In the Build Phase, which statement best describes an Analyst's responsibility?

• A. Draft the project release notes
• B. Coordinate security reviews
• C. Work with development team to add design requirements and acceptance criteria to user stories to ensure there is always development work ready to be done.
• D. Create automated tests

Answer: (C)

In this phase, turning backlog items into ready-to-work tasks hinges on clarity. The analyst collaborates with the development team to attach design requirements and acceptance criteria to each user story, ensuring there’s always development work that can be picked up without delay. The design requirements lay out how the solution should work from a technical and architectural standpoint, while the acceptance criteria define measurable conditions that prove the story is done—covering behavior, edge cases, performance, and other verification points. This prevents back-and-forth questions during build and helps both developers and testers align on what needs to be delivered.

Drafting release notes tends to be a release-phase activity, security reviews are typically handled by security or governance functions, and creating automated tests is usually the realm of QA or the development/testing teams. The emphasis in the Build Phase is making stories concrete and testable so development can proceed smoothly.