SAFe-APM Practice Exam Questions with Answers SAFe Agile Product Manager (APM 6.0) Certification

Qualitative research fuels innovation when it is designed to explore the context in which Customers use the product. Qualitative research is a type of research that collects and analyzes non-numerical data, such as words, images, or emotions. Qualitative research can help understand the needs, problems, and opportunities of the Customers, as well as their behaviors, attitudes, and preferences. By exploring the context in which Customers use the product, qualitative research can help identify the pain points, gaps, and unmet needs of the Customers, and generate ideas for improving the user experience and value proposition of the product. Qualitative research can also help validate the assumptions and hypotheses behind the product design, and test the prototypes and solutions with the Customers.

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Design Thinking - Scaled Agile Framework

Qualitative Data – Strengths and Limitations

New Research: Data And Culture Fuel Innovation - Forbes

Design Thinking is a creative process that involves empathizing with customers, defining the problem, ideating possible solutions, prototyping, and testing. Design Thinking can help API design and development by ensuring that the APIs are user-centric, meet the needs and expectations of the customers, and deliver value to the business. Design Thinking can also help API design and development by fostering collaboration, experimentation, and feedback among the stakeholders, such as product managers, developers, and customers.

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Design Thinking - Scaled Agile Framework

How to Design an API – Application Programming Interface Best Practices

Best Practices in API Design - Swagger

Design Thinking and the Continuous Delivery Pipeline (CDP) are both approaches that aim to deliver value to customers by understanding their needs, validating assumptions, and iterating on solutions. Design Thinking is a creative process that involves empathizing with customers, defining the problem, ideating possible solutions, prototyping, and testing. The CDP is a workflow that consists of four aspects: Continuous Exploration, Continuous Integration, Continuous Deployment, and Release on Demand. The CDP enables the delivery of small batches of new functionality, which are then released to fulfill market demand. Both Design Thinking and the CDP use feedback from customers to improve products, as feedback loops are essential for learning and adapting to changing needs and preferences.

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Design Thinking - Scaled Agile Framework

Continuous Delivery Pipeline - Scaled Agile Framework

Introduction to Continuous Delivery in SAFe | CDP in … - PremierAgile

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.

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Epic - Scaled Agile Framework

Minimum Viable Product (MVP) - Scaled Agile Framework

Innovation Accounting in SAFe - Scaled Agile Framework

Gemba is a Japanese term that means “the real place” or “the place where value is created”. In the context of the CDP, Gemba refers to the practice of going to the source of customer needs and feedback, and observing and learning from them. Gemba is an integral part of Continuous Exploration (CE), which is the first aspect of the CDP that drives innovation and fosters alignment on what should be built. CE involves applying Customer Centricity and Design Thinking to understand and create alignment on new development opportunities, and validating them with customers using hypothesis-driven experiments.

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Continuous Exploration: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the purpose, process, and benefits of CE, and how it uses Gemba, design thinking, and lean startup methods to explore the market and customer needs, and define a vision, roadmap, and set of features for a solution.

Gemba Walk: How to Drive Continuous Improvement in Manufacturing with Connected Work: This article from Parsable describes how Gemba walks can help manufacturing leaders and teams identify and solve problems, improve processes, and increase customer value. It also provides some tips and best practices for conducting effective Gemba walks using connected worker technology.

An Enabler Feature is a type of feature that supports the development and delivery of future business features by extending the architectural runway, improving the infrastructure, or addressing compliance. An Enabler Feature is usually defined and prioritized by System/Solution Architects, who are responsible for designing and guiding the technical aspects of the solution. Therefore, the best stakeholder to collaborate with if a Product Manager wants to discuss an Enabler Feature for the upcoming PI is the System/Solution Architect, as they can provide the necessary technical expertise, guidance, and alignment.

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Enablers - Scaled Agile Framework

System and Solution Architect/Engineering - Scaled Agile Framework

PI Planning - Scaled Agile Framework

One of the key job functions that differentiates a Product Manager from a Product Owner (PO) in SAFe® is prioritizing the backlog. A Product Manager is responsible for defining and prioritizing the features and capabilities that deliver value to the customers and the business. A Product Manager owns and maintains the Program Backlog, which is the single source of truth for the work that needs to be done by the Agile Release Train (ART). A Product Owner, on the other hand, is responsible for defining and accepting the user stories that implement the features and capabilities. A Product Owner owns and maintains the Team Backlog, which is the subset of the Program Backlog that the Agile Team works on. A Product Owner collaborates with the Product Manager to align the Team Backlog with the Program Backlog and the Vision.

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Product and Solution Management - Scaled Agile Framework

Product Owner (PO) Sync - Scaled Agile Framework

SAFe Product Manager vs Product Owner - Striking Differences - KnowledgeHut

T-Shirt sizing is a sizing standard that is used to estimate Feature effort in the analysis stage of the ART Kanban. T-Shirt sizing is a relative estimation technique that uses predefined categories, such as XS, S, M, L, XL, to assign a size to a Feature based on its complexity, uncertainty, and dependencies. T-Shirt sizing is a quick and simple way to compare and prioritize Features without getting into too much detail or precision. T-Shirt sizing also helps to calculate the Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) value of a Feature, which is a prioritization method that considers the cost of delay and the job size.

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ART and Solution Train Backlogs - Scaled Agile Framework

ART Kanban - Scaled Agile Framework

New and Updated Kanban Articles provide more effective guidance for …

Program and Solution Kanbans - Scaled Agile Framework

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.

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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.

Primary data is information collected through original research by the marketer or researcher themselves. Primary data is used to test hypotheses, which are tentative statements or assumptions about the relationship between variables or the outcome of an experiment. Testing hypotheses helps to validate or invalidate the assumptions and predictions made by the marketer or researcher, and to measure the effectiveness and impact of their product or service.

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Primary Data - Types, Methods and Examples: This article from Research Method defines primary data, explains its types and methods, and provides some examples of primary data collection and analysis.

[Hypothesis Testing]: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework describes the concept and process of hypothesis testing, and how it helps to evaluate the value proposition and assumptions of a product or service using experiments and feedback.

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.

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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

The expected product is the aspect of whole-product thinking that captures a Customer’s price sensitivity. Whole-product thinking is a framework that helps to define and deliver a complete solution that meets the Customer’s needs and expectations. Whole-product thinking consists of four levels: generic product, expected product, augmented product, and potential product. The expected product is the level that includes the basic features and benefits that the Customer expects from the product, and that determines the Customer’s willingness to pay for the product. The expected product reflects the Customer’s price sensitivity, which is the degree to which the Customer’s behavior is influenced by the price of the product.

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Customer Centricity - Scaled Agile Framework

Analysis of the Effects of Perceived Value, Price Sensitivity, Word-of …

Pricing Sensitivity: Meaning, Calculation & Strategy | Qualtrics

Which aspect of whole-product thinking captures a Customer’s price …

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.

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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.