One of the tools associated with Design Thinking is empathy maps, which are a visual way to

capture and organize the user’s needs, goals, pains, and gains. Empathy maps help the team to

understand the user’s perspective, empathize with their emotions, and design solutions that address

their problems and aspirations. Empathy maps are typically created during the Discover phase of

Design Thinking, where the team conducts user research and synthesizes the

findings. Reference: SAFe for Teams Student Workbook: materials and exercises from Lesson

1; v5.scaledagileframework.com/design-thinking/; v5.scaledagileframework.com/get-feedback/

An Iteration retrospective is a meeting that occurs at the end of each Iteration, where the Agile team

reflects on their performance, identifies what went well and what can be improved, and agrees on

action items to implement in the next Iteration. One of the essential parts of an Iteration

retrospective is the team discussion around opportunities for continuous improvement, where the

team members share their observations, feedback, and suggestions, and collaborate to find solutions

for the challenges they faced. This part of the retrospective helps the team to learn from their

experience, enhance their processes and practices, and increase their effectiveness and

efficiency. Reference: Exam Study Guide: SP (6.0) - SAFe® Practitioner, [Iteration Retrospective]

Relentless improvement is one of the four SAFe Core Values, which are the guiding principles that

help individuals and organizations achieve Business Agility1. Relentless improvement means that

everyone in the organization is committed to continuously learning, growing, and innovating, and

that they embrace a culture of experimentation, feedback, and problem-solving2. By inviting every

team member to work on any project they choose during the Innovation and Planning Iteration, the

organization is demonstrating relentless improvement, as they are providing time and space for

people to explore their creative ideas, learn new skills, and collaborate with others outside their

usual teams. This can lead to better solutions, higher engagement, and faster adaptation to changing

customer and market needs34. Reference: = 1: SAFe Core Values - Scaled Agile Framework5; 2:

Relentless Improvement - Scaled Agile Framework; 3: Innovation and Planning Iteration - Scaled

Agile Framework; 4: How to Implement Quality in a Lean-Agile Environment Successfully

The Inspect and Adapt workshop is a significant event held at the end of each Program Increment

(PI), where the current state of the Solution is demonstrated and evaluated by the Agile Release Train

(ART) teams. The workshop consists of three parts: PI System Demo, Quantitative and qualitative

measurement, and Retrospective and problem-solving workshop. The PI System Demo is the first

part of the workshop, where the ART shows all the Features they have developed during the PI to the

stakeholders and customers. The demo provides feedback on the value delivered and the quality of

the solution. The other parts of the workshop focus on measuring the performance of the ART and

identifying improvement actions for the next PI. Reference: Inspect and Adapt, PI System Demo

The three levels of the Scaled Agile Framework are Essential, Large Solution, and Portfolio. These

levels represent the different levels of abstraction and complexity involved in delivering value to

customers. The Essential level is the foundation of SAFe and includes the Team and Program levels,

where agile teams and agile release trains (ARTs) work together to deliver solutions. The Large

Solution level is an optional level that supports the coordination and alignment of multiple ARTs and

suppliers that build large and complex solutions that require additional roles, events, and artifacts.

The Portfolio level is the highest level of SAFe and provides strategic direction, funding, governance,

and value stream management for the entire portfolio of solutions. Reference: SAFe® for Teams -

Know Your Role on an Agile Team, Exam Study Guide: SP (6.0) - SAFe® Practitioner, SAFe 5.0

Framework

A cross-functional team is a group of people with different functional expertise working toward a

common goal1. In SAFe, a cross-functional team has all the necessary skills to turn an idea into a

working product2. This means that each team member can define, build, and test a component or

Feature, without relying on external dependencies or handoffs3. This enables the team to deliver

value faster, with higher quality and lower risk. Reference: What Are Cross Functional Teams? –

Forbes Advisor, What is Cross-Functional Team in Agile? - Visual Paradigm, SAFe for Teams | SAFe

Practitioner (SP) Certification, [Cross-functional teams: what are they and how to make them work]

The Agile Release Train (ART) is a long-lived team of Agile teams that incrementally develops,

delivers, and often operates one or more solutions in a value stream1. The ART aligns teams to a

common mission using a single Vision and a Program Backlog. The Vision is a description of the

future state of the solution under development. It reflects customer and stakeholder needs, as well

as the features and capabilities planned for the solution2. The Program Backlog is the single source

of truth for the upcoming features of the system. It contains the enablers necessary to build the

Architectural Runway, as well as the user and business features that deliver customer value3. The

Vision and the Program Backlog provide the context and the content for the ART to plan, commit,

develop, and deploy together. Reference: Agile Release Train - Scaled Agile Framework, Vision -

Scaled Agile Framework, Program Backlog - Scaled Agile Framework

The role of the Scrum Master in SAFe is to act as a servant leader who helps teams self-organize,

self-manage, and deliver using effective Agile practices. The Scrum Master educates the team on

various frameworks and methods, including Scrum, Kanban, Extreme Programming, and SAFe,

ensuring that the agreed-upon Agile process is followed. The Scrum Master also helps remove

impediments, facilitates team and program events, coaches the team and stakeholders on how to

apply the SAFe principles and values, and fosters an environment of continuous improvement and

high performance. Reference: Scrum Master - Scaled Agile Framework, SAFe Scrum Master Roles and

Responsibilities - KnowledgeHut

Test-driven development (TDD) is a practice of writing automated tests before writing the production code, and then refactoring the code to make it pass the tests. TDD helps ensure that the code is correct, maintainable, and meets the requirements. Pair programming is a practice of having two programmers work together on the same code, one as the driver who writes the code, and the other as the navigator who reviews the code and provides feedback. Pair programming helps improve the quality of the code, share knowledge, and reduce defects. Continuous Integration (CI) is a practice of integrating and testing the code frequently, usually several times a day, using automated tools. CI helps detect and fix errors early, improve collaboration, and deliver faster. Reference: What Is Extreme Programming (XP)? - Values, Principles, And Practices, What is Extreme Programming (XP)? | Agile Alliance, What are 3 practices of Extreme Programming? – ProfoundQa, What are three practices of Extreme Programming (XP)? (Choos - Madanswer

Stories are the primary means of expressing needed functionality in SAFe. They largely replace the

traditional requirements specification with new paradigms based on Lean-Agile development.

Stories are elaborated by a user-voice statement and acceptance criteria, and they are used to

describe the features and behaviors of the system at various levels of abstraction. Stories are also

testable, estimable, and prioritizable, which makes them suitable for planning and delivering value in

an iterative and incremental way. Reference: SAFe Requirements Model, What replaces detailed

requirements documents in agile?, What replaces detailed requirements documents in SAFe?