Canceling a sprint usually happens when there is a drastic change in the priorities which means
something which was earlier measured as important has moved down in the priority list and something
with the critical priority has come upIf the requirements which were earlier considered as a high
priority have been marked as low, will automatically impact the committed items in a sprintHence
there is no point in continuing any furtherIt is actually not a good practice to cancel the sprint very
often because in this case, it implies that the stakeholders or the product owner do not have the clarity
on what exactly are they looking forThey are not able to prioritize the backlog and might need some
helpThere is a misconception that the sprint can only be canceled by the product owner, which is not
trueThe product owner can make a call to cancel the sprint but the other factors are also to be taken
into consideration.Once the sprint has been canceled, the first thing that the team will do is – Planning
for the new sprint.

32How would you characterize your role as a Product Owner? Are you a facilitator, a coach, a
manager, a visionary, a tactician, a coordinator, or a driver?

In the role of a product owner, only managing the backlog is not the only job, the product owner wears
different hats at different times to make this role a successProduct development encompasses tons of
discussions with clients, with the development teams and with the leadershipHaving a product owner
playing a facilitator comes into the picture to ensure the team has a collective outlook on what needs
to be done and getting the clients to have the right expectations on the output.
The product owner can be visionary for the teams and they look up to this role to provide the product
vision and help them stay focused to achieve it.For sure, the product owner drives the product for
successful delivery, he/she will ensure teams are pulling up the right work and coordinates with the
clients ensuring the alignment on the expected delivery.Being in a role of a product owner does not
only involve a comprehensive understanding of the product but it also demands the analytical,
strategic skills and needs to comprehend the company’s technology and interface with the
development team in order to successfully lead the approach for the product.

33What titles would you think suitable for your business card when you think of your role as a Product
Owner?

The product owners wear multiple hats in during their role, hence, there can be many titles which they
can write on their business card.As they are the owners of a business or the product, the best-suited
title can be similar to the highest ranks we have in an organization, like Product Captain, Business
Marshall, Product MagnateThe product owners create a vision for the team and help them walk the
path towards attaining the desired goal, hence, the title can even be a Visionary, Servant Leader or
Goal Keeper.
They are often aligned with the strategic design of the roadmaps which makes them a Strategic
Thinker or System Thinker.With the product development, the backlog over a period of time gets some
in innovative ideas from the product owner which are liked by the clients too, and even the team works
on them for launch, in such a case the title can be of an InnovatorThere can be several titles a product
owner can have on their business card, it all depends on how creatively a person can think of.

34Does a Product Owner have a veto over the release of user stories?

In scrum, the product owner is the face of the client or the customer, hence the person playing the role
will have the authority over the product being developedThe decision of what all will go into the
release and when it should go is taken the product owner.Yes, the product owner has the veto over the
release of user storiesThis applies to all the business requirements or defects being delivered.But the

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only thing which the product owner cannot decide is the technical debtIt is the developer who takes
the ownership and releases with the productThe release dates and the release candidates are pre-
decided the product owner well in advance so that the teams can get time to develop and deliverThe
product owner can accept or reject the user stories if they don’t meet the acceptance of the
expectations.

35 What are a few challenges with the Product Owner role?

As everyone in the agile teams, the Product Owner also has few challenges to tackle with, let’s talk
about a few of them:
Missing product roadmap - Product Owners should create a product roadmap based on
research, business standards, and best practices instead of constructing product features exclusively
from a client’s customization requests.
High-level acceptance criteria – The Product Owners should you INVEST model to create the
structureIf the story is too much detailed, the team will fell that their questions are settled and there
will be no room for discussion.
Spending too much time in dealing with product support instead of grooming the backlog
Changing priority while sprint is in progress
Product Owners can escape these usual snares by working around the product roadmap, centering on
high-value backlog items, defining crisp acceptance criteria, concentrating on grooming quality
backlog item, and avoiding disturbing sprints.

36Describe a typical work week for product owner position?

As per the Scrum guide “A Scrum Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product
resulting from the work of the Development Team." To meet this statement a product owner has to
participate in several activities, talk to the stakeholders, do research work, etcThe product owner has
to attend a meeting with the team which is planning or pre-planning or any of the scrum ceremoniesTo
make sure the product owner adding value to these meetings with his presence, he/she has to spend a
lot of time talking to various stakeholders and understand their problems and area of work.
They also capture the metrics related to the product backlog to understand the state and use for
reportingThey speak with UX designers or the Architect to identify how we can improve the system to
remove the customer pain area.During the course of the day, the teams contact the product owner to
clarify the doubts on requirements.Apart from this, there will be status update meetings for each
project.Along with all this, the product owner has to keep the backlog healthy and prioritized.

37What are the critical strengths of the Product Owner role?

As per the Scrum Guide “The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product
resulting from work of the Development Team”To meet this, the product owner has to have mastery in
many areas but only a few can be termed as critical because that is something which is a ‘must-have’
for this role.First, the product owner should have the ‘Business Analyst’ skill for concisely and correctly
defining requirements but also have the domain knowledge and business knowledge to be a decision-
maker to determine and prioritize what those requirements should be.Domain knowledge is the core
subject for any product owner to master in their area and also know the market and how the workflows
are one of the critical skills required.
Second, “Project Management” skills to make good risk-based decisions on managing the project to
make it successful from an overall business perspective (not simply meeting defined requirements)The
person opting for the product owner role has to strike a balance between these two provides the team
with the optimum work.

38What skills & competencies should a Product Owner demonstrate?

The role of a product owner demands a few basic skills like, good communication skills – this is the
most important skill as the product owner has to work with the delivery teams and with the
stakeholdersThis role serves as a bridge to fill up the communication gap, the Product Owner needs to
work with the clients to comprehend their idea and with the development team to bring it to actualityIf
they are not communicating efficiently, things can go crooked in no timeThe product owner should be
able to clearly communicate the vision between the backlog items and the greater business
goalHence, the person should be able to see the vision and how it aligns with the backlog.Another

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important skill entails around guiding the clients and setting their expectation correctSometimes, the
customers can demand something which might not be feasible, hence the product owner should be
able to say no.And lastly, they should possess curiosity, the person should be ready to learn and ask
‘why’ for things being developed or should be able to ask ‘why’ to the clients as wellThis way they can
understand the business rules better and can create a better vision of what the final product should
be.

39How much customer interaction is expected from a Product Owner? How is their interaction different
from Product Managers?

As discussed earlier as well, the product owner is the face of the customer, hence, it is really important
for the product owner to stay in constant contact to understand the vision better and take updates on
the productThe frequent interactions allow the product owner to stay up-to-date with feedback, market
situations or any change in the requirementThis not only helps the product owner but it also builds a
level of trust and confidence among the customersIn a few of the organizations, this interaction is
being handled by the product managers, thus, these two roles can fill in the gap wherever required.
The regular interactions also help in aligning the expectations from the customers, the product owner
can, from time to time, showcase the developed product and ask for the feedbackIn this manner, if
something was missed out in the initial discovery phase that can be catered nowIf we talk about
scrum, there are no product managers, but in agile, we have product managers sitting above the
product owners and looking at the product at a higher levelThe product managers are more into the
market side whereas the product owner’s involvement is more with the development team.

40Where is management support to product owner role & backing their decisions?

As we have been discussing, the role of a product owner is really critical and to make it successful, this
role requires support from all ends, like managementThe management can direct all the work for the
teams through the product owner so that the incoming of items is from a single channel, thus,
minimizing the haphazard behavior in teams.Backing the product owner to make acceptance decisions
during each sprintThe management can give feedback on product backlog content, priorities, and
dates with a clear purpose.Development Leadership can assist the Product Owner in helping key
stakeholders to understand and accept the need for making balanced choices on dates and/or feature
content steady with definite team capacity.Apart from this, the management can help through
coaching and skill-building activities so that the person in this role can enhance the competencies.

41What reporting structure should Product Owners follow?

Each organization is different and so is their structure.With an organization with a product

management group in place, the product owners can report to the product managers.But in an
organization which is just starting up the practice of Scrum might not have a full-fledged hierarchy in
Agile, hence, in this type of structure the product owners usually report to someone who is a level up
in position, it can be the senior manager or the directorIn case of SAFe environment, there is a proper
structure with product group in placeIdeally, the product owner reporting should be made in such a
way that they get full space on creating the vision, for innovationsIt should bring out the best from the
product owner role rather than diminishing its influenceThe organizations need to understand accept
the importance of this role, hence, the reporting structure should not hinder the product.

42What defines success for a product owner?

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The success of the product owner depends on how much invested the person in this role feels and
he/she understands the true meaning of being a product owner.But to measure the success, we can
define some parameters like:
Strength of Product Backlog – If the product backlog stays healthy with prioritized items and
has good user stories to worked upon by the teams.
Constant delivery of Value – Whatever the teams are delivering by the end of the sprints,
should be adding value to the clients.
Attaining of Release Goals – At the start of a release, whatever the items teams commit should
reach the end lineThe goals should be met.
Understanding of Product Vision by team members – The delivery team is able to understand
and comprehend the vision from the product owner, they should be able to understand why are they
creating the product, what value is it going to add to the customers.
Defining a successful Product Roadmap is again important for the realization of the release
goals.
Lastly, the customer is satisfied.
There can be many parameters to access the success of this role, every organization has its own set of
KPIs for it.But most importantly it should the collaboration between the product owner and the teams
plus the product owner and the customer.

43When do we need this distinction versus having a single PO for smaller product teams?

Very large products need a complete product management team to deliver the working product
through multiple teams, in this case, the product is divided into verticals which are being taken care of
by different product owners.But if the product is small and can be delivered by smaller teams, a single
product owner can sufficeIn this case, the Product Owner will act as a single point of contact and can
be the face of the client as compared to large products.
Single product owner with smaller teams have a high rate of efficiency and delivery due to clarity in
vision and goals, there is a lot of transparency among the scrum team and the stakeholdersIn a few
instances, the RPO may also act as team PO for one of the Scrum Teams with the help from other team
Product owners on other delivery TeamsHaving a product owner caters to multiple teams impacts the
team functioning as they have to wait for the availability of the PO, along with this even the product
owner has to ensure they are giving enough time to multiple teams.

44What is the value of technical product owner versus a business-focused product owner (and vice-
versa)?

The technical product owner is not a role but it describes a person in a Product Owner role with a
technical background and who works on a technology product.And business-focused product owners
are more towards the functional aspectIt is always good to have a product owner with technical
knowledge, they can understand the product and can create a strategy for successful delivery.Also, if
the Product Owner has the technical background, they can understand the technical blockers or
impediments and accordingly visualize the impact on the release.But technical knowledge is just good
to have, there is no expectation that the product owner should have it as an essential skillAlso having
a technical background doesn’t mean that they have to jump in the code or work around the
architectureIn the case of business-focused product owner, they totally rely on the development team
for all the technical discussion and decisionsThis helps the team to become self-organized, even the
Agile principle says “The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing
teams.Nowadays we have started noticing the openings for a technical product owner, wherein the
organization needs Product Owners to understand the company’s technology at a deep level.

45.
If a product has a single PO are they also the RPO?

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Yes, if there is a single PO, can also take care of the RPO role, which is Release Product Owner.As there
is only one person taking up the responsibility, the product owner will perform the duties towards the
scrum team and also towards a higher role, let us see what an RPO does and what are the essential
responsibilities:
Creating a clear statement of vision, direction, release purpose and goals
Managing overall Product Backlog and publishing the Product Backlog so that the teams can
pull the work items in their release commitment.
The features should be mapped with product roadmap to make sure the end result builds up as
expected.
Once the initial set of requirements are up, talk to the stakeholder and get their buy-in on
Product Backlog
Prioritization of Product Backlog and keeping it healthy throughout.
Prepare appropriate Product Backlog to drive release planning
Working on getting the ongoing release plan forecasting maybe for six months or a years’ time
(as per the organization and client delivery expectations)
Deployment & release readiness checklist
Market launch split out to Product Management

46Who is responsible for staffing the Product Owner role?

When the organizations open the position of a product owner, it is the product management team who
helps the recruitment team in getting the right candidateThey access the candidate on their domain
knowledge and analytical skillsThe candidate might even be required to go through where he or she
can meet their cross-location counterpartIf the organization does not have a set product management
team, the senior management can come into the picture and work with the recruitment team to get
the best candidateIn some rare cases, where the teams are very mature, they themselves can be a
part of getting their own product owner.As we have been discussing so far, every organization is
different and so is their structure, it all depends on how they function.But majorly, the person who has
good domain expertise and knows how to judge the other essential skills should be made to access the
candidate.

47Who should Product Owners report to?

Every organization is different, they have their own hierarchyScrum does not provide any ground rule
on the reporting structure for the product ownerIn large organizations where the product is fairly big,
they have product managers at the highest level, who are the main owners of the product.At the team
level, they have product owners who constantly stay in touch with the product managersIn this case,
the product owners will be reporting to the product managers.But as stated before, there is no set
criteria or hierarchy being followed at the organizationsSome even align the associates as per their
position eGProduct owner at the lead level will report to someone at the manager level.
“As a Product Owner, your job is not to manage 'resources' or 'tasks'.Your job is to maximize the value
of your product! To create those features that deliver the most value for the products' users! In order
to maximize the value of your product, you don't have to manage stuff like tasks, what people do on a
daily basis, what the progress of the team is in a Sprint.”- Scrum.org

48.
Product Owners belongs to which area?

Every role in Scrum is aligned to an area, like the development team takes care of the technicalities,
code, quality, etcIn the same way the scrum master helps the team to deliver and stay focused in the
same way the product owner has to take care of the business sideThis role focuses on the business
aspect, and hence connects with the stakeholders to define the exact requirements and passes on to

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the team for developmentThey have to understand the business, how it functions and how the market
situation isTherefore, it is all about the business, a product owner belongs to.

49Can a person be PO for multiple products?

As the name suggests, the Product Owner is the owner of the single productThe product owner focuses
on the given product by constantly being in touch with the customers and through the expertise in the
market understanding.Aligning a PO for multiple projects will impact the quality of deliverable and it
will also affect the individual playing the role of a PO.
The focus gets divided, the time also gets broken down between different parties which in turn creates
a mess for the product ownerIt is not advisable to align one product owner with multiple projects as it
also affects the strategy and timeline for the projectIt is like asking an author to write two books at the
same time, it is difficult to justify the efforts and we end up with chaosIt is difficult to multi-task,
manage multiple stakeholders, manage his/her throughput of deliverables across products, prioritize
the tasks across product teams, etcThough few of the organizations are aligning their Product Owners
to more than one product, again, it then depends on their ability to deliver the right thing.

50Handling “Part Time Product Owners”?

The product owner role has a large number of responsibilities, which can be broken down into tasks
that can actually keep the product owner-occupied for full-timeIdeally, it is not advisable to have a
product owner is not available for the team half of the time.But in cases where they have a Part-Time
product owner, they have to support a lotThere will be a few tasks which the team has to take over,
like brainstorming alone as a team without the product owner and coming up with the queries.
They might even have to do follow-ups which could have been taken care if they had a full-time
product ownerPart-time product owner also becomes a challenge as the timely feedback from the
client might not be possible all the timeIn such cases, the team can take help from the BA (Business
analyst) who can work as a proxy to help the team move forwardThe BA can connect a regular interval
to seek guidance from the Product owner.Usually, in cases where the teams do not have their product
owner co-located, they take support from the BAs.

51How to maximize the value of the Development Team’s work?

The Product owner can very well increase the value the team delivers.Continuous interaction is one of
the factors that contribute to maximum value being delivered.Other factors can be –
Domain Training – Investing time in teaching the development team about the domain, helping
them understand the business and how it works.
Vision – Taking out time explain the vision for the product and the organization.
Value Delivery – Making the team understand the value being delivered at the story levelHow
the story can impact the overall product? How can the team deliver the highest value item? As a
product owner, you should have these discussions with the team.
These not only encourages the team and helps them own the product but it also helps the overall
business.

52.
Is Product Owner a job title or a role that someone with an existing job title fills?

“Teams need to understand who does what and how the various work fits togetherThis becomes even
more important as companies grow.” - Brian de Haaff.
The product owner role is really critical in an organization as it helps in translating the requirements to
final products.As we have been discussing so far, it is a full-time job which requires constant

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collaboration with the clients, pulling up the feedbacks, working on the backlogs, helping the teams,
etc.But if someone with an existing job title tries to fill in, he or she will not be able to justify the role
and in turn, the product and the team suffers.
There might be delays in the feedback loops, the vision and roadmap might not get clear to the team,
even the backlog suffers as it requires continuous attentionIt is not advisable to take someone with
already a title to play this roleThe organizations need to focus on quality and time to market to stay
up-to-date, hence, a person with dual role might not be able to substantiate such expectation from the
role.Also, it will impede his or her efficiency in their former roleThough, in very small organizations
where the team size is small and the teams are directly interacting with the clients, in those cases, this
dual role can work.

53How many Scrum teams would we expect a full-time Product Owner to handle?

In Agile, there is no rule on the ratio of the product owner and the scrum teams.A product owner is
aligned with a single product and this person takes care of keeping it healthyIt might be a possibility
that multiple teams are aligned to deliver that product, in this case, it will be overwhelming for the
product owner to take care of all the teams, answering their queries, sitting in their planning meetings,
etc.
In real-life scenarios, we try to align maximum of 3 – 4 teams per product owner, if it exceeds the
number, one can have proxy product owners who can indirectly help the main product owner to
manage the product and teams.With proxy product owners, there will be a need for coordination and
alignment.All the proxy owner will need to stay in sync with the main product owner so as to achieve
the desired resultsThough it is encouraged to have a single Product Backlog and a single PO being
responsible for return-on-investment when developing one productHaving a single Product Owner
creates transparency and enables proper empiricismIt also depends on the size of the product, if it is
too large, it should be broken down further to create sub-products and those should be aligned with
different product owners.

54Handling “Distant Product Owners”?

“A distant product owner works separately from the team.But distance comes in many forms and
degreesIt starts with working on the same site in different rooms, and it ends with the product owner
and the team being separated across continents and time zonesI have found recurring issues with
distant product owners, including mistrust, miscommunication, misalignment, and slow progress.” –
Roman Pichler
To work with a distant product owner, the team has to stay in constant communication to avoid any
gaps in the information being processed.Distant product owners should be on-site at least for the
sprint planning, review, and retrospective meetingsThey should have frequent video conferencing to
help with face-to-face interactions, this not only instills confidence but also helps with getting the right
product shippedThe teams having ‘Distant Product Owners’ should resolve their queries as and when
they receive because any lag will cost them time in a sprintIt is always better to move from Distant to
Co-located product owner as they are available runtime to answer the queries and help the teams
follow the goal.

55 What are the qualifications to become a Product Owner?

To become a product owner, there are no formal degrees that are being awarded but we do have
certifications which an individual can go forThere are multiple platforms providing knowledge and
certifications such as Scrum Alliance, Scrum.org or ScaledAgileThere are different levels of certification
starting from basic to advanced.Each of them designed to cater to certain needs of the individualThe
scrum.org provides Professional Scrum Product Owner I and Professional Scrum Product Owner 2If you
are working on a scaled environment, you can opt for SAFe® Product Owner/Product Manager
certificationThe training is of two days, during which the attendees will get an in-depth understanding

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of the Agile Release Train (ART), how it delivers value, and what they can do to effectively perform
their role.Even though an individual acquires the certification still the in-built skills are the foundation
of being a great product owner.

56What are the skills we need in a Product Owner? Must those skills be in one person?

Every role demands some skills to meet the expectations of the positionIn Agile, the role of a product
owner is very important to keep the inputs and outputs up to the mark.Few of the essential skills to be
competent product owners are:
1. Communication - It is predominantly critical for the Product Owner to have good
communication skills that can adapt to different teams and behavior typesThe Product Owner needs to
work with the business to understand their vision and the development team to bring it to reality.
2. Commitment - The Product Owner should be committed to the project, vision, team and the
business.
3. Vision - In connection with communication, the Product Owner should clearly communicate the
vision between the small backlog items and the larger business goal.
4. Focus on functionality - A Product Owner has a focus on functionality, hours or even story
points are less importantThe goal of the Product Owner is to maximize value for the customer.
5. Available - A Product Owner is available for the stakeholders, the customers, the development
team and the Scrum Master.
People skills are a must, relationship building, conflict management, client relationship management,
vision, understanding requirements, clearly communicating the requirements to the team, and other
skills are neededThese are many of the responsibilities/skills that POs must have to be successful.Yes,
all the critical skills required to be a product owner should be in a single person.

57Can you act as a credible Product Owner if you’re not in control of the product backlog?

One has to have control over the product backlog to be a credible product ownerThe primary and
critical responsibility of the product owner is to keep the backlog healthy and updated with prioritized
requirementsIf the product owner has no control then the team will not get the right direction on what
is to be developedThey will not understand the vision and goals of the productEven it will impact the
customers very hard, as they will not get what they expect to.No control also means anyone can add
or edit the requirements which might or might not be in sync with the customerThe backlog will look
like a bunch of random things thrown together.One cannot see the product development strategy
behind the Product Backlog Items which gain is a big risk to the developmentThe product backlog is
the backbone for any scrum team, if it goes out of shape, the team and the customer will not get any
output from the efforts they are putting inThe Product Backlog eventually outlines the accomplishment
of the product and assists as a master plan for the Scrum Team.

58During the review, suppose the product owner or stakeholder does not agree to the feature you
implemented what would you do?

It is not always possible that the product owner agrees to what the team has developedIf the team has
delivered the story/feature as per the acceptance criteria mentioned and has covered all the scenarios
around that feature, then we can ask the product owner to accept the story/feature and anything
which is not covered will be taken up in the new feature or a new story.But in the case where the
product owner is not agreeing to the feature you delivered and it was part of the acceptance criteria
then the product owner has all the rights to not accept the itemIn this case, the team can take this up
as the retrospective point as to where they missed, how it got shaped in a different wayThe team
should introspect what went well and how can they make it betterThey should again set up a meeting
with the product owner to get a clear understanding of the requirements so that they do not deviate
from what is expected.

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59What kind of information would you require from the Product Owner to provide the team with an
update on the product and market situation?

A common question in Product Owner interview questions for experienced, don't miss this one.
One of the primary responsibilities of the product owner is to make the team aware of the market
demands and how the priorities get realigned due to market situationsThe product owner provides a
clear vision and sprint goals to the team to help them stay updated with the productIf there is any
change in the backlog with respect to new requirements or priorities, it should be communicated to the
teamsThis helps the team to understand the bigger picture and what exactly is expected from them at
that moment.
The team even feels connected and understands their role criticallyIt ensures that the team is building
the right product and consequently delivering the ROI anticipatedThere might be cases where the
backlog aligned for a sprint gets scraped off just because it is no longer required due to a fragile
market situation, in this case, the product owner can terminate the sprintThe product owner is the
voice of the outside world to the team and should ensure that all channels of communication are open
and the team is very well understanding the market situation.

1As a product owner, what are the typical activities done by you?

This is a frequently asked question in Product Owner interview questions.

This would be one of the initial questions, which will help interviewee to open up and also will give
interviewer the opportunity to understand the exposure of the candidate.
The answer will vary a bit from candidate to candidate but will typically will be: Sprint Planning, Sprint
Review, Sprint Retrospective, and GroomingIf the PO says Daily Scrum (Daily Standup), ask what he
does thereIt is ok for PO to attend daily scrum, but he just needs to be an observer there and should
not speak.

2.Are you part of story grooming / User story splitting and estimation discussion?
YesPO helps the team in understanding the user story which will help them in right user story splitting
and correct estimation.While PO will act as an SME for User story point of view, he will help team to
understand it better, he will NOT give or suggest story points in User story estimation.

3.Can Product Owner and Scrum Master be the same person?

NoProduct Owner and Scrum Master are two separate roles and mixing them can have a very negative
effect on the development process.Both role requires 100% involvement.One person will not be able to
fulfil all his responsibilities in 100 %Scrum Master sometimes needs to act as a mediator between the
development team and PO when their goals start to divergeIn such case, if the same person is acting
as both, there will be a conflict of interest.

4How do you prioritize your Product backlog items ?

Expect to come across this popular question in interview questions for Product Owner.
Typical answer will be MoSCoW – Mo (Must be), S(Should be), Co(Could be), W(Won’t be).But a good
and experienced PO will also talk about other techniques such as WSJF.

5.What are the characteristics of a good Product Backlog Item?

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 A good product backlog item should be DEEP – D (Detailed appropriately), E (Estimated), E
(Emergent), P (Prioritized).

6.
In Product Backlog Refinement meeting, do we focus on items of upcoming sprints or the current
sprints?

A must-know for anyone heading into a Product Owner interview, this question is frequently asked in
Product Owner interview questions.
Product backlog refinement meeting is for the upcoming sprintThe Items in the current Sprint are no
longer on the Product BacklogThey are in the Sprint Backlog.

7.As a Product Owner, do you write user stories and give it to development team.
No.A Product owner gives a big user story to the development teamIt is the team that discusses it
further and splits it.

8.What are the characteristics of good user story?

A good user story should be Independent (I), Negotiable (N), Valuable (V), Estimable (E), Small (S),
Testable (T)In short – INVEST.

9During User story splitting and estimation, you find that Development team is struggling to do
so.What will you do?

It's no surprise that this one pops up often in interview questions for a Product OwnerAs a Product
owner, I will see if there is any challenge in understanding the large user story given by me or in
understanding the business requirementI will discuss and with them and will answer those
queriesHowever, if the issue is because of an incorrect splitting technique, I will inform Scrum Master
to facilitate it further and plan for any grooming or training session.

10.What is ‘Definition of Done’? Who creates itDefinition of Done (DoD) is the shared understanding of
what “Done” means for a user storyIt is a simple list of activities such as writing code, coding
comments, unit testing, integration testing, release notes, design documents, etc.
The Development team creates DoD

11.What is acceptance criteria? Who sets it?

Acceptance Criteria is a set of accepted conditions or business rules which the user story or feature
should satisfy and meet, to be accepted by the Product ownerThey are a set of statements, each with
a clear pass/fail result, that specify both functional and non-functional requirements applicable at the
current stage of project integration.
The Product owner sets the acceptance criteria.

12Is Definition of Done is same as Definition of Ready?

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NoDefinition of Done (DoD) is a simple list of activities such as writing code, coding comments, unit
testing, integration testing, release notes, design documents, etcDefinition of Ready (DoR) is a sort of
criteria or at times checklist that determine whether a story is “Ready” to be picked it for next sprint.

13.Can the same person be Product owner for multiple scrum teams?
As long as it’s the same product on which different teams are working and the product owner can give
sufficient time to each of the team, is it acceptable.

14Can there be more than one PO for in a scrum team ?

A common question in Product Owner interview questions, don't miss this one.
No.A team should not have more than one PO or a committee of product owner acting as a POPO is
someone who steers the scrum team towards the product vision and goalHaving more than one PO will
create confusion and issues of alignment of development team with the product.

15How does Burn Down charts help a Product Owner track the progress of a Sprint ?
Burn-down chart is a graphical representation of work left to do versus timeThe outstanding work (or
backlog) is often on the vertical axis, with time along the horizontalThat is, it is a run chart of
outstanding workIt is useful for predicting when all of the work will be completed

16.As a product owner, can you decide to cancel a sprint?

YesIt’s only the product owner who has the authority to cancel the sprintHowever, this should be in
consultation with business stake holders and development team.

17.What would happen to the “Done” Product Backlog items when the Sprint is cancelled?
In case the sprint is cancelled, any ‘Done’ product backlog item should be reviewedIf they are
potentially releasable, product owner will accept it.

18What should be done to sprint backlog item which could not be completed till the end of sprint?

One of the most frequently posed Product Owner job interview questions, be ready for it.
Sprint backlog item which could not be completed during the sprint as per DoD, will not be
demonstrated during sprint review.Extending it to next sprint might not be good idea.Rather than
extending it to next sprint, the right approach is to move it to product backlog and then re-evaluate, if
it should be picked for next sprint.

19Does a Product Owner needs to be a technical or techno-functional person ?

There is nothing wrong in a Product Owner coming from a technical background, but a PO should never
be part of the development team.Also, a PO coming from technical background should practise restrain
and should not act as a technical SME during story splitting etc.

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20.Your development team is repeatedly failing to fulfil the sprint commitment.As a product Owner,
what can you do?
It is very important for Product Owner to look and understand the reason for development team failing
the sprint commitmentThere might be multiple reason for thatIt might be because of incorrect
estimation or over commitmentIt might be because of lack of trust and collaboration in the teamIt
might be because of not understanding the user story and not slicing it correctly.A PO needs to
identify it and based on it, needs to work with the development team and Scrum master to find the
solution.

21.As a product owner, is it your responsibility to track or measure the performance of your project?
Yes.While development team is one who measures sprint performance, it’s the product owner, who
measures project performance.

22.Does your Agile project has proxy product owner ? If yes, how is he different than a Product Owner?
In practise, distributed agile projects , especially those working on on-shore/off-shore model has a
proxy product ownerProxy product owner acts as local product owner to answer to development team
questionsThey do not own the product backlog but helps the product owner in managing and
maintaining it.

23.Who sets sprint goal ?

Product owner.Defining sprint goal or objective is one of the most important goal of product owner.

24.According to you, what are the qualities or characteristics of a good product owner ?
A good product owner is someone who should be
1. Available and engaged with the team.
2. Have good knowledge or product and domain.
3. Good at communication.
4. Empowered to take decisions related to the product.

25 What is a Product increment?

A staple in Product Owner interview questions, be prepared to answer this oneA product increment is
the cumulative sum of all the PBIs completed during the sprint and the value of the increments of all
previous sprints.

26As a product owner, you feel that the team is estimating most of the user stories to the upper
maximum limit and creating lot of paddingThis results into very less throughput and practically,
estimation losing its importance, As a Product Owner, what will you do ?

Since a product owner is part of estimation meeting, for larger stories, he may try to explain it to the
development team to ensure that they have understood it correctly and have sliced it properlyIf still he
finds a challenge, he could further discuss it with Scrum masterThe SM can coach the team further.

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27Tell me about your favourite product you used this morning.Why is it a good product?
There cannot be a fix answer to this question.What interviewee will be looking for is that the product
owner should talk about design, functionality and usefulness of the product and should clearly
articulate it.Also, the interviewer will give some point on the creativity of the product being picked.

28.One of the Agile value is ‘Working software over comprehensive documentation”.Your team seems
to live with it.While they create a world class product, they are reluctant to documentThis results into
many practical challenges.As a product owner, how do you deal with itAgile manifesto uses the term
‘Over’, which means a higher preference to working software, it does not say that we do not need any
documentation in agileThis means one should do the necessary documentation to support the
development and use of the product.An open discussion explaining the development team about it
with involvement of Scrum master would help.

29How is PO and SM collaboration important? How do you collaborate with scrum master?

The role of PO and SM has some overlaps and a good coordination between the two is key to a
successful scrum teamScrum Master facilitates activities like backlog grooming, Scrum master
communicates the outcome of sprint retrospective to Product owner so that next sprint could be
improvedSince Scrum master works closely with scrum team, he also helps the product owner to
overcome any teaming challenge within development teamIn general, the role of SM and PO
complements each other.

30.When it comes to creating design of a product, agile focuses on doing design early in the
project.What does that mean?
Early design in Agile means creating just enough design up front to give a good foundation to start
from and helps to mitigate risk, without wasting unnecessarily time.As the product evolves, the design
emerges.

1What do you mean by “Product”?

A ‘product’ is a tangible/non-tangible item created to produce specific value for a group of customers
and to the organization that provides it.A product can be anything, it can even be an idea.From that, a
spoon would be a productThe Facebook application would be a product.Agile consulting services would
be a product.A painting would be a product.A product can be something physical (the spoon)It can be
a digital product (Facebook application, an e-book or online videos)It also can be a service
(consulting).As stated by Mike Cohn – “Products Can Be Defined Recursively” which means a product
can exist within another product.Another important thing to note is, the product should deliver some
value to the customer.Even the smallest entities in the product (sub-product) should be beneficial to
the market.

2What is a Scrum framework?

Scrum is an iterative and incremental way of delivering value to the customers in a time-boxed
mannerIt is a simple framework for effective team collaboration on complex productsJeff Sutherland,
together with Ken Schwaber created Scrum as a formal process at OOPSLA'95Scrum is a very
lightweight model and easy to understand the model for any team but though it is easy to understand
it is really difficult to master.

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The foundation of scrum lies in its values which are Courage, Focus, Commitment, Respect, and
Openness, any team opting for scrum should be open to adopting these values to make the team
successful.As mentioned earlier, scrum is really lightweight and it does not prescribe much of
hierarchy or embedded roles, it just talks about three(3) basic roles – The Product Owner, The Scrum
Master, and the Scrum Team, that it! Scrum Teams are self-organizing and cross-functionalSelf-
organizing teams select how best to achieve their work, rather than being directed by others outside
the team.Cross-functional teams have all capabilities desirable to achieve the work without depending
on others not part of the team.As per the survey by Version 1, scrum is the most widely used
framework across the globe, isn’t it interesting!!

3How are traditional requirements different from User Stories?

Before talking about the traditional requirements, let’s understand what a user story is.Nowadays, if
you are in an agile organization, everyone would be talking in terms of user stories.
User stories are short descriptions of functionality told from the user’s perspective where the focus is
on why and howThe user story concentrates on the experience — what the person using the product
wants to be able to do.A traditional requirement concentrates on functionality — what the product
should do, it talks more in terms of the ability of a productTraditional requirements documents go into
excessive detail on how an area of software should be designedThey typically provide instructions to
the software team on how to build it.Requirements documents often contain things like executive
summaries, scope, risks, and moreIn contrast to the traditional requirements, a user story is a much
simple with acceptance criteria to define the completion.Also, a user story talks about what exactly is
the user’s need at the very lowest level of implementation.

4Where are the customer requirements stored?

All the requirements generated from a customer needs are stored a Product Backlog.Whenever a
requirement is received, it is first placed in the product backlog, the business owner or the product
owner can then prioritize the items as per the market and customers’ needsIt is a kind of a bucket
which accumulates all the necessary items to deliver a complete productThere are several ways to
create a product backlog, some use manual charts, others use excel or the tools available supporting
Agile such as Rally, Version 1, etc.One should always remember, the product backlog is not a
substitute for a requirements specification. Any feedback from the customer during the demo or and
the grooming call should be captured and logged in the product backlogThis way it makes sure nothing
gets missed, even if it is a low priority item.

5 What is a Definition of Ready and what are its components?

A staple in Product Owner interview questions, be prepared to answer this one.

The product backlog consists of a wide variety of items such as – new requirements, enhancements,
bug fixes, refactoring stories, etc., but making sure the items are in a state for a team to commit is
really importantTo elaborate more, the items which the team commits in a sprint should meet a few
criteria to make sure it has everything required to work upon it.
The definition of Ready is an agreement between the team and the product owner where the backlog
items have to pass through a few agreed points to mark it as ready.For Example, Definition of Ready
for a story will have User Story defined, User Story dependencies identified, User Story sized by the
delivery team, performance criteria identified, no open questions, the team has a good idea what it will
mean to Demo the User Story.
In the same way, we can have the definition of ready for the features as well.Although, the
components might differ from product to productThis shared definition then allows the team to discard
the stories that don’t have clearly defined acceptance criteriaIt will save a lot of time if each user story
meets Definition of Ready before the Sprint Planning meeting.

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6Who owns the product backlog and prioritization?

The product backlog is owned by the product owner, it is one of the roles in a scrum team and is
aligned completely to the productPer scrum guidelines, the product owner is responsible for
maintaining the product backlog.But that doesn't mean Product Owner is only the input source for the
product backlogAny stakeholders (Business analyst/Tech architect/software
architect/tester/developer/customer) in the organization/project can contribute to the product
catalog.But Product owner has the ultimate responsibility for prioritizing them (with or without
Development Team)It is the responsibility of the product owner to capture and add anything and
everything into the backlog.Also, the product owner will make sure that the items in the backlog reflect
the prioritization as the market needsThe item delivering the highest value should be at the topThere
are several ways a product owner can use to prioritize the backlog such as – Ranking, Moscow, and
Hundred Dollar method, etc., the goal is to keep the backlog healthy and prioritized.You can even say
that the product owner is the mini CEO for his own area.

7What is the Release Burndown Chart?

A Release Burndown Chart is one of the information radiators for an agile project team and is a way for
the team to clearly see what is happening and how progress is being made during each sprintThe
release burndown chart has sprints or timeline on the X-axis and the story points on the Y-axisJust by
the glance of the chart, you can tell exactly how the release is goingIt captures how much scope has
been increased during the course of a release, it also gives us the insight into the stories getting
acceptance on time from the PO or the stakeholders.With the help of this chart, we can even identify if
there are any risks to the delivery in the said amount of timeIt is majorly used by the product team,
management and sometimes the stakeholders to assess the delivery of the releaseIt is an important
chart when we work with business owners as it also gives the view of items which might creep out of
the boundaries.

8Why there is no project manager and no agile product manager?

It’s true that Scrum doesn’t define any project manager or agile product manager role, it only
mentions three roles – development team, scrum master and the product owner.Each of them has
their own boundaries and responsibilities.But, even before the delivery team starts working on the
product, there is a lot to do like, team formation, procurement, risk management, etcThese are not
mentioned in any of the three roles definedSo yes, even in agile development, we do have a project
manager who takes care of all these things and ensures smooth startup of the teams.Even
scaledagileframework.com talks about the evolving role of managers in Lean-Agile development.Like
the project manager, the agile product manager role also exists, it is the same as the usual product
owner role, and it is just how you want to address itThe role and responsibilities are the same because
it’s just another name for a product owner.

9What is the relationship between vision and product roadmap?

Vision is a sort of a goal you see for your organization, the product or even for yourself.“Vision is
knowing who you are, where you’re going and what will guide your journey.”– Ken Blanchard and Jesse
StonerThus, there are three elements which constitute a vision on a broader level, the purpose, the
picture, and the values.Connecting the vision to our topic today, we will talk specifically about the
product vision.For any product, it’s really important to understand why we are building it, what
purpose will it serve to the customer or the client.
Next comes the picture where we see how the end result should look like and lastly what value will it
deliverThe vision statement can be just a few lines and it is not going to be very elaborative or

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prescriptiveTo achieve this vision, a roadmap is created, it is a powerful means to define how a
product is likely to grow, to align the stakeholders, and to procure a budget for developing the product
and it is also a visual summary that maps out the vision and direction of the product offering over
timeIt outlines goals, milestones, and deliverables for a product in development.

10What are the different estimation levels in Scrum?

This question is a regular feature in Product Owner interview, be ready to tackle itEstimation plays an
important role when we talk about the product backlog.Estimating is about creating a shared
understanding of the requirements, and a shared understanding of the solution.When teams have
problems estimating, it’s almost never an estimating problem, it’s a shared understanding
problem.Estimation can be done at two levels:
Product Backlog level – Estimation at the product backlog level helps the team to predict much
can they deliver in said time, it can be a release of three months or six months or as per the product
needIt also helps the product owner in making prioritization decisions.Another purpose to estimate
items on the product backlog is that team members become more well-informed about the detail by
thinking about it enough to estimate it.
Sprint backlog level – Estimating at the sprint backlog level helps the teams to understand how
much work they can pull into a sprintThe estimates at the sprint level are more precise which
increases the possibility of the team completing all they say they willIn addition to it, this also helps
the team to better synchronize their workWhen the team estimates at the product backlog level, it
gives a rough or a high-level estimate, this gets further refined when they estimate at the sprint level.

11What is the difference between estimating and committing?

When the agile team works on the product backlog, they break it down into chunks and align them into
a roadmap for the delivery, during this process, they also estimate the product backlog which gives
them the visibility on its completion, the functional approach, and complexity.Estimates tell at the high
level of what it takes to deliver the item.Commitment, on the other hand, is the promise from a team
assuring the delivery of items taken in a sprint or in a release.During the sprint planning meeting, the
team pulls in some items as per the collective capacity and makes a commitment to the product owner
or the stakeholders for its delivery in a time-boxed mannerBoth estimating and committing are
important activities in the scrum but they serve totally different purposes.Estimates are never a
commitment from the team.An estimate is our best guess for what can be achieved and by when.One
should always remember - Committing does not guarantee the delivery of items, there might be
situations where the team gets stuck because of some very valid and reasonable impedimentThere are
several ways a team can estimate the backlog.

12What are the methods of keeping a healthy backlog?

To start with any project, there is a need to have a backlog, it might not be perfect but at least it
provides a starting point for the teamsThere are challenges if we don’t have a proper backlog, which
can be, backlog consisting of very big items or sometimes the items do not define the exact
deliverable and miss on the detailsHence, there is a need to keep it healthy, so that it can be used by
the teams to openly see what is next, what it can be worked upon, and what they have to plan for the
futureA healthy backlog has 1–2 sprints of work ready to go for the team to work on which should
include tech debt, bugs, and new feature workThe backlog should be visible to all the team members
and everyone in the team should be encouraged to contribute so that nothing gets missed, like, new
additions the team feels can add value to the client or any tools the team wants to replace to increase
productivity and capability.Most importantly, a healthy product backlog is regularly ordered and
prioritizedThe product owner has to keep the pile of items in a ready state which can be defined under
the definition of ready.
13How is backlog grooming done?

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The backlog grooming is intended for making sure that the team has the backlog which is relevant,
detailed and estimated to a degree appropriate with their priorityIn the backlog grooming meeting, the
scrum team sits together to discuss the items from the product backlog and this meeting is done on a
regular basis to keep the backlog healthy and up-to-date.
They pull the items as per the priority order and refine them with rigorous discussion and
brainstormingThey even talk about the blockers that might come up in their way and also the
dependencies, whether it is upstream or downstreamIn the backlog grooming the team takes up an
item from the backlog and discuss how they can work upon it, they even talk about the ways of
implementationThis meeting gives the team the time they need to understand new stories before
estimating and working additionally providing time to optimize the designIt also helps in streamlining
the planning meeting by saving the hours the team would have spent.By devoting time to backlog
upkeep, the team safeguards that this preliminary planning occurs prior to the sprint planning
meeting.
14What is the importance and benefits of prioritizing the product backlog?

The Product Backlog is the master list of all functionality desired in the product in a prioritized
order.Backlog prioritization is required to organize the product backlog items (user story/Defects/Spike
etc) to make the sequence of its development and deploymentPrioritization leads the team’s work by
concentrating the team on the most important itemsIt also freezes the backlog contents gradually.
The product backlog items are detailed according to their priorityThis constructs flexibility into the
process and allows deferring decisions about the lower-priority items, buying the Scrum team more
time to assess options, collect feedback from customers, and obtain more knowledgeThis eventually
results in better results and a better product.Few of the business benefits of prioritization includes –
Faster return of investment, better management of dependencies, minimizing risks and focus on value-
driven developmentPrioritization not only helps the business but also the teams – They can do
effective grooming by saving the time of selection, better visibility to pick up stories within the current
scopeThe team can pick up the first few items from the prioritized list to discuss and work upon, in this
way a lot of confusion is eased out on what needs to be worked upon.
15 What is the goal of release management?

The main goal of release management is creating value to the customerThe deployment of releases
into production and the establishment of effective use of the service are the goals of release and
deployment management processTo meet this requirement, they create a clear and comprehensive
release and deployment management planThis helps the customer and the teams to align their
activities, the release management team chalks out the dates which is then targeted by the teams.
The release management team is also involved in building, installing, testing and deploying release
packages efficiently and successfully as per the schedule.During all this, the release management
team also makes sure that there is a minimal unpredicted impact on the production services and
above all, they ensure that the customer or the users are satisfiedThe definitive goal of service
management is meeting and even exceeding customer expectations and ensuring customer
satisfaction in service delivery.
16What does it mean when we say “planning is adaptive, iterative, and collaborative”?

The Product Owner has to understand that planning is adaptive, iterative, and collaborative which
means, planning takes place at different levels in Scrum:
Product, release, sprint, and day.Each level has some output which gets as an input for the next
level.When we talk of planning in Scrum, it is more dynamic and change as more information about the
customer needs and the product being developed becomes availableThe product gets build over every
iteration, at the end of every sprint, there is an increment which gets added to the productThe team
plans for each iteration in a release with the collaboration of the product owner and the stakeholders.
The release planning activities are carried out by the Scrum team often with the help of stakeholders,
for instance, in the sprint review meeting, the team presents the backlog they have worked upon and
take the acceptance from the product ownerIf there is any feedback on the items, it will be added in
the product backlog and later would be prioritized by the product ownerThe product owner ensures
that the necessary release management activities take placeIt is more of a collaboration among the
product owner and the teams which results in the success of the product.

17Explain the concept of technical debt.

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The term technical debt was coined by Ward Cunningham and mentioned that some problems with
code are like financial debt.As per Ward “With borrowed money, you can do something sooner than
you might otherwise, but until you pay back that money you will pay interest”Technical Debt is
something where you are required to do refactoring or improvement related to the source code and its
architectureFactors adding up to technical debts cab be issues related to architecture, structure,
duplication, test coverage, comments and documentation, potential bugs, complexity, code smells,
coding practices and style.All these types of issues incur technical debt because they have a negative
impact on productivity.Any compromise with the quality during the development lifecycle leads to
technical debts, the software becomes fragile and expensive to extend and maintain.With the
evolution of agile, we have witnessed a gradual decrease in the amount of technical debt and this was
feasible because now we follow shorter cycles and frequent software updates require high quality,
hence, the chances of piled up issues lowerAs per Atlassian “Technical debt is the difference between
what was promised and what was actually deliveredPreventing technical debt is what allows
development to be agile in the long run.”
18Why do we say software should be released early and frequently?

Early and frequent delivery not only helps the team but also the customers.When we start working in
iterations, there is an increment that gets added to the product, this increment is always (most of the
cases) the highest priority item as expected by the customersSo, every time the customer gets the
finished work which they have been seeking as critical or something which was highly desired.
Short iterations also give the customers the time they need to shift the priorities and align the
requirements as per the market needs.On the contrary, the team also gets positive notes while
working with software development in short cycles, which is early feedbackThey get the feedback as
and when they reach out to the customers with some finished itemsSometimes, during the demo the
customers get to see what exactly has come out of the requirements shared by them, accordingly,
they tweak and provide feedback which is then converted into a story and taken up by the teamsThe
early and frequent release also ensures that the scope of change will be small as compared to
releasing something bigHere, every release (“iteration”) has a specification, development and testing
phaseThis means that every couple of weeks the software is fully usable, although it may have very
few features at the start.

19What do you understand by velocity and how to measure it?

“Velocity is a measure of the amount of work a Team can tackle during a single Sprint and is the key
metric in Scrum.Velocity is calculated at the end of the Sprint by totaling the Points for all fully
completed User Stories.” – Scrum Inc
Velocity is a simple but powerful method for accurately measuring the rate at which the scrum
development teams consistently deliver business value.Velocity is measured in the same units as
feature estimates, whether this is story points, days, ideal days, or hours that the Scrum team delivers
- all of which are considered acceptableIt is a metric which can predict how much work a team can
complete in sprint time.
Velocity in agile is the total number of points delivered in a sprint.For example, if a team commits 30
points worth of stories in a sprint and by the end, they are able to deliver only 25 points then their
velocity will be 25 points and not 30 pointsHence, velocity is the total points delivered and NOT the
total points committedThe velocity helps the teams to predict the amount of work they can commit as
a team, it also helps when we do our product increment planning in a Scaled Agile Framework.
20How the Product Owner and Development Team collaborate during the Sprint?

The essential trait to win the scrum methodology is the continuous communication between the
product owner and the development teamThey both need to collaborate at every step in the
development to make sure the team is delivery what is expected and there are no surprises at the end
of the sprintThe product owner helps the team to look at the bigger picture, this role helps the team to
understand the ‘Why’ of the product.During the sprint, the Product Owner helps the team in letting
them know the priority so that in the sprint planning they commit as the priorityDuring the course of
the sprint, the team touches base with the product owner as and when they feel, they can demo
something to get the early feedback rather than waiting till the end of the sprint.Along with this, the
team also sits with the product owner to groom the stories for the upcoming sprint so that they can
refine and add the required details to the story and make it in a ready state to be pulledThe constant

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collaboration between these two helps in early resolution of dependencies or blockers and also
reduces the chances of developing something which is not in the scope.
21Why sprints are timeboxed and protected?

In scrum, we divide our work into iterations or cycles which are called sprintsThe output of the sprint
should add some value to the customer.For every sprint, we talk about time-boxing, which means it
will have a start date and an end dateThis timeboxing allows the customer to know when they can
expect the output from the teams, also the team knows how much they can commit so as to deliver a
quality item to the client.
Time-boxing also allows the team to focus on the value, whatever they pull as commitment is
expected to be the highest priority item from the backlog which will add the highest valueProtecting a
sprint means, the scrum master will make sure that the team does not commit more than their
capacity, else, they won’t be able to complete the work in timeProtecting a sprint also refers to
ensuring the stakeholders are not over-doing the participation in the daily activities, as it impacts the
team’s focusThe team can set some ground rules or can have working agreements to make sure they
strike a balance in the scrum ceremonies.And lastly, protection is also in terms of shielding from
outside interferences.
22What do you understand by the concept of sustainable pace?

The team targets a pace of work that can be sustained for a long time or indefinitelyThe team has to
come on an agreement on how can they give to make sure that is balancing the overall structureThe
term "sustainable pace", more general, was proposed by Kent Beck himself in replacement of the
original "40 hour week" denomination for this Extreme Programming practiceIn the first edition of
“Extreme Programming Explained,”
Kent Beck suggested working no more than 40 hours per week and never working overtime a second
week in a row.Finally, one of the principles behind the Agile Manifesto was dedicated to "Sustainable
Pace", which can be regarded as the most widely accepted definition: “Agile processes promote
sustainable development.Agile processes promote sustainable developmentThe sponsors, developers,
and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.”
As per Sustainable pace – “Sustainable Pace is not about taking it easy and going slowIt's just the
opposite, you should expend energy vigorously, and regain strength by restingIn the long run, make
sure you invest your energy wisely and set your priorities taking into account the findings of happiness
research.”
23What is the difference between the Scrum Team and the Development Team?

A scrum team is a closed group consisting of the Scrum Master, the Product Owner, and the team.All
three entities in the scrum team are aligned towards a single goalIn the scrum team, the scrum master
will make sure that the team is focused and will protect the sprint from outer interferences.On the
other hand, the product owner will align the prioritized requirements, so that the team has a lined up
stories to work on.And the third entity in the Scrum Team is the development team who is focused on
the delivery of the value to the stakeholder.
The development team takes up the ‘actual work’ in terms of coding, testing, etc.As per the scrum.org
“Development Team consists of professionals who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable
Increment of “Done” product at the end of each Sprint.A "Done" increment is required at the Sprint
Review.Only members of the Development Team create the Increment.” The development teams are
self-organizing and cross-functional, no one directs the Development Team how to turn Product
Backlog into Increments of potentially releasable functionalitySpecific Development Team members
may have specific skills and areas of focus, but accountability lies to the Development Team as a
whole.
24Who is allowed to add items to the backlog and make adjustments to them?

Expect to come across this popular question in Product Owner interview questionsAnyone from the
team can add items to the backlog, there is no set rule for any role to add to the backlog.During the
course of development, the team can find some requirements which were earlier not identified, they
have the liberty to add that item to the backlogSometimes, the teams might identify some stories to
improve the coverage or the quality, which is a good practice to follow.Keeping this addition to the
backlog open for everyone in the teams ensures that we don’t miss the requirements, even if it is low
on the priority list.
Though anyone in the team can add items to the backlog it is only the product owner who is
responsible for prioritizing the backlog and also the one who determines what happens to the product
backlog itemIn the grooming meeting, the team sits together with the product owner and goes through

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the backlog.Nowadays, teams use online tools to help and create the backlog, this not only helps to
work across the distributed teams but also helps in keeping things togetherThe sole intent of creating
the backlog is to capture all the requirements at one place.
25Can a Product Owner be the Scrum Master for a team?

The Product Owner cannot be the Scrum Master for the delivery team.Both the Scrum Master and
Product Owner are a full-time job and require strenuous efforts to fulfill their responsibilities.Also, the
two have conflicting goals, as a scrum master, you will always try to help the team commit the
optimum number of items as per the capacity but the product owner will just focus on delivering the
maximum work.Also, the product owner is responsible for delivery but the Scrum master is notIn a
case where a product owner plays a scrum master role, the scrum values and agile practices will take
a back seatThe team becomes more pressurized to deliver the backlog itemsThe scrum master role is
more on the process side and the product owner is towards the business end, mixing both the roles
misbalances the transformation journey.
26.Should the Product Owner attend the entire sprint planning ceremony?

The sprint planning meeting is divided into two parts – committing the sprint items and creating the
sprint backlog as per the capacity.During the first half of the meeting, the product owner should
actively engage with the team to get the right stories being committed as per the market priorityThe
product owner can answer any open query the team has and can also talk about the expectations on
the delivery.
This role can also help the team in providing optimum estimates by clearing out any doubts.During the
second half of the meeting where the team is creating tasks, the product owner might or might not
attend as per the situationIf the team has all the queries resolved and they understand the priority, in
this case, the product owner can step out and let the team create their tasks.But if there are few
points for contention or the team feels they won’t be able to meet the goals, the product owner should
be there to listenIdeally, the sprint planning should be attended by the scrum team which is – the
Product Owner, Scrum Master, and the development teamHence, everyone should be there to make it
a success.
27Define a Product Owner Role.

A product owner is a role in a product development team or a Scrum team who is responsible for the
product backlog, making sure that it is up-to-date in terms of priorities and has the items which
translate back to the visionThe Product Owner represents the business or user and is accountable for
collaborating with the consumer to define what features will be in the product release.
The Product Owner works with the stakeholders to get the right requirements, right in the sense, help
the users to devise the requirements which they might not see or comprehend at that pointThis not
only improves the relationship with our customers but also helps to build up the trust.And at the other
end, the Product Owner helps the delivery team/development team understand the vision and the
requirementsHence, this role is kind of a bridge between the two ends, holding tight the two corners
and effectively enhancing the smooth communicationThis role is really critical as it handshakes at both
the ends – the development team and the stakeholders.

28What is the difference between PM, PO, and Business Analyst?

Product Owner role is much wider in its scope and comes with a lot more responsibility including
researching market trends to fill gaps with a new product.A product owner is responsible for a
particular product and works to grow it right from its inception stage to maturity with a vision.A
business analyst, on the other hand, would work on parallel lines as a product owner, but, would be
limited by the scope of the work.
Usually, a business analyst would be responsible for a particular section of the product and would work
towards its requirements or coming up with ideas to improve or innovate the process pertaining to its
scope.Both PO and BA have many similarities in terms of attributes such as strong relationship skills,
ability to think outside the box and being clear on the expectations of the work.On the other hand, the
Project Manager is the person who must ensure that the scope of a project is delivered against budget
and timeframes agreedThis requires the Project Manager to create plans, negotiate budgets,
resources, and track progress.

29What is a Product Owner responsible for?

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According to Roman Pichler, the ultimate responsibility of a product owner is to ensure that the
product creates value for its customers and users, as well as for the company.“Think of the product
owner as of the person who champions the product, who facilitates the product decisions, and who has
the final say about the product,” he says.“This includes if and how feedback is actioned, and which
features are released.”
The role and responsibilities of a Product Owner are too deep so as to make sure he/she understands
the core of the product and too wide that collaboration is done at 360-degree level, being a liaison and
face of the user.Defining the vision - The Product Owner has the responsibility of creating a vision so
that the development team clearly visualize the expected outcome by the user.Managing the product
backlog - The most essential responsibility in a role a Product Owner is managing the product
backlogToday’s market is really dynamic, every customer wants to stay at the top of the new features
being introduced.Even the items in the product backlog might require some movements due to
changing prioritiesPrioritizing needs - Making choices about the priority of product backlog items in
order to deliver a maximum outcome.Anticipating client needs and acting as primary liaison.
30Who are PO’s are accountable to?
The Product Owners are accountable to everyone involved in the productThey are accountable to the
customers for quality product delivery, they have to make sure the requirements are translated well
and there is a mutual understanding of the deliverablesThe clients look up to the product owners for
their requested work and the feedback loops to be taken care of by the product ownersIn the same
way, the product owners are accountable to the delivery team to make sure they have the right set of
requirements to start their work withAlong with this, they are accountable for the milestones and the
roadmap so that everyone talks the same languageThey are even accountable to the management
because of it the management who are dealing in terms of financesThe product owner is even
accountable to their product backlog, to make it healthy! A lot goes into the accountability of the
product owner, it’s like 360-degree accountability that they have performed.Whatever work the
development team takes up, it is the accountability of the product owner and even making sure the
team develops the right thing.
31What is the definition of Release PO versus Feature PO?

When the backlog is too big to be taken care of by a single product owner, there is a need for adding a
person who can take care of the bigger pictureHence the role of a release product owner comes up.For
example, the team product owner works with the development team for feature delivery and in turn,
the release product owner will work to formalize the release of those feature to the market.
The feature product owner ensures the feature is well understood by the team and they also make
sure, it gets delivered on time if there are no impedimentsThere can several features the team can be
working onThe release product owner takes care at the higher level to consolidate the feature delivery
through a release, they set the release dates, which can go from a month to six month timeThe feature
PO is more focused towards the team and collaborates with the delivery teams whereas the Release
product Owner interacts with the team of product owners.

32.Is the product owner a member of the Scrum Team?

As defined in Scrum, the scrum team comprises of the development team, the scrum master and the
product owner, so yes, the product owner is a crucial part of the scrum teamThe product attends the
scrum ceremonies with the development team and stays available throughout the sprint to assist the
team members in terms of requirementsThe product owner is part of the sprint planning to ensure the
team commits the right work and also which adds value to the productThroughout the sprint, the
product owner may or may not join the daily scrum but will be there to assistDuring the sprint demo,
the product owner has to be there to accept/reject the work done during the sprint and also to provide
feedback on the deliverablesThe team along with the product owner also sits together for the backlog
grooming where they brainstorm on the requirements and make it ready to be pulled up for
commitment in the upcoming sprintsIt is the product owner who acts as a bridge between the delivery
teams and the client hence, it is an important role in the scrum teamThough this role might not be
involved in the technical part they take care of the functional aspect.

33What is the common industry job title for product owner responsibilities?

Usually, the titles used in software development include Program Manager, Technical Program
Manager, Technical Product Manager, Product Analyst, or Product Owner.Each of them has a common
set of responsibilities, which have been defined below:
Creates and maintains the Product Backlog
Prioritizes and orders the Backlog as per the business value

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 Supports with the bifurcation of Epics, Themes, and Features into user stories that are small
enough to be completed in a single sprint.
Delivers the Vision and Goals at the beginning of every Release and Sprint.
Epitomizes the customer, interfaces and involves the client.
Takes part in the daily Scrums, Sprint Planning Meetings, and Sprint Reviews and
Retrospectives and another sync up meetings with the team.
Reviews the product development at the finish of every iteration
This role is the face of the Team to the outside world and should make sure that all methods of
communications are open and that projects have the right amount of support required to succeed.
Dismisses a Sprint if it is found that a severe change in course is required

34.Is the Product Owner or Release Product Owner Full-Time job?

Yes, it is a full-time job, where the product owner works with the team sprint by sprint for effective
delivery of the committed workIn the case of Release Product Owner, it again requires full-time
involvement where they connect with the customers to understand their need and set expectations on
the milestones and deliveryThey work on managing the dependencies on the product which might
extend to different teams, this requires a lot of effort because if any of the dependency goes unnoticed
it impacts the overall release plan.
They also work to keep the backlog stay up-to-date which ordered and prioritized requirements, this is
a critical aspect as the client satisfaction is the key, they need to stay competitive in the
market.Underestimating the role of the product owner or the release product owner can give a big set
back to the teams and the organization, they should be given space to try out things and have them
increase the collaboration with the customers and the teams.

35 Will that impedes your work as a product owner?

It's no surprise that this one pops up often in Product Owner interview questions.
Yes, for sure, if the product owner is missing control, it will impact the overall product and even the
work of the product ownerIn this case, the product owner has to set up and understand the role and
responsibility of being the PO for a scrum teamIt might be a possibility that the product owner is not
getting the space to work and his powers are being controlledHence, make sure that the person called
the Product Owner actually OWNS the productHe has to create the product road map and set business
goals for the upcoming quarters.As a product owner, you should have good communication flowing
with the stakeholders along with good cooperationThe product owner has to work in enhancing the
product backlog and keep it aligned with the market needsIt will be difficult for a product owner to
handle a messy backlog which lacks control.

36.Should the team accept changes in the sprint as requested by the Product Owner?

Agile has helped the teams to manage changes within the development processThe Agile Manifesto
talk about the ‘responding to change over following a plan’ and the Agile principle says ‘Welcome
changing requirements’The Agile team has to strike a balance between responding to change and
working as per the sprint planIf the change is being requested by the Product Owner, the team has to
decide if they should accept it or notSome of the deciding factors can be – the volume of change, if the
change is too big, the team might ask the Product owner to break it into parts or commit the whole in
the next sprintSecond, time of change, if it is inserted early in the sprint, the team consider it rather
than in the end.
Third, if the sprint commitments are getting changed or any new changes are introduced frequently, it
should be addressed with the Product Owner.Whatever might be case, it is a negotiation between the
product owner and the development, the team gets to take the final call on the acceptance of change.
1Please explain your product line governance.
The answer will vary a bit from candidate to candidateIf he is in a large organisation where there are
multiple team working together on the same product lines, he will talk about his peers and
coordination, the product line chain (something like Product Owner, Area PO, Product manager, Chief
PM) or in case of distributed agile team, he will also talk about Proxy PO at off shoreIf he is from a
small organisation, he will talk about him directly discussing and coordinating with Business executive
and Sales guys.

2How your role as a Product Owner different from Business AnalystA Product owner is someone who
focuses on product vision, roadmap and changing prioritiesHe does not give the solution.A Business

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analyst largely translates the product vision into solutions and at times recommends different ways or
solutions.While Scrum does not requires a Business analyst, there is practise in many organisation to
have a PO, who is focussed on product part and a BA, at times called as BA or even proxy PO, who is a
techno-functional person who helps in defining then acceptance criteria, a solution etc.

3Have you heard of MoSCoW ? What is that?

MoSCoW is a Product backlog refinement technique, where Mo stands for Must be, S stands for Should
be, Co stand for Could be and W stands for Won’t be.
4Mostly the product backlog will have many items falling under Mo (Must Be) and S (Should Be) of
MoSCoWHow will you prioritize within these items?

This is a frequently asked question in technical Product Owner interview questionsMoSCoW is a

fundamental prioritization technique.Most of the PBI will be falling under Mo and S.An experienced PO
would be using various other ways to differentiate between Mo and SPopular one is WSJF – Weighted
Shortest Job First.WSJF = Cost Of Delay / Job Size.

5How will you create or help in creating a Product Roadmap?

The answer will vary from candidate to candidate based on their exposure and the size of organisation
they are working in.For a small organisation the PO might be directly involved in creating the roadmap
however in large organisation, he would be someone whose input would be required.
Typically the answer would evolve around : Continuous exploration – Taking feedback after every
release , checking how the features has been perceived by the market, analysing competitor’s
offerings and our customers’ reaction to it.Not doing upfront design and freezing the
requirementsHaving features variable for future releases and creating a roadmap which will follow
Cone Of Uncertainty.

6What does Cone of Uncertainty show ?

Expect to come across this popular question in Product Owner interview questionsCone of uncertainty
shows, how much is known about the product over timeIts more variables and less fixed initially but as
we move, it will have more fixed and less variable.

7Typically, how much time or what percentage of your time do you allocate to user research and
understanding your customers’ needs while product discovery phase?
The answer may vary from person to person and organisation to organisationIf the person says that
they spend 50% of their time on user research, that’s excellentHowever, if a product owner says they
spend 10% or less time, it’s not goodThis means they are not doing enough customer exploration and
feedback and might also be ignoring changing market condition.

8.You have important new features prioritised to be picked up for next sprintIn that case, how will you
handle new bugs and accumulating technical debts?
When valuable new features are competing with bugs and technical debt in a product backlog, as a
product owner, with every sprint, along with the features I will include a limited number of the most
important bugs and the most pressing issues caused by technical debt.Based on the product, we can
also have some basic thumb rule set for it, such as allocating 10% of the resources to bugs, 15% to
technical debt and rest to new features.

9How would a Product Owner deal with uncooperative stakeholders?

The best (and perhaps the only) way to deal with uncooperative stakeholders is to win their confidence
by engaging them through regular meeting and discussions and demonstrating the value of agile
product developmentID it still fails, the product owner should seek help from sponsor.

10.While team estimates the user story of the current sprint, for the product roadmap, do you do or
get the estimation done for future Product backlog items (Epics/Features) ? How is that done in your
organisation? Who does it?

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While team estimates the current sprint backlog, for future roadmap, which is highly flexible it is
advisable, not to involve the team in estimationThe product line (Product manager, Product Owner etc)
could do the rough estimation based on historical data.

11.As a Product Owner how do you communicate your marketplace knowledge to the Scrum Team?
It is very much required that the scrum team is aware of the changes happening in market placeIt is
one of the responsibility of the product ownerThe PO does it continuously as a part of his informal
interactions with development team and SMHe also does that through formal discussions and
meetings.

12How do you plan release of your product? Is it every sprint?

No, it is not required to release every sprint.While deployment is a planning activity and could be per
sprint or continuous, release is a business and strategic activityThe development team may continue
to create a shippable product, the shipping is a business decisionThe PO or the product manager will
plan a release date , when it makes sense from business perspective.

13.Who are your product stakeholders?

Major stake holders with whom a Product Owner interacts are – Customers, Sponsors, Key decision
makers, professionals, regulators.

14As a product Owner how will you manage various stakeholders’ desires for the product ?

A must-know for anyone heading into a Product Owner interview, this question is frequently asked in
Product Owner interview questionsA PO can manage desires of various stakeholders by coordinating
and collaborating with them through discussion while designing product roadmap, seeking their input
and feedback in designing and defining Product backlog items and preparation of sprint events.A
consistent and constant collaboration would help.
15.Before putting an idea in a backlog as a Product Backlog item, what are the steps you performAs a
Product Owner, we should not out rightly reject any of ideas, nor can we accept all of them.Every idea
that comes needs to be analysedSo ideation needs to be followed up with analysisThe analysis can be
done in several ways like analysing through creating a prototype, working on pilot customers, based
on experience etc.Based on the result of analysis, the idea should be added to the product backlog.

16What is systems Thinking? How important is it for a Product Owner to have a Systems Thinking
approach?

Systems thinking means holistic thinkingIt gives the complete view.For a Product Owner, it is very
important to have the complete view of the product, then only he will be able to design a product
vision.Also if he has in an environment where there is a complete product management line of product
managers above him, a holistic view will help him to understand why there has been change in the
Product roadmap and why he should adjust the product backlog items

17If you are made product owner of Gmail, what changes will you bring?
That’s a great position .But with great position comes greater expectation.
The answer of this question will unwrap the product owner inside a candidate.Different candidate may
answer it differentlySomeone may talk about adding new look and feel feature or adding UX (User
Experience) etc, while few may talk about how gmail as a product would evolve, such as its integration
to other existing product, or vice versa something like G-Pay integrated with Gmail or making it a one
stop shop for all your needs – communication, collaboration, banking , shopping etcThis shows the
vision of the person.

18.There is a recent regulatory change which does not directly impacts your product, but that opened
a new avenue of opportunity to your product.Anyone who adapts first will gain the market share.You
are just mid-way of your existing sprint, but every day counts.Will you cancel the current sprint and
work on the new opportunity features?

It's no surprise that this one pops up often in scenario based Product Owner interview questions.

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If the requirement is such that it may create new opportunity or help in gaining the market share for
first mover (such as it happened for fintech companies like PayTM in India during demonetization
announced by government in 2016), the product owner should act on itThe Product Owner has the
authority and can cancel the current sprint if he deems it fit, adds item to product backlog and
reprioritize it.

19With DevOps as new wave across industry, do we need a Product Owner for a DevOps team?
Yes.A DevOps team also works around a product.With automation, CI/CD, it becomes more important
for DevOps team to understand business requirement and needs and then automate the delivery
pipelineThe business need could not be understood correctly, and doubts answered without a Product
Owner.

20As a Product Owner, how do you think, you could achieve the next level of Product ownership?

A common question in questions for Product Owner interview, don't miss this one.
Next-gen product owner is not someone who just maintains and prioritizes the product backlog with
multiple features, next-gen PO is someone who plans how the whole product evolves and changes with
time, how new product lines evolve from the same product branch and how it remains relevant and
front runner with changing market and taste.

21What are the properties of a sprint?

One of the most frequently posed advanced Product Owner interview questions, be ready for it.
Like any other entity, the sprint also has a few properties like:
Timeboxing – Almost anything in a sprint is time-boxed, whether it is a ceremony or the sprint
itselfTimeboxing allows the space for discipline and closed boundaries for any planned activityIt helps
the team to focus; remember the good old days when the actual study would start the day exam dates
are published?
Following a fixed time box in development creates a cadence, it also helps in gathering metrics
on steady intervals, for instance, we calculate the velocity of the team every time box (Sprint).
Protected from any changes – Scrum says, once the team has made a commitment in the
Sprint Planning, the scope of the sprint will be locked.Any changes in the commitment in terms of
scope change is not encouraged.But if the change is small enough to be incorporated in a sprint, the
team should pull it up as Agile Manifesto also talks about ‘Responding to Change over Following a Plan’
The maximum duration of a sprint should be a calendar month.

22How is vision and goal aligned to the product backlog?

The product can only deliver value if it is aligned with the vision and goalsThe Product vision defines
the purpose of a Product, the intent with which the Product is being developed and what it aims to
achieve for customers and users.When the product owner discusses the backlog with the development
team, they refer to the order in the backlog which is based on the value.
“The vision plays an important role in bringing a new product to life: It acts as the overarching goal
guiding everyone involved in the development effort.” – Roman Pichler.
Vision provides a high-level view of what the future product should look like, it helps the development
teams shape the product in a way it meets the required goals, as set with the customerThe product
owner helps the team in identifying the sprint goals which are in line with the product vision so that
the teams can deliver maximum value to the customerThe vision and goals are even linked to the
MVPs (Minimum Viable Product)In Agile, the vision statement becomes a guiding light, the “what we
are trying to achieve” statement that the development team, scrum master, and stakeholders refer to
throughout the project.

23What are the desirable qualities of the vision?

The vision forms the foundation of any product, it is something which encourages and inspires people
to stay on the right path, hence it should be clear and firm; extensive and appealingTo list out few
desired qualities of the vision, let’s look at the following points:

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 Clear and firm – The product vision should be easy to interpret and creates a common purpose
for the teamsIt should be able to give clarity on what’s in the future and it should not create confusion
among the teams.
Extensive and appealing – It should provide a very high-level view of where we want to go, and
also provides the development team with space to come up with ideas, to collaborative, to find
solutions, to inspire to achieve moreIt should encourage the team for better delivery in line with
customer expectations. Brief and concise – The vision is not something which involves long written
paragraphs, it should contain only information critical to the realization of the productIt is not a list of
requirements, hence, it should not cover the minute detailsIn simple terms, it should be short and
sweet.

24What is the scope of the ScrumMaster role at a high level?

The scrum master role is very vast in nature, this role wears a wide variety of hat as and when
required.At a high level, a scrum master is someone who will work with the Product Owner, help the
team in sailing through the sprint smooth and work with the management in removing the
impediments.Now, this is a high-level view but if you dive further into it, this will grow like an
icebergThis role is very crucial and important for the team in making a successful deliveryThe Scrum
Master serves as a facilitator for both the Product Owner and the team.
The scrum will help the product owner in prioritization and slicing of the features or the user stories,
the scrum master can even use a few tools available to help the PO with backlog alignment.For the
team, the scrum master will work to remove the impediments faced by the teams.Along with the
delivery, the scrum master also makes sure that the agile team lives by the agile values and principles
and follows the processes/practices that the team agreed to use.As per Mike Cohn – ‘The Scrum Master
is often considered a coach for the team, helping the team do the best work it possibly canThe Scrum
Master can also be thought of as a process owner for the team, creating a balance with the project's
key stakeholder, who is referred to as the product owner’.

25Explain one technique suitable to capture product backlog items?

Whenever there is a need from the client or the customer, it has to be captured in some form, here we
can talk about product backlogs, and we capture the requirements in the form of user storiesIt is one
of the techniques where the stories are added to the product backlogThe User Story is a tool used in
Agile software development to capture a description of a software feature from an end-user
perspectiveIt defines the type of user, what they want and why they want it, also it helps to create a
basic portrayal of a requirement.A user story template often uses the following type of format:
As a <role>, I want <feature> so that <reason>
The user stories are short enough to be accommodated in a sprint if not, they are further broken down
into smaller piecesIt is written in a language which is understandable to both the client and the team,
it is then the job of the agile team to take care of how to develop the code that will satisfy the
requirements of the user storyTo accomplish this, regular and close interaction is required from both
the parties – the client and the team.

26How non-functional requirements can be dealt with within the product backlog?

Non-functional requirements play an important role in the overall product development and
deliveryThese are the requirements without which the functional part cannot be termed as
complete.Let’s first understand what a non-functional requirement is, “Nonfunctional Requirements
(NFRs) define system attributes such as security, reliability, performance, maintainability, scalability,
and usabilityThey serve as constraints or restrictions on the design of the system across the different
backlogs.” – ScaledagileThere are different ways of handlings such requirements, like:
1. Create user stories in the backlog – The non-functional requirements can be similar to
“constraints” we put on the systemIt can be written in the same format as the usual user story.
2. Inclusion in DoD – The team can add these requirements as part of their definition of DoneIf it
is one of the parameters in the definition, it will make sure the NFR doesn’t get missed out and the
team can keep track of it along with the original story.
3. Acceptance Criteria – Non-functional requirements may also be articulated as part of
Acceptance criteria which are circumstances that a product must fulfill to be accepted by a user,
customer or other stakeholders.

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27What are the techniques used for backlog prioritization?

Prioritization as a norm means “doing the first thing first”Globally, the teams have been using several
methods or techniques for backlog prioritizationIt is really important that they understand few
techniques that can help in way of prioritization such as MoSCow, where a list of requirements or user
stories are categories into – Must Have, Should Have, Could Have and Won’t Have.Once the
classification is done into the 4 groups, the requirements are graded in order of preference within each
category.Another method of prioritization is the 100-Dollar Test or Cumulative Voting, in this method,
the stakeholders are invited for a prioritization meeting and to make a list of options to be prioritizedAll
the stakeholders are given a finite amount of virtual entities (dollars, points, etc) which has to be
divided among the given options (user stories, requirements, etc.) After that one can calculate the
total units for each requirementThere’s another model which is comparatively more simple and
effective – Stack RankingIn Stack Ranking we consider each backlog item and place it in order of
priorityThe best part of this method is there can only be one number one, hence, helps to avoid a
common issue where everything becomes a very high priority.

28What are the factors impacting the prioritization of a product backlog?

When the product backlog is being prioritized, there might be some factors which come in way of
doing it effectivelyTo list out some, first can be, the time needed for completion, though the item is on
high priority the development needs time to complete it and it is not fitting in a sprintIn this case, the
product owner has to grill out the most important part of the requirement to be shipped first.
Then we can have, Correlative or conditional relationship between urgently required tasks and other
tasksThere may be dependencies between the urgently required tasks and other tasks in the
pipelineThe team cannot deliver the prioritized requirement before resolving the
dependencies.Another one can be, timeframe given by customers for feedback is not enough for the
teams keeping in consideration the slippage.Even sometimes the customer emphasis is too much that
the product owner has to guide the customer on what market needs are and how to get maximum
return.Even the customers sometimes need direction to follow, this is where the product owner can
pitch in.

29Why quality is said to be frozen?

This is a frequently asked question in Product Owner interview questions.

In agile, we talk about the quality at all stages in contrast to the waterfall where attention to quality
was being given more towards in the beginning part of the SDLC rather than later on.We make sure
that in Agile, we have certain checkpoints to make sure whatever goes out, is as the quality
standard.And hence, we set the definition of done where we set the parameters on quality.
This definition of done is made as per the agreement between the team and the stakeholders and is
fixed for a sprint (at the minimum)The stories committed by the team can only be marked as complete
once it meets the criteria defined in the definition of doneIn the definition of done, the team can set
unit testing, code review, coverage, etc.as the parameters, if the team is working on accessibility, they
can add the criteria in terms of complianceHence, the quality is frozen at the initial level so that
whatever requirement is shipped, it should adhere to the set normsIn the same way, we can have a
quality backlog to be entering into the sprints with the help of definition of ready.

30How can a release plan help forecast the future?

When we have the data points from the historic velocity of the teams, we then can predict how much
they can deliver in the upcoming sprintsIn a release plan, we talk about the next three to six (or
whatever is the release schedule) which comprises of the sprints.With the help of the historic data can
align sprint with the numbers and subsequently can total out the effort the team can put in.
“The release plan helps you track the development from sprint to sprint, anticipate if the relevant
product backlog items can be delivered on time and budget (or how long it will take and how much it
will cost), and to make the necessary adjustments, such as, reduce or remove a feature, or add a new
team member to the team.” – Roman Pichler.

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If the teams’ average velocity is 30, we can say in the upcoming release which has six sprints, the
team can take up the work worth of 180 points.With the release planning, we can even tell ahead of
time what will be the dependencies which might crop with during the development phaseThe release
plan differs from organization to organization but the essential part of the planning of iterations.

31When is it okay to cancel a sprint?

Canceling a sprint usually happens when there is a drastic change in the priorities which means
something which was earlier measured as important has moved down in the priority list and something
with the critical priority has come upIf the requirements which were earlier considered as a high
priority have been marked as low, will automatically impact the committed items in a sprintHence
there is no point in continuing any furtherIt is actually not a good practice to cancel the sprint very
often because in this case, it implies that the stakeholders or the product owner do not have the clarity
on what exactly are they looking forThey are not able to prioritize the backlog and might need some
helpThere is a misconception that the sprint can only be canceled by the product owner, which is not
trueThe product owner can make a call to cancel the sprint but the other factors are also to be taken
into consideration.Once the sprint has been canceled, the first thing that the team will do is – Planning
for the new sprint.

32How would you characterize your role as a Product Owner? Are you a facilitator, a coach, a
manager, a visionary, a tactician, a coordinator, or a driver?

In the role of a product owner, only managing the backlog is not the only job, the product owner wears
different hats at different times to make this role a successProduct development encompasses tons of
discussions with clients, with the development teams and with the leadershipHaving a product owner
playing a facilitator comes into the picture to ensure the team has a collective outlook on what needs
to be done and getting the clients to have the right expectations on the output.
The product owner can be visionary for the teams and they look up to this role to provide the product
vision and help them stay focused to achieve it.For sure, the product owner drives the product for
successful delivery, he/she will ensure teams are pulling up the right work and coordinates with the
clients ensuring the alignment on the expected delivery.Being in a role of a product owner does not
only involve a comprehensive understanding of the product but it also demands the analytical,
strategic skills and needs to comprehend the company’s technology and interface with the
development team in order to successfully lead the approach for the product.

33What titles would you think suitable for your business card when you think of your role as a Product
Owner?

The product owners wear multiple hats in during their role, hence, there can be many titles which they
can write on their business card.As they are the owners of a business or the product, the best-suited
title can be similar to the highest ranks we have in an organization, like Product Captain, Business
Marshall, Product MagnateThe product owners create a vision for the team and help them walk the
path towards attaining the desired goal, hence, the title can even be a Visionary, Servant Leader or
Goal Keeper.
They are often aligned with the strategic design of the roadmaps which makes them a Strategic
Thinker or System Thinker.With the product development, the backlog over a period of time gets some
in innovative ideas from the product owner which are liked by the clients too, and even the team works
on them for launch, in such a case the title can be of an InnovatorThere can be several titles a product
owner can have on their business card, it all depends on how creatively a person can think of.

34Does a Product Owner have a veto over the release of user stories?

In scrum, the product owner is the face of the client or the customer, hence the person playing the role
will have the authority over the product being developedThe decision of what all will go into the
release and when it should go is taken the product owner.Yes, the product owner has the veto over the
release of user storiesThis applies to all the business requirements or defects being delivered.But the
only thing which the product owner cannot decide is the technical debtIt is the developer who takes
the ownership and releases with the productThe release dates and the release candidates are pre-

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decided the product owner well in advance so that the teams can get time to develop and deliverThe
product owner can accept or reject the user stories if they don’t meet the acceptance of the
expectations.

35 What are a few challenges with the Product Owner role?

As everyone in the agile teams, the Product Owner also has few challenges to tackle with, let’s talk
about a few of them:
Missing product roadmap - Product Owners should create a product roadmap based on
research, business standards, and best practices instead of constructing product features exclusively
from a client’s customization requests.
High-level acceptance criteria – The Product Owners should you INVEST model to create the
structureIf the story is too much detailed, the team will fell that their questions are settled and there
will be no room for discussion.
Spending too much time in dealing with product support instead of grooming the backlog
Changing priority while sprint is in progress
Product Owners can escape these usual snares by working around the product roadmap, centering on
high-value backlog items, defining crisp acceptance criteria, concentrating on grooming quality
backlog item, and avoiding disturbing sprints.

36Describe a typical work week for product owner position?

As per the Scrum guide “A Scrum Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product
resulting from the work of the Development Team." To meet this statement a product owner has to
participate in several activities, talk to the stakeholders, do research work, etcThe product owner has
to attend a meeting with the team which is planning or pre-planning or any of the scrum ceremoniesTo
make sure the product owner adding value to these meetings with his presence, he/she has to spend a
lot of time talking to various stakeholders and understand their problems and area of work.
They also capture the metrics related to the product backlog to understand the state and use for
reportingThey speak with UX designers or the Architect to identify how we can improve the system to
remove the customer pain area.During the course of the day, the teams contact the product owner to
clarify the doubts on requirements.Apart from this, there will be status update meetings for each
project.Along with all this, the product owner has to keep the backlog healthy and prioritized.
37What are the critical strengths of the Product Owner role?
As per the Scrum Guide “The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product
resulting from work of the Development Team”To meet this, the product owner has to have mastery in
many areas but only a few can be termed as critical because that is something which is a ‘must-have’
for this role.First, the product owner should have the ‘Business Analyst’ skill for concisely and correctly
defining requirements but also have the domain knowledge and business knowledge to be a decision-
maker to determine and prioritize what those requirements should be.Domain knowledge is the core
subject for any product owner to master in their area and also know the market and how the workflows
are one of the critical skills required.
Second, “Project Management” skills to make good risk-based decisions on managing the project to
make it successful from an overall business perspective (not simply meeting defined requirements)The
person opting for the product owner role has to strike a balance between these two provides the team
with the optimum work.

38What skills & competencies should a Product Owner demonstrate?

The role of a product owner demands a few basic skills like, good communication skills – this is the
most important skill as the product owner has to work with the delivery teams and with the
stakeholdersThis role serves as a bridge to fill up the communication gap, the Product Owner needs to
work with the clients to comprehend their idea and with the development team to bring it to actualityIf
they are not communicating efficiently, things can go crooked in no timeThe product owner should be

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able to clearly communicate the vision between the backlog items and the greater business
goalHence, the person should be able to see the vision and how it aligns with the backlog.Another
important skill entails around guiding the clients and setting their expectation correctSometimes, the
customers can demand something which might not be feasible, hence the product owner should be
able to say no.And lastly, they should possess curiosity, the person should be ready to learn and ask
‘why’ for things being developed or should be able to ask ‘why’ to the clients as wellThis way they can
understand the business rules better and can create a better vision of what the final product should
be.
39How much customer interaction is expected from a Product Owner? How is their interaction different
from Product Managers?

As discussed earlier as well, the product owner is the face of the customer, hence, it is really important
for the product owner to stay in constant contact to understand the vision better and take updates on
the productThe frequent interactions allow the product owner to stay up-to-date with feedback, market
situations or any change in the requirementThis not only helps the product owner but it also builds a
level of trust and confidence among the customersIn a few of the organizations, this interaction is
being handled by the product managers, thus, these two roles can fill in the gap wherever required.
The regular interactions also help in aligning the expectations from the customers, the product owner
can, from time to time, showcase the developed product and ask for the feedbackIn this manner, if
something was missed out in the initial discovery phase that can be catered nowIf we talk about
scrum, there are no product managers, but in agile, we have product managers sitting above the
product owners and looking at the product at a higher levelThe product managers are more into the
market side whereas the product owner’s involvement is more with the development team.

40Where is management support to product owner role & backing their decisions?
As we have been discussing, the role of a product owner is really critical and to make it successful, this
role requires support from all ends, like managementThe management can direct all the work for the
teams through the product owner so that the incoming of items is from a single channel, thus,
minimizing the haphazard behavior in teams.Backing the product owner to make acceptance decisions
during each sprintThe management can give feedback on product backlog content, priorities, and
dates with a clear purpose.Development Leadership can assist the Product Owner in helping key
stakeholders to understand and accept the need for making balanced choices on dates and/or feature
content steady with definite team capacity.Apart from this, the management can help through
coaching and skill-building activities so that the person in this role can enhance the competencies.
41What reporting structure should Product Owners follow?

Each organization is different and so is their structure.With an organization with a product

management group in place, the product owners can report to the product managers.But in an
organization which is just starting up the practice of Scrum might not have a full-fledged hierarchy in
Agile, hence, in this type of structure the product owners usually report to someone who is a level up
in position, it can be the senior manager or the directorIn case of SAFe environment, there is a proper
structure with product group in placeIdeally, the product owner reporting should be made in such a
way that they get full space on creating the vision, for innovationsIt should bring out the best from the
product owner role rather than diminishing its influenceThe organizations need to understand accept
the importance of this role, hence, the reporting structure should not hinder the product.
42What defines success for a product owner?
The success of the product owner depends on how much invested the person in this role feels and
he/she understands the true meaning of being a product owner.But to measure the success, we can
define some parameters like:
Strength of Product Backlog – If the product backlog stays healthy with prioritized items and
has good user stories to worked upon by the teams.
Constant delivery of Value – Whatever the teams are delivering by the end of the sprints,
should be adding value to the clients.
Attaining of Release Goals – At the start of a release, whatever the items teams commit should
reach the end lineThe goals should be met.
Understanding of Product Vision by team members – The delivery team is able to understand
and comprehend the vision from the product owner, they should be able to understand why are they
creating the product, what value is it going to add to the customers.

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 Defining a successful Product Roadmap is again important for the realization of the release
goals.
Lastly, the customer is satisfied.
There can be many parameters to access the success of this role, every organization has its own set of
KPIs for it.But most importantly it should the collaboration between the product owner and the teams
plus the product owner and the customer.
43When do we need this distinction versus having a single PO for smaller product teams?
Very large products need a complete product management team to deliver the working product
through multiple teams, in this case, the product is divided into verticals which are being taken care of
by different product owners.But if the product is small and can be delivered by smaller teams, a single
product owner can sufficeIn this case, the Product Owner will act as a single point of contact and can
be the face of the client as compared to large products.
Single product owner with smaller teams have a high rate of efficiency and delivery due to clarity in
vision and goals, there is a lot of transparency among the scrum team and the stakeholdersIn a few
instances, the RPO may also act as team PO for one of the Scrum Teams with the help from other team
Product owners on other delivery TeamsHaving a product owner caters to multiple teams impacts the
team functioning as they have to wait for the availability of the PO, along with this even the product
owner has to ensure they are giving enough time to multiple teams.
44What is the value of technical product owner versus a business-focused product owner (and vice-
versa)?
The technical product owner is not a role but it describes a person in a Product Owner role with a
technical background and who works on a technology product.And business-focused product owners
are more towards the functional aspectIt is always good to have a product owner with technical
knowledge, they can understand the product and can create a strategy for successful delivery.Also, if
the Product Owner has the technical background, they can understand the technical blockers or
impediments and accordingly visualize the impact on the release.But technical knowledge is just good
to have, there is no expectation that the product owner should have it as an essential skillAlso having
a technical background doesn’t mean that they have to jump in the code or work around the
architectureIn the case of business-focused product owner, they totally rely on the development team
for all the technical discussion and decisionsThis helps the team to become self-organized, even the
Agile principle says “The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing
teams.Nowadays we have started noticing the openings for a technical product owner, wherein the
organization needs Product Owners to understand the company’s technology at a deep level.
45.
If a product has a single PO are they also the RPO?

Yes, if there is a single PO, can also take care of the RPO role, which is Release Product Owner.As there
is only one person taking up the responsibility, the product owner will perform the duties towards the
scrum team and also towards a higher role, let us see what an RPO does and what are the essential
responsibilities:
Creating a clear statement of vision, direction, release purpose and goals
Managing overall Product Backlog and publishing the Product Backlog so that the teams can
pull the work items in their release commitment.
The features should be mapped with product roadmap to make sure the end result builds up as
expected.
Once the initial set of requirements are up, talk to the stakeholder and get their buy-in on
Product Backlog
Prioritization of Product Backlog and keeping it healthy throughout.
Prepare appropriate Product Backlog to drive release planning
Working on getting the ongoing release plan forecasting maybe for six months or a years’ time
(as per the organization and client delivery expectations)
Deployment & release readiness checklist
Market launch split out to Product Management
46Who is responsible for staffing the Product Owner role?

When the organizations open the position of a product owner, it is the product management team who
helps the recruitment team in getting the right candidateThey access the candidate on their domain
knowledge and analytical skillsThe candidate might even be required to go through where he or she
can meet their cross-location counterpartIf the organization does not have a set product management
team, the senior management can come into the picture and work with the recruitment team to get
the best candidateIn some rare cases, where the teams are very mature, they themselves can be a

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part of getting their own product owner.As we have been discussing so far, every organization is
different and so is their structure, it all depends on how they function.But majorly, the person who has
good domain expertise and knows how to judge the other essential skills should be made to access the
candidate.47Who should Product Owners report to?

Every organization is different, they have their own hierarchyScrum does not provide any ground rule
on the reporting structure for the product ownerIn large organizations where the product is fairly big,
they have product managers at the highest level, who are the main owners of the product.At the team
level, they have product owners who constantly stay in touch with the product managersIn this case,
the product owners will be reporting to the product managers.But as stated before, there is no set
criteria or hierarchy being followed at the organizationsSome even align the associates as per their
position eGProduct owner at the lead level will report to someone at the manager level.
“As a Product Owner, your job is not to manage 'resources' or 'tasks'.Your job is to maximize the value
of your product! To create those features that deliver the most value for the products' users! In order
to maximize the value of your product, you don't have to manage stuff like tasks, what people do on a
daily basis, what the progress of the team is in a Sprint.”-

48.
Product Owners belongs to which area?

Every role in Scrum is aligned to an area, like the development team takes care of the technicalities,
code, quality, etcIn the same way the scrum master helps the team to deliver and stay focused in the
same way the product owner has to take care of the business sideThis role focuses on the business
aspect, and hence connects with the stakeholders to define the exact requirements and passes on to
the team for developmentThey have to understand the business, how it functions and how the market
situation isTherefore, it is all about the business, a product owner belongs to
49Can a person be PO for multiple products?

As the name suggests, the Product Owner is the owner of the single productThe product owner focuses
on the given product by constantly being in touch with the customers and through the expertise in the
market understanding.Aligning a PO for multiple projects will impact the quality of deliverable and it
will also affect the individual playing the role of a PO.
The focus gets divided, the time also gets broken down between different parties which in turn creates
a mess for the product ownerIt is not advisable to align one product owner with multiple projects as it
also affects the strategy and timeline for the projectIt is like asking an author to write two books at the
same time, it is difficult to justify the efforts and we end up with chaosIt is difficult to multi-task,
manage multiple stakeholders, manage his/her throughput of deliverables across products, prioritize
the tasks across product teams, etcThough few of the organizations are aligning their Product Owners
to more than one product, again, it then depends on their ability to deliver the right thing.50Handling
“Part Time Product Owners”?

The product owner role has a large number of responsibilities, which can be broken down into tasks
that can actually keep the product owner-occupied for full-timeIdeally, it is not advisable to have a
product owner is not available for the team half of the time.But in cases where they have a Part-Time
product owner, they have to support a lotThere will be a few tasks which the team has to take over,
like brainstorming alone as a team without the product owner and coming up with the queries.
They might even have to do follow-ups which could have been taken care if they had a full-time
product ownerPart-time product owner also becomes a challenge as the timely feedback from the
client might not be possible all the timeIn such cases, the team can take help from the BA (Business
analyst) who can work as a proxy to help the team move forwardThe BA can connect a regular interval
to seek guidance from the Product owner.Usually, in cases where the teams do not have their product
owner co-located, they take support from the BAs.

51How to maximize the value of the Development Team’s work?

The Product owner can very well increase the value the team delivers.Continuous interaction is one of
the factors that contribute to maximum value being delivered.Other factors can be –
Domain Training – Investing time in teaching the development team about the domain, helping
them understand the business and how it works.
Vision – Taking out time explain the vision for the product and the organization.

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 Value Delivery – Making the team understand the value being delivered at the story levelHow
the story can impact the overall product? How can the team deliver the highest value item? As a
product owner, you should have these discussions with the team.
These not only encourages the team and helps them own the product but it also helps the overall
business.

52.Is Product Owner a job title or a role that someone with an existing job title fills?

“Teams need to understand who does what and how the various work fits togetherThis becomes even
more important as companies grow.” - Brian de Haaff.
The product owner role is really critical in an organization as it helps in translating the requirements to
final products.As we have been discussing so far, it is a full-time job which requires constant
collaboration with the clients, pulling up the feedbacks, working on the backlogs, helping the teams,
etc.But if someone with an existing job title tries to fill in, he or she will not be able to justify the role
and in turn, the product and the team suffers.
There might be delays in the feedback loops, the vision and roadmap might not get clear to the team,
even the backlog suffers as it requires continuous attentionIt is not advisable to take someone with
already a title to play this roleThe organizations need to focus on quality and time to market to stay
up-to-date, hence, a person with dual role might not be able to substantiate such expectation from the
role.Also, it will impede his or her efficiency in their former roleThough, in very small organizations
where the team size is small and the teams are directly interacting with the clients, in those cases, this
dual role can work.53How many Scrum teams would we expect a full-time Product Owner to handle?

In Agile, there is no rule on the ratio of the product owner and the scrum teams.A product owner is
aligned with a single product and this person takes care of keeping it healthyIt might be a possibility
that multiple teams are aligned to deliver that product, in this case, it will be overwhelming for the
product owner to take care of all the teams, answering their queries, sitting in their planning meetings,
etc.
In real-life scenarios, we try to align maximum of 3 – 4 teams per product owner, if it exceeds the
number, one can have proxy product owners who can indirectly help the main product owner to
manage the product and teams.With proxy product owners, there will be a need for coordination and
alignment.All the proxy owner will need to stay in sync with the main product owner so as to achieve
the desired resultsThough it is encouraged to have a single Product Backlog and a single PO being
responsible for return-on-investment when developing one productHaving a single Product Owner
creates transparency and enables proper empiricismIt also depends on the size of the product, if it is
too large, it should be broken down further to create sub-products and those should be aligned with
different product owners.
54Handling “Distant Product Owners”?

“A distant product owner works separately from the team.But distance comes in many forms and
degreesIt starts with working on the same site in different rooms, and it ends with the product owner
and the team being separated across continents and time zonesI have found recurring issues with
distant product owners, including mistrust, miscommunication, misalignment, and slow progress.” –
Roman Pichler
To work with a distant product owner, the team has to stay in constant communication to avoid any
gaps in the information being processed.Distant product owners should be on-site at least for the
sprint planning, review, and retrospective meetingsThey should have frequent video conferencing to
help with face-to-face interactions, this not only instills confidence but also helps with getting the right
product shippedThe teams having ‘Distant Product Owners’ should resolve their queries as and when
they receive because any lag will cost them time in a sprintIt is always better to move from Distant to
Co-located product owner as they are available runtime to answer the queries and help the teams
follow the goal.
55 What are the qualifications to become a Product Owner?

To become a product owner, there are no formal degrees that are being awarded but we do have
certifications which an individual can go forThere are multiple platforms providing knowledge and
certifications such as Scrum Alliance, Scrum.org or ScaledAgileThere are different levels of certification
starting from basic to advanced.Each of them designed to cater to certain needs of the individualThe
scrum.org provides Professional Scrum Product Owner I and Professional Scrum Product Owner 2If you
are working on a scaled environment, you can opt for SAFe® Product Owner/Product Manager
certificationThe training is of two days, during which the attendees will get an in-depth understanding

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of the Agile Release Train (ART), how it delivers value, and what they can do to effectively perform
their role.Even though an individual acquires the certification still the in-built skills are the foundation
of being a great product owner.
56.What are the skills we need in a Product Owner? Must those skills be in one person?

Every role demands some skills to meet the expectations of the positionIn Agile, the role of a product
owner is very important to keep the inputs and outputs up to the mark.Few of the essential skills to be
competent product owners are:
1. Communication - It is predominantly critical for the Product Owner to have good
communication skills that can adapt to different teams and behavior typesThe Product Owner needs to
work with the business to understand their vision and the development team to bring it to reality.
2. Commitment - The Product Owner should be committed to the project, vision, team and the
business.
3. Vision - In connection with communication, the Product Owner should clearly communicate the
vision between the small backlog items and the larger business goal.
4. Focus on functionality - A Product Owner has a focus on functionality, hours or even story
points are less importantThe goal of the Product Owner is to maximize value for the customer.
5. Available - A Product Owner is available for the stakeholders, the customers, the development
team and the Scrum Master.
People skills are a must, relationship building, conflict management, client relationship management,
vision, understanding requirements, clearly communicating the requirements to the team, and other
skills are neededThese are many of the responsibilities/skills that POs must have to be successful.Yes,
all the critical skills required to be a product owner should be in a single person.
57.Can you act as a credible Product Owner if you’re not in control of the product backlog?
One has to have control over the product backlog to be a credible product ownerThe primary and
critical responsibility of the product owner is to keep the backlog healthy and updated with prioritized
requirementsIf the product owner has no control then the team will not get the right direction on what
is to be developedThey will not understand the vision and goals of the productEven it will impact the
customers very hard, as they will not get what they expect to.No control also means anyone can add
or edit the requirements which might or might not be in sync with the customerThe backlog will look
like a bunch of random things thrown together.One cannot see the product development strategy
behind the Product Backlog Items which gain is a big risk to the developmentThe product backlog is
the backbone for any scrum team, if it goes out of shape, the team and the customer will not get any
output from the efforts they are putting inThe Product Backlog eventually outlines the accomplishment
of the product and assists as a master plan for the Scrum Team.
58.During the review, suppose the product owner or stakeholder does not agree to the feature you
implemented what would you do?
It is not always possible that the product owner agrees to what the team has developedIf the team has
delivered the story/feature as per the acceptance criteria mentioned and has covered all the scenarios
around that feature, then we can ask the product owner to accept the story/feature and anything
which is not covered will be taken up in the new feature or a new story.But in the case where the
product owner is not agreeing to the feature you delivered and it was part of the acceptance criteria
then the product owner has all the rights to not accept the itemIn this case, the team can take this up
as the retrospective point as to where they missed, how it got shaped in a different wayThe team
should introspect what went well and how can they make it betterThey should again set up a meeting
with the product owner to get a clear understanding of the requirements so that they do not deviate
from what is expected.
59.What kind of information would you require from the Product Owner to provide the team with an
update on the product and market situation?
A common question in Product Owner interview questions for experienced, don't miss this one.
One of the primary responsibilities of the product owner is to make the team aware of the market
demands and how the priorities get realigned due to market situationsThe product owner provides a
clear vision and sprint goals to the team to help them stay updated with the productIf there is any
change in the backlog with respect to new requirements or priorities, it should be communicated to the
teamsThis helps the team to understand the bigger picture and what exactly is expected from them at
that moment.
The team even feels connected and understands their role criticallyIt ensures that the team is building
the right product and consequently delivering the ROI anticipatedThere might be cases where the
backlog aligned for a sprint gets scraped off just because it is no longer required due to a fragile
market situation, in this case, the product owner can terminate the sprintThe product owner is the

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voice of the outside world to the team and should ensure that all channels of communication are open
and the team is very well understanding the market situationDescription
A Product Owner of an agile team is a key role in managing the stakeholder’s needs and also the sole
ambassador of the agile teamProduct Owner is the only person responsible for the standard of the
team’s performanceProduct owner role is a highly responsible role as they are the owner of the
product backlog.
There is a huge demand for people who are into the Product Owner role.A quick scan through the
current job openings reveals that top companies are looking for Product Owners.Right now, there are
more than 300 open job positions for Product Owner only in Spain in Linkedin.Research states that the
average annual pay for a product owner in the United States is $105,158 a year.And as per Indeed the
average salary for a product owner is 9,97,286 per year in India.
So, If you’re considering switching to this extremely in-demand career path, just get familiarized with
these top Product Owner interview questionsThese interview questions on Product Owner will provide
you with in-depth knowledge and help you ace the interviewPrepare well with these interview
questions on Product Owner and take your expertise to the next level.

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