PMP · Question #332
A team is ready to start working on a project with a customer who was very difficult to work with in the past because the customer was unable to describe exactly what they wanted. What approach should
The correct answer is B. Work with the product owner to define the minimum viable product(s). To overcome a customer's difficulty in describing exact requirements, the project manager should work with the product owner to define Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) for iterative feedback and clearer scope.
Question
A team is ready to start working on a project with a customer who was very difficult to work with in the past because the customer was unable to describe exactly what they wanted. What approach should the project manager take to remove this impediment?
Options
- AFollow a predictive approach in order to obtain formal acceptance of each deliverable
- BWork with the product owner to define the minimum viable product(s)
- CReinforce the negotiation and soft skills of the team through training
- DDevelop and monitor a plan with due dates to reduce the time of completing the product
How the community answered
(43 responses)- A5% (2)
- B84% (36)
- C2% (1)
- D9% (4)
Why each option
To overcome a customer's difficulty in describing exact requirements, the project manager should work with the product owner to define Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) for iterative feedback and clearer scope.
A predictive approach with formal acceptance of each deliverable would likely exacerbate the problem, as it relies on having exact requirements upfront, which the customer is known to struggle with.
When a customer struggles to articulate exact requirements, defining a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) provides a concrete, small set of core features that can be built, delivered, and reviewed early, allowing the customer to provide specific feedback and iteratively refine subsequent requirements.
While useful, reinforcing negotiation and soft skills doesn't directly solve the customer's inability to describe what they want; it's a team enablement, not a solution to the requirement definition problem itself.
Developing a plan with due dates focuses on schedule, not on clarifying ambiguous requirements, and would likely lead to rework if requirements are not well-defined.
Concept tested: Managing ambiguous customer requirements (Agile/MVP)
Source: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/minimum-viable-product-key-agile-success-7064
Topics
Community Discussion
5
Bao N.May 17, 2026B is the right call here. The customer cannot describe what they want, which is the classic signal to go agile and build an MVP so they can react to something tangible instead of trying to define everything upfront. A is the trap because formal acceptance on each deliverable sounds safe, but it just locks you into a scope the customer probably cannot articulate in the first place. Saw this one on my third mock last week and the "difficult to describe what they wanted" phrasing is always your MVP giveaway.
Grace U.May 20, 2026Agreed on B, and worth adding that the MVP angle also ties directly to the agile principle of maximizing the amount of work not done, since you are letting the customer prioritize through feedback rather than guessing what matters to them.
Grace U.Apr 30, 2026B showed up on my exam last month and I almost talked myself into A because it sounded safer, but the clue is the customer not knowing what they want, which points straight to agile and defining an MVP with the product owner.
Bao N.May 1, 2026Good catch on the MVP angle, but worth noting the exam usually says "product owner" specifically and not "customer," so watch for that wording distinction because they will use both in the same question stem to trip you up.
Brenda K.May 4, 2026B is correct. MVP forces a starting point so you can stop guessing what they want.