Definition of Done (DoD)
A shared understanding of what it means for work to be complete.
Detailed Explanation
The Definition of Done is a shared understanding of the criteria that must be met for a product backlog item to be considered complete. It ensures transparency and quality across the team by providing a common standard for 'done' that goes beyond individual story acceptance criteria.
While acceptance criteria are specific to each user story, the DoD applies to all stories universally. A typical DoD might include: code written and peer-reviewed, unit tests passing, integration tests passing, documentation updated, deployed to staging, and Product Owner has reviewed.
The DoD is created by the Scrum Team and may evolve over time as the team matures. A more mature team typically has a more stringent DoD. If the DoD is too lax, low-quality work gets marked as 'done,' creating technical debt. If too strict, nothing ever gets done.
Key Points
- Shared standard for what 'done' means — applies to all stories
- Different from acceptance criteria (which are story-specific)
- Created by the Scrum Team and may evolve over time
- Ensures quality consistency across all deliverables
- Too lax = technical debt; too strict = nothing gets done
- Reviewed and strengthened as the team matures
Practical Example
A team's DoD: (1) Code written and committed, (2) Peer code review completed, (3) Unit test coverage >= 80%, (4) All CI/CD pipeline checks pass, (5) Deployed to staging environment, (6) Product Owner has reviewed and accepted, (7) Technical documentation updated. Any story not meeting ALL criteria is not done and cannot be included in the sprint increment.
Tips for Learning and Applying
Make the DoD visible — post it in the team workspace or wiki
Review and strengthen the DoD in retrospectives as the team matures
Ensure the DoD is achievable within a sprint — do not set impossible standards
Use the DoD to have honest conversations about what 'done' really means
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