Strategy & Process

What Is Definition of Done?

The Definition of Done (DoD) is a shared checklist of quality conditions that every user story, feature, or increment must meet before it can be considered complete, covering aspects like testing, documentation, code review, and deployment readiness.

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In Depth

While acceptance criteria are specific to each user story, the Definition of Done applies universally to all work. It is the team's quality standard. A typical DoD checklist includes: code is peer-reviewed, unit tests pass with minimum coverage threshold, integration tests pass, no critical or high-severity defects remain, documentation is updated, accessibility standards are met, and the feature is deployed to the staging environment.

The DoD is a team agreement, not a manager mandate. It should be co-created by developers, QA, and product owners. If the DoD is too strict, nothing gets "done" and the team loses velocity. If it is too lax, quality erodes. The right level depends on the team's maturity and the product's risk profile.

The DoD evolves as the team matures. An early-stage startup might have a minimal DoD (code reviewed, tests pass). A team building medical software might require regulatory compliance documentation, security review, and load testing on every story. Periodic retrospectives should evaluate whether the DoD is still appropriate.

Why Interviewers Ask About This

Interviewers ask about the DoD to assess your understanding of quality processes in agile teams. It shows whether you see quality as an individual or a team responsibility.

Example Scenario

A team marks a story as "done" but the QA engineer points out that the DoD requires accessibility testing, which was skipped. The team agrees to add a11y checks to the CI pipeline so the DoD item is enforced automatically rather than relying on memory.

Interview Tip

Clearly distinguish the Definition of Done (team-wide, applies to all stories) from acceptance criteria (story-specific). Share an example of a DoD item you championed adding to a team's checklist.