Definition of Done Example

The Definition of Done is a critical concept in Scrum (and many agile frameworks). When an increment of the product meets the criteria described in the Definition of Done, then that integrated increment can be shared and released with no further work. If it is not met then it should not be shared in the Sprint Review, let alone released.

It is key for the definition to be understood by people using the system - and this creates transparency for the Scrum Team as well as the stakeholders and other teams working with them. When there are many teams working on the product, they must all work together to ensure the Definition of Done of all their cumulative work is integrated into a single product.

An example Definition of Done for any product:

• The Scrum Team are proud of the work
• Peer Reviewed
• Meets all acceptance criteria
• Release documentation updated
• Quality checks passed
• Meets organisational standards
• No known defects

This could apply to any business or technical domain.

For a software product an example Definition of Done for software may be:

• The Scrum Team are proud of the work
• Peer Reviewed
• Meets all acceptance criteria
• Release documentation updated
• Quality checks passed
• Meets organisational standards
• No known defects (or 1 less defect if an old product)
• Code committed to version control
• Branch merged to Main
• Automated build complete
• Deployment artefacts (war,jar,msi,DB scripts) created
• Deployed to Test environment
• Build Verification test complete
• All automated tests passed
• Security tests passed
• Performance tests within tolerance (system responds in <1 second)
• Usability tests pass
  • Visual
  • Audio
  • Colorblindness
  • Screen Reader
• Automated build pass
• Rollback tests pass

The whole point of Scrum is to deliver Done Increments, which enables business agility.

Call to action

There are some key questions to an effective use of Done:

• Does everyone in the Scrum Team understand and agree to use the Definition of Done?
• Does the Definition of Done build on your organisational standards?
• Can you demonstrate that your Increment has met the Definition of Done?
• Are you teams held accountable to consistently deliver to the Definition of Done?
• Do you review your Definition of Done to improve it?
• Have you a plan in place to automate as much of the Definition of Done as possible?