Definition of Done

Details
Also known as

DoD, Done Criteria, Acceptance Criteria (team-level)

Core Concepts:

Shared agreement

A formal, team-wide checklist of quality criteria that every increment must satisfy before it is declared "done"

Increment quality gates

Concrete, verifiable conditions — e.g., code reviewed, tests passing, documentation updated, no known defects

Transparency

Makes the meaning of "done" visible and unambiguous to all stakeholders, preventing hidden technical debt

Sprint-level vs. product-level DoD

Teams may maintain separate DoD lists for Sprint increments and for releasable product increments

Continuous refinement

The DoD evolves as the team matures; stricter gates are added over time

Undone work

Work that does not meet the DoD is not counted as complete; it returns to the Product Backlog

Shared responsibility

The entire Scrum team (Developers, Product Owner, Scrum Master) owns and respects the DoD

Key Proponents

Ken Schwaber & Jeff Sutherland ("The Scrum Guide", 2020); Mike Cohn ("Succeeding with Agile", 2009)

When to Use:

  • Establishing a consistent quality standard across a Scrum or agile team

  • Onboarding new team members so they understand what "finished" means

  • Reducing rework and late-cycle defects by agreeing on criteria upfront

  • Aligning developers, QA, and product owners on release readiness