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Glossary
Agile & Scrum

What is Definition of Done?

A Definition of Done (DoD) is a formal set of criteria that a user story or task must satisfy before a team considers it finished. It acts as a standardized checklist for quality, ensuring that every piece of work meets the same level of completeness, such as being tested, documented, and peer-reviewed.

When to use it

Use a Definition of Done during sprint planning and reviews to align the team on quality expectations and prevent misunderstandings about task status. It solves the problem of 'hidden work' or incomplete features being passed through the development cycle by requiring proof of testing and documentation for every item.

Example

A SaaS team building a new integration might establish a Definition of Done that includes unit tests at 80% coverage, code review by a senior engineer, updated API documentation, and verification in the staging environment. If a developer completes the code for the integration but hasn't updated the documentation, the task cannot move to the 'Done' column. This prevents the project from reaching the end of a cycle with a pile of 'finished' features that aren't actually ready to ship to customers.

How Planet Roadmap helps with Definition of Done

Planet Roadmap has a sprint board view that lets you organize tasks into custom workflow stages to ensure every item meets your quality standards before moving to completion.

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FAQ

How is Definition of Done different from Acceptance Criteria?
The Definition of Done is a universal checklist applied to every task in a sprint (like 'code reviewed'), whereas Acceptance Criteria are unique requirements specific to a single user story (like 'user can reset password via email').
What happens if a task doesn't meet the Definition of Done by the end of a sprint?
If an item does not satisfy the DoD, it cannot be considered complete or included in the product increment; it is typically moved back to the backlog for re-estimation and planning in a future sprint.

Related terms

Acceptance CriteriaDefinition of ReadySprintSprint ReviewScrumKanbanProduct BacklogSprint RetrospectiveUser Story

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