In all aspects of project management, especially Agile methodologies, it is essential to understand when a particular task is considered “Done”. The challenge is that the project team may have one view and the project sponsor and stakeholders another.
This can lead to the uncomfortable position that concerns are raised near the end of the project, such that the delivery will fail to meet the requirements. In some cases, it might be an easy point to reach an agreement. In many others, there might be a big gap, with the only solution being to extend the project’s timeline (and budget).
This is why it is critical to have an agreed “Definition of Done” (DoD) at the start of the project. The DoD acts as a quality gate, ensuring that user stories (or any work item) are finished to a consistent and agreed-upon standard before they are considered complete. A well-defined DoD helps teams maintain quality, ensures alignment, and avoids confusion about what “done” means.
What is the Definition of Done?
The Definition of Done (DoD) is a shared understanding among the project team, sponsor and stakeholders about what criteria must be met for a User Story (or any work item) to be considered complete. It is a checklist of tasks, deliverables, or quality standards that must be fulfilled before moving on from the work.
When applied correctly, the DoD brings consistency across the team and avoids misunderstandings about the scope or quality of completed work. This is especially important when teams work across different locations or time zones or when collaborating with external stakeholders.
In Agile, DoD is more than just finishing development or passing a unit test—it also involves meeting various quality and acceptance standards, ensuring the work is functional, tested, and, in many cases, usable in production.
Why is the Definition of Done Important?
There are several reasons why having a clearly defined DoD is vital:
Consistency and Quality: The DoD ensures that every feature or user story is completed to the same standard. Without a clear DoD, one developer’s understanding of “done” might be different from another’s, leading to inconsistencies in quality or functionality.
Clarity of Scope: The DoD defines exactly what “done” means, helping prevent scope creep and avoid incomplete work being marked as complete. Without a DoD, team members may assume that a task is finished when it isn’t.
Predictability: A well-defined DoD provides the team with a consistent framework for evaluating when work can be delivered, increasing predictability in sprints or iterations.
Stakeholder Confidence: When stakeholders know that a user story is “done” based on an agreed-upon definition, they can be confident that the feature is ready to be delivered, tested, or deployed, thus building trust.
Reduction of Technical Debt: The DoD encourages teams to avoid taking shortcuts, reducing the amount of unfinished or low-quality work that would accumulate as technical debt.
Criteria for Defining the Definition of Done
To establish a clear DoD, project teams need to define objective and achievable criteria. These criteria should ensure that each user story or work item meets the agreed-upon standards before it is marked as complete.
Here are some key areas to consider when creating a DoD:
1. Code Completion
At the heart of the DoD is code completion. However, just writing the code isn’t enough. It must also be clean, functional, and adhere to coding standards.
Code Review: Has a peer or senior developer reviewed the code to ensure it meets coding standards and best practices?
No Known Bugs: Are there no critical or high-priority bugs in the code at the time of completion? Minor bugs or enhancements may still exist, but any showstoppers should be addressed.
Adherence to Coding Standards: Has the developer followed agreed-upon code conventions, naming standards, and architectural patterns?
2. Functionality
The feature or user story should work as expected and fulfill the requirements outlined by the product owner or stakeholder.
Acceptance Criteria Met: Does the functionality meet all of the acceptance criteria outlined in the user story? These criteria should be clear, measurable, and testable.
Integrated with Other Features: Is the new functionality properly integrated with other parts of the application, ensuring that no existing features are broken?
3. Testing
A robust DoD strongly focuses on testing to ensure quality and stability. The level of testing can vary depending on the project and its complexity, but it typically includes the following:
Unit Testing: Has the code been tested at the smallest functional level to ensure that individual components or units work as expected? Is there at least a minimum level of code coverage achieved (e.g., 80%)?
Integration Testing: Does the feature work correctly when integrated with other components of the system?
Acceptance Testing: Has the functionality been tested end-to-end from the user’s perspective, verifying that the requirements are met in real-world conditions?
Automated Testing: Are there automated tests to check for regressions in future updates or deployments?
4. Documentation
Clear documentation is essential for the ongoing maintenance and scalability of the product. The DoD should specify that any necessary documentation is completed before the user story is marked as done.
Code Comments and Documentation: Has the code been appropriately commented, particularly in complex or non-obvious areas?
User Documentation: Has the necessary user-facing documentation, such as help guides or API documentation, been created or updated?
Update of Specifications: Have any specifications or design documents been updated to reflect the completed work?
5. Non-Functional Requirements
Beyond functionality, non-functional requirements such as performance, scalability, and security must also be addressed.
Performance Benchmarks: Does the new feature meet any performance or load requirements? Is it efficient and scalable for the expected number of users?
Security: Have any potential security issues been considered and mitigated? Does the feature comply with security best practices?
Usability: Is the feature easy to use from the end-user’s perspective? Has it been tested for accessibility or user experience issues?
6. Deployment and Release
In some cases, “done” also includes deploying the work to a production or staging environment, ensuring it can be delivered seamlessly to users.
Ready for Deployment: Is the feature or work item packaged and ready for deployment to a staging or production environment?
Release Notes: Have any necessary release notes or changelog entries been created for the feature?
Rollback Strategy: Is there a clear rollback strategy in case something goes wrong in production?
Example of a Comprehensive DoD Checklist
Here is an example of what a DoD checklist might look like for a typical software development project:
Code has been written, peer-reviewed, and complies with coding standards.
All acceptance criteria are met.
All unit tests pass, with a minimum of 80% code coverage.
Integration tests have been executed to ensure no new bugs are introduced.
User documentation is complete.
Performance benchmarks are met.
Security considerations have been reviewed and addressed.
The feature is deployed to the staging environment without issues.
Release notes are created, and the product owner has signed off on the feature.
Conclusion
The Definition of Done is a vital tool in project management, helping to ensure that teams consistently deliver high-quality, fully completed work.
By defining clear criteria for code completion, testing, documentation, and non-functional requirements at the start of a project, teams can avoid ambiguity and ensure that each user story meets the same standard. Not only does this improve the quality of the deliverables, but it also builds trust among stakeholders and creates a more predictable development process.
