What is NOT a SAFE-recommended Metric?

Question

Options

• ANumber of lines of code produced.
• BNumber of new test cases automated.
• CNumber of test cases produced.
• DPercent of unit test coverage.
• EPercent of user stories accepted by the Product Owner.
• FNumber of defects outstanding.

• A
  88% (23)
• E
  4% (1)
• F
  8% (2)

Explanation

Lines of code is a quantity metric, not a quality or value metric - SAFe explicitly discourages it because it rewards writing more code rather than better code, and more code often means more complexity and more defects.

The distractors (B–F) are all SAFe-endorsed metrics because they measure outcomes that matter: test automation (B) and test case production (C) support Built-In Quality; unit test coverage (D) reflects code health; story acceptance rate (E) measures whether work actually delivers value to the customer; and outstanding defects (F) tracks quality debt. All of these align with SAFe's focus on quality, flow, and value delivery.

Memory tip: Ask yourself, "Could a team game this metric by producing worse work?" A team can inflate lines of code by writing verbose, redundant code - so it's a trap metric. SAFe metrics should make it harder, not easier, to game quality.

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