Defintion of Done

Think of Done as all of the ingredients it takes for an Increment of product to be complete. The Definition of Done is the commitment by the Developers for the Increment, much like the Sprint Goal is the commitment by the Developers for the Sprint Backlog and the Product Goal is the commitment by the Product Owner for the Product Backlog. The Definition of Done includes all of the characteristics and standards an Increment needs to meet in order to be released.

The Scrum Guide says the Definition of Done is a formal description of the state of the Increment when it meets the quality measures required for the product. Once the Definition of Done is met, the Increment is Done and can be delivered.

The Definition of Done creates transparency by providing everyone a shared understanding of what work was completed and what standards were met as part of the Increment. If a Product Backlog Item does not meet the Definition of Done, it cannot be released yet. Think of the Definition of Done as the standards set for the products delivered.

Sometimes the Definition of Done for an Increment includes the standards of the organization. In that case, all Scrum Teams must follow these standards as a minimum. They can elaborate on it with any other standards or characteristics that need to be met for the product. If there are not specific organizational standards, the Scrum Team must create a Definition of Done appropriate for the product.

Definition: The definition of done is a team's shared agreement on what must be true before a piece of work counts as complete. In agile teams, it usually covers development, testing and review, and can include specific activities such as completing performance testing within the sprint.

So what? If testing isn't part of done, it tends to slip to later sprints or the end of a release. Including activities like performance testing in the definition of done keeps quality work inside the sprint.

Examples: A team adding "performance tested against agreed response times" to its definition of done. A story that passes functional tests but stays open because performance testing hasn't been completed.