SAFe-APM Sample Questions Answers

Journey maps are a design thinking tool that help visualize the steps, interactions, and emotions of a user as they go through a process or a service. Journey maps can help redesign work processes by identifying the pain points, opportunities, and gaps in the current state, and by generating ideas for improving the user experience and value proposition in the future state. Journey maps can also help communicate the user needs and expectations to the stakeholders and align them on a common vision and goal.

References:

• Journey Maps - Scaled Agile Framework
• Journey Mapping 101 | Nielsen Norman Group
• Journey Mapping: The Ultimate Guide | Miro
• Journey Mapping: How to Create One and Why It’s Important

A story map is a visual tool that helps product teams organize and prioritize user stories based on the user journey and the value they deliver. A story map shows the main activities or steps of the user journey as the backbone of the feature, and the stories that support each activity as the slices of the feature. A team would create a story map when stories work together to support a workflow, because it helps them to understand and communicate the big picture of the user goals and needs, and to identify 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.

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

Designing a data strategy is the process of defining the vision, goals, principles, and governance of data and analytics in an organization. A data strategy should align with the business strategy and enable the delivery of value from data and AI initiatives. Designing a data strategy requires collaboration between Product Managers and their Customers, as they are the ones who understand the needs, problems, and opportunities of the market and the users. Product Managers and Customers should work together to identify the data sources, use cases, metrics, and feedback loops that will inform the data strategy and drive the data-driven decision making.

References:

• Design your data strategy in six steps | IBM
• How to build and deliver an effective data strategy: part 1 - Microsoft UK Blog
• Crafting Your Data Strategy - data.org
• Designing Data Strategies - Development Gateway: An IREX Venture

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.

Buy a Feature is a research game that is primarily used to better understand the priorities of Solution requirements. Buy a Feature is a collaborative prioritization technique that involves giving participants a fixed amount of virtual money and a list of features or requirements with different costs. The participants then have to decide which features or requirements they want to buy, either individually or in groups. The game reveals the preferences,trade-offs, and consensus of the participants, as well as the relative value and importance of each feature or requirement.

References:

• Buy a Feature - Scaled Agile Framework
• Buy a Feature - Innovation Games
• What Innovation Game is primarily used to better understand the priorities of Solution requirements?

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.

A portfolio canvas is a visual tool that defines and communicates the value streams, solutions, customers, budgets, and key activities and events of a SAFe portfolio. It describes how a solution fits into the overall strategy by showing the value proposition, the customer segments and relationships, the key performance indicators, and the alignment with the strategic themes and the portfolio vision. A portfolio canvas provides business context by helping the portfolio stakeholders understand and align on the portfolio strategy, and by guiding the Agile teams and ARTs in delivering value to the customers and the enterprise.

References:

• Portfolio Canvas: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the concept and purpose of the portfolio canvas, and how it can be used to define and manage the portfolio strategy and execution.
• What is SAFe Portfolio Canvas : What are its Sections and Blocks: This article from StarAgile provides a detailed guide on how to create and use a portfolio canvas, with examples and templates for different types of portfolios.

A value exchange pivot is a type of pivot that changes the way customers pay for the product or service, or the way the business generates revenue from the product or service. A value exchange pivot would indicate that customers want to pay in a different way, because it reflects a change in the customer preferences, behavior, or expectations regarding the payment method, frequency, or amount. For example, a business may pivot from a one-time purchase model to a subscription model, or from a fixed-price model to a pay-per-use model, based on the customer feedback and data.

References:

• Pivot: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework defines the concept and purpose of pivot, and how it helps to validate or invalidate the assumptions and hypotheses of a product or service using experiments and feedback.
• The 10 Types of Startup Pivots: This article from Forbes provides an overview of the 10 types of startup pivots, and how they can help entrepreneurs adapt and innovate in response to the market and customer needs. It also provides some examples of successful pivots by well-known companies.

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.

The projected value of a market segment is an estimate of the potential revenue and profit that can be generated from selling products or services to that segment. To increase confidence in this estimate, it is important to keep the calculations transparent and continually updated as more accurate information becomes available. This involves documenting the assumptions, data sources, methods, and results of the calculations, and validating them with stakeholders and experts. It also involves monitoring the changes in the market conditions, customer behavior, and competitor actions, and adjusting the calculations accordingly. By keeping the calculations transparent and updated, the organization can ensure that the projected value of a market segment reflects the current and future reality, and avoid overestimating or underestimating the market opportunity.

References:

• Market Segmentation: Definition, Example, Types, Benefits: This article from Investopedia explains the concept and purpose of market segmentation, and describes the four primary types of market segmentation: demographic, geographic, psychographic, and behavioral.
• Market Segmentation: Definition, Types, Benefits, & Best Practices: This article from Qualtrics XM provides an overview of market segmentation, and discusses the benefits and best practices of market segmentation for businesses. It also provides some examples and tips on how to segment markets effectively.
• Data Integration Market Size, Share & Growth Report, 2030: This article from Grand View Research provides a comprehensive analysis of the global data integration market, including the market size, share, growth, trends, drivers, challenges, opportunities, and segments. It also provides a regional and competitive landscape of the data integration market.

The strategic sweet spot of a company is where it meets customer’s needs in a way that rivals can’t, given the context in which it competes12. It is where the company’s capabilities match customer needs in a way that the competition can’t. Finding the strategic sweet spot is a key challenge of strategic thinking and a source of competitive advantage.

References:

• How to find your strategic sweet spot and why it matters
• The Strategic Sweet Spot - Harvard Business Review

According to the Scaled Agile Framework, the Portfolio Backlog contains the highest-level portfolio epics, which are large, cross-cutting initiatives that require analysis, approval, and funding by the Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) team1. The ART Backlog contains the features, which are services provided by the system that fulfill stakeholder needs2. Features are derived from epics and are typically implemented by one Agile Release Train (ART) within one Program Increment (PI)3. Therefore, Request 1, which is an incremental innovation that can be done by one ART in one PI, should be added to the ART Backlog as a Feature. Request 2, which is a major opportunity impacting multiple stages of the Value Stream and requiring the participation of two ARTs over multiple PIs, should be added to the Portfolio Backlog as an Epic.

References:

• Portfolio Backlog: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the purpose, structure, and content of the Portfolio Backlog, and how it is managed by the LPM team using the Portfolio Kanban system.
• Features: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework defines the concept of features, their attributes, and their relationship with epics and stories.
• ART Backlog: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework describes the role, composition, and management of the ART Backlog, and how it supports the PI Planning process.

Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market into distinct groups of customers who have similar needs, preferences, or behaviors. Market segmentation helps enterprises identify and target the most valuable and profitable customer segments, design and deliver solutions that meet their needs, and optimize their marketing strategies and campaigns. However, market segmentation is not only based on quantitative factors, such as size, growth, and profitability, but also on qualitative factors, such as values, mission, and vision. A market segment should align with the enterprise’s values and mission, which reflect its purpose, identity, and culture. A market segment that aligns with the enterprise’s values and mission will help the enterprise achieve its strategic goals, create a positive brand image, and build trust and loyalty with customers.

One of the characteristics of effective market segmentation is that the segment should be valuable enough to be economically feasible. This means that the segment should have enough potential customers who are willing and able to pay for the products or services offered by the enterprise. The segment should also generate enough revenue and profit to cover the costs of marketing, production, and distribution. The segment should also have a positive impact on the enterprise’s return on investment (ROI) and net present value (NPV). A segment that is not valuable enough to be economically feasible will not be sustainable or profitable for the enterprise.

References:

• Customer Centricity - Scaled Agile Framework
• Advanced Topic - SAFe for Marketing - Scaled Agile Framework
• What is one consideration when evaluating the fit for a market segment?
• 5.4 Essential Factors in Effective Market Segmentation

The PO Sync is an ART event used to gain visibility into the ART’s progress toward meeting its PI objectives and to make any necessary adjustments. The PO Sync is commonly facilitated by the Release Train Engineer (RTE), who is the servant leader and chief Scrum Master for the ART. The RTE helps to coordinate the PO Sync by inviting the Product Owners and Product Management, setting the agenda, managing the timebox, and resolving any impediments or conflicts.

References:

• Product Owner (PO) Sync - Scaled Agile Framework
• Release Train Engineer and Solution Train Engineer - Scaled Agile Framework
• 5 Practices to Start Scaling Agile by Mike Hall | Agile Velocity