Definition of Done

Definition of Done (DoD) is a simple thing, although people are often struggling with it. It only defines what “done” means. It brings consistency into the product delivery. It sets the bar of quality we all keep the same. People often mix it with the acceptance criteria and are confused. So let me summarize it. Definition of Done shall be the same for all Product Backlog Items, as we need consistency, we need to know which quality standards are kept.  Definition of Done is created as an agreement between Product Owner and Development Team, so it contains both technical and business quality requirements. It shall be stable for the product and not change Sprint to Sprint. Eventually, we can improve it, but we aim for consistency so we keep it stable. Definition of Done is the same for all teams who work on the Product Backlog to keep that consistency.

So how can such Definition of done look?

• Coded
• Tested
• Reviewed
• Documented
• Running on test server
• Accepted by Product Owner

You can make it more specific:

• Coded according to Product Backlog Item (User Story) definition
• Automated tests (unit, functional)
• Reviewed (by different team member)
• Documented (internal)
• Running on test server
• Accepted by Product Owner

Eventually, in some time we may improve it for example as follows:

• Coded
• Tested
• Reviewed
• Documented
• User documentation
• Translated to Chinese, French and German
• Running on production
• Contains business measures how users used it
• Accepted by Product Owner

In this case, we achieved continuous delivery within our Sprint. We release each Backlog item to our users directly whenever it’s done. We need to translate it as a part of that otherwise we can’t be able to release. And we have to add some business measures to know if we are getting the expected impact or not and get fast feedback. As you might see, the more the organization is Agile and teams cross-functional, the wider is their Definition of Done.

Definition of Done shall be visible so everybody can see it. Never compromise. The User Story is either done or not. Any other state only brings chaos and makes any release completely unpredictable.