Is Your Agile User Story Truly "Done"? The Power of a Definition of Done (DoD)
User stories are a cornerstone of Agile, capturing user needs in a concise format. However, simply completing the core functionality of a user story is not enough.
We need a clear definition of what "done" actually means. This is where the Definition of Done (DoD) comes in.
What is Definition of Done (DoD)?
The Definition of Done is an agreed-upon set of items that must be completed before a project or user story can be considered complete.
Why do we need DoD?
It outlines the specific criteria a user story must meet before being considered truly "done."
The DoD is a collaborative effort. Ideally, the entire Agile team (developers, testers, product owners) should be involved in crafting it. This ensures everyone has a stake in meeting the defined criteria.
Here are 10 essential validation points for a sample DoD, with room for customization as per project needs:
✅ Have key stakeholders reviewed and approved the completed user story, including sign-off from the Product Owner?.
✅ Are all functionalities within the user story confirmed through successful unit acceptance testing?.
✅ Have dedicated Quality Assurance (QA) tests been completed and passed, ensuring the user story meets quality standards?.
✅ Is all user story documentation, such as user guides and API references, complete, accurate, and up-to-date?.
✅ Are all open issues related to the user story fixed and verified as closed?
✅ For functionalities involving APIs, are all API references validated and documented for future reference?.
✅ Have clear steps been defined and validated to ensure seamless deployment of the user story to the intended environment(s)?.
✅ Have all smoke tests, designed to verify core functionalities, been successfully run and approved?.
✅ Were any non-functional requirements, such as performance, security, or accessibility, included in the scope of the user story? If so, have these aspects been reviewed and approved?
✅ Have all key stakeholders with a vested interest in the project provided their final sign-off on the completed user story?
By incorporating these validation points into your DoD checklist, you can ensure a more comprehensive and robust definition of "done" for your Agile user stories.
Please share your suggestions, inputs in the below comments.