Empathy maps are a tool associated with design thinking that help to understand the user’s needs, goals, pain points, and emotions. Empathy maps are visual representations of what the user thinks, feels, sees, hears, says, and does in relation to a problem or a solution. Empathy maps help to create a shared understanding of the user among the team and stakeholders, and to generate insights for designing user-centric solutions. Empathy maps can be created based on user research, interviews, observations, or personas123.
References: 1: Design Thinking - Scaled Agile Framework 2: TEN TOOLS FOR DESIGN THINKING - culturepartnership.eu 3: The Most Complete Design Thinking Tools & Resource Collections - Mockplus
Questions 5
What is one way to describe a cross-functional Agile Team?
Options:
A.
They release customer products to production continuously
B.
They are made up of individuals, each of whom can define, develop, test, and deploy the system
C.
They deliver value every 6 weeks
D.
They are optimized for communication and delivery of value
This is one way to describe a cross-functional Agile team. A cross-functional Agile team is a group of 5-11 individuals who have the skills and authority to define, build, test, and deploy some element of solution value—all within a short iteration timebox. A cross-functional Agile team is optimized for communication and delivery of value by having clear roles and responsibilities, shared goals and commitments, frequent feedback and collaboration, high trust and accountability, and continuous improvement. References: Cross-functional Agile Teams
Questions 6
User business value and time criticality are components of what?
User business value and time criticality are components of cost of delay. Cost of delay is a way of quantifying the economic impact of delaying the delivery of a product or feature. Cost of delay consists of four factors: user or customer value, time criticality, risk reduction or opportunity enablement value, and job size or duration. Cost of delay is used to prioritize features using Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF), which is a method that maximizes the economic value delivered by a product development flow. References: ART Backlog and WSJF, SAFe Principle #1
Questions 7
What are Lean Portfolio Management, Agile Product Delivery, and Lean-Agile Leadership?
Lean Portfolio Management, Agile Product Delivery, and Lean-Agile Leadership are SAFe core competencies. A SAFe core competency is a set of knowledge, skills, and behaviors that enablean organization to achieve business agility. Business agility is the ability to compete and thrive in the digital age by quickly responding to market changes and emerging opportunities with innovative solutions. There are seven core competencies in SAFe: Team and Technical Agility, Agile Product Delivery, Enterprise Solution Delivery, Lean Portfolio Management, Organizational Agility, Continuous Learning Culture, and Lean-Agile Leadership. References: SAFe as an Operating System for Business Agility, Core Competencies of Business Agility
Forming a strategic vision is one key to leading a successful change. A strategic vision is a clear and compelling statement that describes what the organization wants to achieve in the future. A strategic vision helps leaders communicate the purpose, direction, and benefits of the change to all stakeholders, inspire them to embrace the change, align their actions with thedesired outcomes, and measure their progress and success. References: Lead by Example, Lead the Change, SAFe Implementation Roadmap
Questions 9
How does SAFe describe Customer Centricity?
Options:
A.
As a set of practices employed to make products focused on the Customer
B.
As a strategy to meet the needs of an ever-changing Customer market
C.
As a mindset focused on Customer behaviors that produce the best innovations
D.
As a way of working to include the Customer in daily work processes and planning
This is how SAFe describes Customer Centricity. Customer Centricity is one of the core competencies of business agility in SAFe. Customer Centricity means putting the customer at the center of everything the enterprise does, and understanding their needs, desires, and problems deeply. Customer Centricity also means adopting a mindset that focuses on observing and learning from customer behaviors that produce the best innovations, rather than relying on assumptions or opinions. Customer Centricity helps enterprises deliver solutions that delight their customers and achieve market differentiation. References: Customer Centricity
According to the SAFe Agilist 6.0 domain of Lean Thinking, a value stream is triggered by a demand for some value, such as a new feature, a change request, or a defect fix1. A feature is a service that fulfills a stakeholder need2. Therefore, a feature request is a valid trigger for a value stream.
A spike request is a type of exploration enabler that addresses technical uncertainty or risk3. A user story request is a type of backlog item that represents an end user goal or function4. These are not triggers for a value stream, but rather work items that flow through a value stream.
Questions 11
What type of thinking allows the Customer to pull value from the producer?
Lean thinking is the type of thinking that allows the customer to pull value from the producer. Lean thinking is a philosophy and a set of principles and practices that aim to eliminate waste and optimize value delivery. Pull is a concept that means that nothing is built or delivered until there is a demand for it from the customer or the next process. Pull helps reduce overproduction, inventory, and waiting, and ensures that only valuable work is done. References: Thriving in the Digital Age, SAFe Principle #1
Questions 12
Which statement is true about batch size?
Options:
A.
The handoff batch should be made as large as possible
B.
Large batch sizes ensure time for built-in quality
C.
Large batch sizes increase variability
D.
When Stories are broken into tasks, it means there are small batch sizes
This statement is true about batch size. Batch size is the amount of work that moves as a unit through a process or system. Large batch sizes increase variability by creating more uncertainty, complexity, dependencies, and unpredictability in the workflow. Large batch sizes also increase waste by causing delays, queues, handoffs, rework, overproduction, and inventory accumulation. Reducing batch size is one of the key ways to optimize value delivery and improve flow efficiency. References: SAFe Lean-Agile Principles, SAFe Principle #5
Questions 13
Who is responsible for managing the Portfolio Kanban?
Lean Portfolio Management is responsible for managing the Portfolio Kanban. The Portfolio Kanban is a method for visualizing and managing the flow of portfolio epics from ideation to implementation and completion. The Portfolio Kanban helps align strategy with execution, prioritize demand with capacity, reduce cycle time and variability, and foster collaboration and feedback. Lean Portfolio Management is one of the core competencies of business agility in SAFe. Lean Portfolio Management aligns strategy and execution by applying Lean and systems thinking approaches to strategy and investment funding, Agile portfolio operations, and governance. References: Lean Portfolio Management, Portfolio Kanban
