Definition of Done
The Definition of Done (DoD) is a formal description of the state of the Increment when it meets the quality measures required for the product, providing a shared understanding of what it means for work to be complete.
Explanation
The Definition of Done is a commitment for the Increment artifact. It creates transparency by providing a shared understanding of what work was completed as part of the Increment. If a Product Backlog item does not meet the Definition of Done, it cannot be released or presented at the Sprint Review.
The DoD typically includes criteria such as code review completed, unit tests passing, integration tests passing, documentation updated, and acceptance criteria met. If the organization has a standard Definition of Done, all Scrum Teams must follow it as a minimum. Individual teams can add stricter criteria.
The Definition of Done helps the team understand how much work they can select during Sprint Planning and ensures that the Increment truly represents usable, high-quality output. Over time, teams often strengthen their DoD as they mature, adding more rigorous quality standards.
Key Points
- •Formal description of quality standards the Increment must meet
- •Creates transparency and shared understanding of completeness
- •Organization-level DoD applies as a minimum; teams can add stricter criteria
- •Items not meeting the DoD cannot be released or presented at Sprint Review
Exam Tip
The Definition of Done is not the same as acceptance criteria. DoD applies to every item uniformly, while acceptance criteria are unique to individual backlog items.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Topics
Increment
An Increment is a concrete stepping stone toward the Product Goal, where each Increment is additive to all prior Increments and must meet the Definition of Done to be considered complete.
Definition of Ready
The Definition of Ready (DoR) is an informal checklist that a team uses to determine when a Product Backlog item is sufficiently refined and understood to be pulled into Sprint Planning.
Sprint Retrospective
The Sprint Retrospective is a Scrum event where the Scrum Team inspects how the last Sprint went with regard to people, relationships, processes, and tools, and creates a plan for improvements.
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Burndown Chart
A Burndown Chart is a graphical representation of work remaining versus time in a Sprint or release, showing whether the team is on track to complete the planned work.
Relative Estimation
Relative Estimation is an agile technique where work items are sized in comparison to each other rather than in absolute units like hours or days, providing faster and more accurate estimates.
Sprint Review
The Sprint Review is a Scrum event held at the end of the Sprint where the Scrum Team presents the Increment to stakeholders, gathers feedback, and collaborates on what to do next.
Sprint Backlog
The Sprint Backlog is the set of Product Backlog items selected for the Sprint, plus the Sprint Goal and the plan for delivering the Increment.
Timeboxing
Timeboxing is the practice of allocating a fixed, maximum amount of time for an activity, after which the activity stops regardless of whether it is complete.
Resource Leveling
Resource leveling is a resource optimization technique in which adjustments are made to the project schedule to keep resource usage at or below a defined limit, often resulting in a longer project duration.
Risk Register
The risk register is a project document that records the details of individual project risks, including their identification, analysis results, response plans, and current status.
Stakeholder Mapping
Stakeholder mapping is the visual representation of stakeholder relationships, influence, interest, or other attributes using grids, matrices, or diagrams to support analysis and engagement planning.
Cost Performance Index (CPI)
Cost Performance Index (CPI) is an EVM efficiency metric that measures cost performance as the ratio of earned value to actual cost: CPI = EV / AC.
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