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PMI-ACP · Question #156

Spike solutions are appropriate when:

The correct answer is D. a specific technicalQUESTION NO:needs to be answered, stopping work on the spike as. A spike is a time-boxed research or prototyping activity used to answer a specific technical or design question that the team cannot confidently estimate or address without further investigation. The team stops work on the spike once the question is answered, avoiding…

Submitted by parkjh· Apr 18, 2026Adaptive Planning

Question

Spike solutions are appropriate when:

Options

  • Athe business requirements are vague or inadequate for an iteration.
  • Ba technology is understood well and has been used for a while, but needs a problem to be
  • Cthere is insufficient time to refactor, but there is a need to resolve a specific problem.
  • Da specific technicalQUESTION NO:needs to be answered, stopping work on the spike as

How the community answered

(24 responses)
  • A
    8% (2)
  • C
    4% (1)
  • D
    88% (21)

Explanation

A spike is a time-boxed research or prototyping activity used to answer a specific technical or design question that the team cannot confidently estimate or address without further investigation. The team stops work on the spike once the question is answered, avoiding gold-plating. Option A describes a backlog grooming or requirements issue, not a spike scenario. Option B describes a situation where the technology is already well understood, making a spike unnecessary. Option C describes a technical debt situation, not a spike.

Topics

#Spikes#Agile Planning#Technical Uncertainty#Experimentation

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