Happy Path
A scenario that describes the expected, successful flow of a feature — what happens when everything goes right and the user stays on the main track.
The happy path is the default scenario: the user is in the expected state, they take the expected action, and the product does the expected thing. No errors. No edge conditions. No surprises. Every feature has at least one.
Happy paths are the scenarios that get written most often — and the ones that cause the most false confidence when that's all a spec covers. “Users can filter their results” is a happy path claim. It tells you nothing about what happens when the filter returns no matches, or when the filter value is invalid, or when two filters contradict each other.
A complete specification balances happy paths with edge cases and errors. The happy path tells you what the feature is for. The edge cases and errors tell you what happens when reality shows up.
Example
- CONTEXT
A user is viewing the board
- ACTION
They drag a task card from "In Progress" to "Done"
- OUTCOME
The task status is updated and the card animates into the new column
Related terms
- SPEC
Scenario
A single plain-language description of how a product behaves in a specific situation. The atomic unit of a living product specification.
- SPEC
Edge Case
A scenario that describes unusual but valid behaviour — the conditions at the edges of what the feature supports. Often the source of support tickets.
- SPEC
Error Scenario
A scenario that describes what the product does when something goes wrong — invalid input, failed validations, blocked actions, or system-level failures.