MoSCoW, Timeboxing & Practices

What is the recommended minimum proportion of effort that should be allocated to Must Have requirements within a Timebox to provide contingency?

• A Must Haves should be exactly 25% of the effort
• B There is no guidance on the balance of Must Haves
• C Must Haves should account for no more than about 60% of the effort, leaving roughly 40% in Should and Could Haves as contingency ✓
• D Must Haves should always be 100% of the effort

Answer: DSDM guidance recommends Must Haves at no more than about 60% of effort, with around 20% Should Have and 20% Could Have, so the Could Haves provide a contingency that protects on-time delivery.

Which MoSCoW category is most likely to be sacrificed first if a Timebox comes under time pressure?

• A Won't Have this time
• B Must Have
• C Should Have
• D Could Have ✓

Answer: Could Have requirements are desirable but not vital, so they act as the built-in contingency and are the first to be dropped to protect on-time delivery of the Must Haves.

In DSDM timeboxing, what is meant by the deadline of a Timebox being fixed?

• A The end date can be extended whenever Must Haves are not finished
• B The end date is immovable, so scope is flexed via MoSCoW rather than moving the deadline ✓
• C The Timebox has no defined end date
• D Only the Could Haves have a fixed deadline

Answer: A core idea of timeboxing is that the deadline is fixed and protected; if work is at risk, lower-priority requirements are dropped rather than extending the Timebox.

Which three steps describe the typical structure of a DSDM Structured Timebox?

• A Investigation, Refinement, Consolidation ✓
• B Plan, Code, Release
• C Feasibility, Foundations, Deployment
• D Initiation, Execution, Closure

Answer: A DSDM Structured Timebox is commonly organised into Investigation, Refinement and Consolidation steps, each closed by a review with the business.

What is the main purpose of a facilitated workshop in DSDM?

• A To bring the right stakeholders together, guided by an impartial facilitator, to reach high-quality decisions and shared understanding quickly ✓
• B To replace all written products with verbal agreements
• C To carry out final acceptance testing of the solution
• D To allow the project manager to assign tasks without discussion

Answer: Facilitated workshops use an impartial facilitator to help the right participants collaborate towards agreed, high-quality outcomes far faster than sequential communication.

In DSDM, what is the purpose of iterative development combined with modelling and prototyping?

• A To remove the need for the Prioritised Requirements List
• B To finalise every requirement in writing before any building starts
• C To build understanding progressively and gain fast business feedback, refining the solution rather than attempting it perfectly in one pass ✓
• D To avoid showing the business anything until deployment

Answer: Iterative development, supported by modelling and prototyping, lets the team explore and confirm requirements through repeated cycles of building and review with the business.