Scaled Agile SAFe-APM SAFe Agile Product Manager (APM 6.0) Exam Practice Test

Story mapping is a technique that helps product owners and teams visualize and prioritize user stories based on the user journey and the value they deliver. Story mapping involves creating a two-dimensional map of stories, where the horizontal axis represents the main activities or steps of the user journey, and the vertical axis represents the priority or importance of the stories. The stories are arranged in a hierarchy, where the top row contains the most essential stories that form the backbone of the feature, and the lower rows contain the more detailed or optional stories that enhance the feature. Story mapping helps to organize stories and understand which are critical to implementing the feature, as it shows the big picture of the user goals and needs, the dependencies and relationships among stories, and the minimum viable product (MVP) scope.

References:

Story Mapping: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the purpose, process, and benefits of story mapping, and provides an example of how it can be used in a SAFe context.

User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product: This book by Jeff Patton, the creator of story mapping, provides a comprehensive guide on how to use story mapping to create better products and services that delight customers.

How to Create a User Story Map: Step by Step Guide with Examples: This article from Miro provides a detailed guide on how to create a user story map, with examples and templates for different types of products and services.

 Time criticality is one key component of Cost of Delay (CoD), which is the money or value that will be lost by delaying or not doing a job for a specific time period relative to other jobs. Time criticality reflects the urgency or sensitivity of a job to time, and how its value changes over time. For example, a job that has a fixed deadline, a seasonal demand, or a high risk of obsolescence has a high time criticality, and its CoD increases rapidly as time passes. A job that has a stable demand, a low risk of competition, or a long-term benefit has a low time criticality, and its CoD increases slowly or remains constant over time.

References:

WSJF: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the concept and purpose of Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF), which is a prioritization model that uses CoD and job duration to sequence jobs for maximum economic benefit. It also describes the four components of CoD: user or business value, time criticality, risk reduction and/or opportunity enablement, and job size.

Cost of Delay - Scaled Agile Framework: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework defines CoD as the numerator in WSJF prioritization, and provides some examples of how to estimate CoD for different types of jobs.

Personas are fictional characters that represent the ideal customers or users of a product or service. They help product teams understand and empathize with the needs, goals, and preferences of their target segments. Personas explain how the customers want to use the product by describing their behaviors, motivations, pain points, and expectations. Personas also help product teams design and deliver solutions that meet the customer needs and create value.

References:

Personas: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the concept and purpose of personas, and how they can be used in a SAFe context to support customer-centricity, design thinking, and lean UX.

What are Personas?: This article from Agile Alliance defines personas and describes their benefits and characteristics. It also provides some tips and examples on how to create and use personas effectively.

The horizon model is a framework that helps organizations balance their investments across different time horizons and types of innovation. According to the Scaled Agile Framework, there are four horizons: Horizon 0, Horizon 1, Horizon 2, and Horizon 31. Horizon 1 describes the desired state as stable solutions that deliver high value with minimal new investment. These are the core products or services that generate most of the current revenue and profit, and have a loyal customer base. Horizon 1 solutions require continuous improvement and optimization, but not significant new investment or disruption. Horizon 1 can be further divided into two sub-horizons: Investing and Extracting2.

References:

Horizon Planning: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the concept and purpose of horizon planning, and describes the four horizons and their characteristics, challenges, and best practices.

SAFe®’s investment horizon model — A synopsis: This article from Medium provides a summary of the SAFe investment horizon model, and illustrates how it can help organizations allocate their resources and manage their portfolio.

Retainment is the category of a new feature that aims to keep existing customers loyal and satisfied with the product or service, and prevent them from switching to competitors or alternatives. Retainment features can include loyalty programs, referral incentives, customer feedback mechanisms, personalized offers, and improved customer service. Retainment features can help the business reduce customer churn, increase customer lifetime value, and enhance customer advocacy.

References:

Feature Categories: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the concept and purpose of feature categories, and how they can help product teams prioritize and communicate the value of features. It also describes the four main feature categories: new business, up-sell, operational efficiency, and retainment.

How to Stop Losing Customers: 6 Proven Ways | Pressfarm: This article from Pressfarm provides some practical tips and examples of how to stop losing customers and increase customer retention, such as staying connected, offering excellent customer experience, and providing value-added services.

A story map is a customer-centric requirement artifact that represents the user journey and the features that support it. A story map is a visual tool that helps to organize and prioritize user stories based on the user goals, activities, and tasks. A story map also helps to align the stakeholders on the scope, value, and dependencies of the product, and to plan the releases and iterations.

References:

Story Mapping - Scaled Agile Framework

What are some example artifacts from product definition?

User Story Mapping: A Complete Guide | Miro

The Architectural Runway is a key part of the Feasible aspect of the Design Thinking model. The Design Thinking model is a framework that guides the creation of innovative solutions that are desirable, viable, feasible, and sustainable. The Feasible aspect focuses on the technical and operational aspects of the solution, such as the architecture, infrastructure, integration, performance, and security. The Architectural Runway is a concept that describes the existing code, components, and technical infrastructure that enable the development and delivery of near-term features without excessive redesign and delay. The Architectural Runway supports the Feasible aspect by providing the necessary technical foundation and alignment for developing business initiatives and implementing new features and capabilities.

References:

Architectural Runway - Scaled Agile Framework

Design Thinking - Scaled Agile Framework

Feature estimates are aggregated back into the Epic estimate as part of the lean business case. The lean business case is a lightweight and collaborative artifact that captures the rationale, assumptions, and financial projections for an Epic. The lean business case includes the Epic value statement, which consists of the value proposition, the benefit hypothesis, and the Epic estimate. The Epic estimate is the total effort required to implement the Epic, expressed in story points. The Epic estimate is derived from the sum of the Feature estimates, which are the effort required to implement each Feature that contributes to the Epic, also expressed in story points. The Feature estimates are aggregated back into the Epic estimate as part of the lean business case to provide a realistic and data-driven projection of the cost and duration of the Epic.

References:

Lean Business Case - Scaled Agile Framework

Epic - Scaled Agile Framework

Feature estimates are aggregated back into the Epic estimate as part of …

A roadmap is an artifact that shows the planned features and milestones for a solution over a timeline. It helps Product Managers communicate the vision and strategy to Product Owners and other stakeholders, and align them on the priorities and dependencies of the work. A roadmap also provides a feedback loop for validating assumptions and adapting to changing customer needs and market conditions.

References:

SAFe Roadmap

Product and Solution Management

Product Owner

A successful minimum viable product (MVP) that has value in the market reveals that the Epic hypothesis has been validated and that development should continue. An MVP is an early and minimal version of a new product or solution that is used to test the assumptions and hypotheses behind an Epic. An MVP provides the fastest and cheapest way tolearn from real customers and to measure the impact and value of the Epic. A successful MVP means that the Epic has proven its desirability, viability, feasibility, and sustainability, and that there is still more value to be delivered by implementing additional features and capabilities. Therefore, development should continue until the Epic is completed or the value hypothesis changes.

References:

Epic - Scaled Agile Framework

Minimum Viable Product (MVP) - Scaled Agile Framework

Innovation Accounting in SAFe - Scaled Agile Framework

A milestone is a specific point in time that marks a significant event or achievement for the ART or Solution Train. A milestone can indicate a market window occurrence during a PI, which is a limited period of time in which a product or service can be launched to gain acompetitive advantage or meet a customer demand. A milestone can help the ART or Solution Train align their delivery with the market window, and communicate their progress and readiness to the stakeholders.

References:

Milestones: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the concept and purpose of milestones, and describes the four types of milestones: Program Increment (PI), Fixed-Date, Learning, and Benefits.

ART Planning Board: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework describes the role and structure of the ART Planning Board, and how it supports the PI Planning process and the Program Board.

ART Planning Board - PI Planning: This article from Ivar Jacobson International provides practical advice and examples of how to use the ART Planning Board during the Management Review, and what to look for in terms of market windows, dependencies, risks, and objectives.

Buy a Feature is a research game that involves presenting customers with a list of possible features for a product or service, and giving them a limited budget to spend on their preferred ones. This game helps to understand customer needs, priorities, trade-offs, and willingness to pay. It also encourages collaboration and discussion among customers, and generates feedback and insights for the product team.

References:

Buy a Feature: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the purpose, process, and benefits of the Buy a Feature game, and provides an example of how it can be used in a SAFe context.

Buy a Feature: The Game that Teaches Prioritization: This article from Innovation Games describes the rules, variations, and outcomes of the Buy a Feature game, and provides tips and resources for facilitating it.

Customer Needs Analysis: Definition & Research Methods: This article from Qualtrics XM provides an overview of customer needs analysis, and discusses various research methods, including Buy a Feature, to identify and understand customer needs.

According to the SAFe® Agile Product Management APM (6.0) documents and learning resources, innovation context type refers to the level of uncertainty and risk associated with the innovation. There are four types of innovation context: portfolio, solution, feature, and business agility. Solution context type is the most complex and uncertain type, as itinvolves creating integrated, end-to-end products and service offerings that solve complex market problems across trains. Solution context type requires a high degree of collaboration and alignment among multiple teams and stakeholders, as well as frequent experimentation and validation of assumptions.

References:

SAFe Innovation Framework for Lean Enterprises: What to Know

Solution Context - Scaled Agile Framework

Personas are fictional characters that represent the ideal customers or users of a product or service. They help product teams understand and empathize with the needs, goals, and preferences of their target segments. Personas can help define the features and benefit hypothesis of a product’s strategic intent, which is the assumption that a certain set of features will deliver a specific benefit to the customers or users. By using personas, product teams can validate their feature and benefit hypothesis with real user feedback, and prioritize the features that deliver the most value and satisfaction to their personas.

References:

Personas: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the concept and purpose of personas, and how they can be used in a SAFe context to support customer-centricity, design thinking, and lean UX.

Strategic Intent: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework defines the concept and components of strategic intent, and how it guides the portfolio vision, lean budget guardrails, and portfolio backlog.

Feature and Benefit Hypothesis: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework describes the concept and process of feature and benefit hypothesis, and how it helps product teams test and validate their assumptions about customer value.

According to the SAFe® Agile Product Management APM (6.0) documents and learning resources, Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) is a prioritization model used to sequence work for maximum economic benefit. It is calculated by dividing the cost of delay by the job duration or size. To estimate the cost of delay, three factors are considered: user and business value, time criticality, and risk reduction or opportunity enablement. To estimate the job duration or size, a relative scale such as Fibonacci is used. The highest value in the Fibonacci scale is set as the “ceiling” and the lowest value is set as the “floor”. The items are then scored by comparing them to the ceiling and the floor, and assigning them the closest Fibonacci number. The WSJF score is then obtained by dividing the cost of delay score by the job duration or size score. The items with the highest WSJF score are prioritized first.

References:

WSJF - Scaled Agile Framework

Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) | Definition and Overview - ProductPlan

Weighted Shortest Job First - Open Practice Library

A PI roadmap is a visual tool that illustrates the commitments and forecasts of an Agile Release Train (ART) or Solution Train for the planned and upcoming Program Increments (PIs). One of the activities to create an ARTs PI Roadmap is to provide a list of agreed objectives, which are the SMART goals that summarize the business and technical outcomes that the ART or Solution Train intends to achieve in a PI. The objectives are derived from the features and enablers that are planned and prioritized in the PI Planning event, and they are aligned with the vision, roadmap, and strategic themes of the portfolio. The objectives are used to communicate and track the progress and value delivery of the ART or Solution Train, and to enable alignment and dependency management across multiple ARTs or Solution Trains.

References:

PI Roadmap: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the concept and purpose of the PI Roadmap, and how it can be used to visualize and communicate the near-term deliverables and milestones of an ART or Solution Train.

PI Objectives: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework defines the concept and attributes of PI Objectives, and how they can be used to align and measure the outcomes of an ART or Solution Train.

The chasm is the gap in the technology adoption lifecycle between the early adopters and the early majority. The early adopters are visionaries who are open to trying new technologies, whereas the early majority are pragmatists who are more cautious and skeptical. The chasm occurs due to the different expectations and requirements of these two groups. A product that appeals to the early adopters may not appeal to the early majority, who value reliability, compatibility, and convenience over novelty and differentiation. Therefore, a product needs to cross the chasm by finding a niche market, establishing a clear value proposition, and creating a strong word-of-mouth.

References:

Crossing the Chasm & Scale Your SaaS: This article from Userpilot provides a practical guide on how to cross the chasm and scale a SaaS product, with examples and tips on finding product-market fit, defining a beachhead market, and creating a whole product.

Crossing the Chasm in the Technology Adoption Life Cycle: This article from Business to You explains the concept and purpose of the technology adoption lifecycle and the chasm, and how they can help marketers understand and target different customer segments.

A measurement that can help drive Value Stream innovation and improvements is the percentage of Customers activating the product. This metric indicates how many Customers are actually using the product after acquiring it, and how well the product meets their needs and expectations. A high percentage of Customers activating the product means that the product delivers value and solves a problem for the Customers, and that the Value Stream is aligned with the Customer-centric mindset. A low percentage of Customers activating the product means that there is a gap between the product offering and the Customer demand, and that the Value Stream needs to innovate and improve the product design, delivery, and marketing.

References:

Value Stream KPIs - Scaled Agile Framework

The Four Most Useful Value Stream Metrics in Software

What is an example of a measurement that can be used to help drive …