Definition Of Done – A Simple Example Flashcards
What is a Defniition of Done for?
The Definition of Done provides a formal description of the state of the Increment when it meets the quality measures required for the product.
It increases transparency by providing a shared understanding of what work was completed to this minimum level of quality.
A Definition of Done helps us maintain focus on getting work into a Done state during the Sprint.
What is an Acceptance Criteria for?
Acceptance criteria are an optional but commonly used complementary practice to Scrum.
They are a set of statements that describes the conditions that work must satisfy in order to be accepted by a user, customer, or other stakeholder.
Acceptance criteria increase transparency around what is required to complete a piece of work to someone’s satisfaction.
Example for Acceptance Criteria
Imagine we run a Bakery. Our product is baked goods sold in our shop to passing customers. We have 2 items to create that are currently in our Product Backlog. They have acceptance criteria defined to help us understand aspects of the work that needs to be carried out. Here they are:
Product Backlog item 1 – Baguettes
Acceptance Criteria:
- At least 18 inches long and 2 inches in diameter.
- Cooked for 20 minutes at 220 degrees.
- Golden brown all over after cooking.
Product Backlog item 2 – Iced Buns
Acceptance Criteria:
- At least 5 inches long and 3 inches high.
- Cooked for 15 minutes at 200 degrees.
- Icing covers at least 80% of the top of the bun and it has a Cherry on top.
Acceptance criteria are at the micro-level and are unique and specific to each Product Backlog item. The criteria here ensure we have understood the work for each item and that we have met someone’s needs with the completed work.
Example for Definition of Done
Definition of Done:
- All ingredients used were fresh.
- The kitchen was clean at the time of preparation.
- The product has been visually inspected after cooking and is attractive and defect-free.
- 1 product in each batch has passed a taste test before the batch is put on sale.
The Definition of Done is at the macro level and is applied to all Product Backlog items before they can be considered part of an Increment. In this case, our Increments are always baked goods that we put on sale to customers. The 4 items listed here ensure a known level of quality has been reached, regardless of what specific work was carried out for each type of baked produce.
Summary
In this example, we can see that it would not make sense to give a product to a customer that did not meet our Definition of Done. An inferior product could mean we lose the customer, hurt the customer or get our Bakery closed down. Making quality criteria transparent and applying them to all our product Increments helps ensure this does not happen.
Unfortunately when people create less tangible products like software, quality is harder to inspect and so people are more likely to overlook it. Scrum’s Definition of Done is intended to prevent this from happening.
