Definition of Done(DoD) Checklist
For the successful and timely delivery of your product or service, it is crucial to define the criteria for completion. This criterion is known as the 'Definition of Done (DoD). Having a well-defined DoD not only helps in the development process but also serves as an essential quality check that all stakeholders can refer to when assessing progress. It eliminates ambiguity and erroneousness by addressing all expectations upfront, so no assumptions are made later during execution.
So if you're looking to create an efficient, adequate Definition of Done (DoD) checklist, this blog post has everything you need! Read on to learn how crafting such a checklist can benefit everyone involved in the project and make everyone's job easier while ensuring high-quality deliverables!
What exactly is the Definition of Done?
DoD is a list of the several work categories the team must complete successfully before deciding whether or not the work is potentially shippable. These forms of work depend on many factors, including:
- The characteristics of the product being created
- The techniques being employed to develop it
- The business that is making the product
- The current barriers limit the possibility
Benefits of DoD
- It measures quality rather than just functionality, thus, it is not just a checklist but a thorough examination to ensure that the user is satisfied with the final product's quality.
- It assesses the value addition made when each action was completed. Simply finishing something won't cut it; value addition is essential.
- It is generally applied to all sprints, resulting in a consistent approach that promotes openness.
- Redo work is entirely avoided because everything is examined inside before the consumer receives the product.
Specific to the organization, what does DoD offers
It conveys to management that the team is committed to producing high-quality work with the following characteristics.
- Working software is periodically delivered
- Consistently achieving velocity on par with the quality standards
- Information and discipline drive velocity
- A purpose is defined for software fit.
- The PO collaborates with the entire team and even takes responsibility for delivery and quality
How to check product backlog with DoD ?
The Product Owner must ensure that each user story is precisely described for the development team to comprehend and act appropriately. Checking product backlog with DoD is an effective way of managing tasks within a project and ensuring that everything is delivered to the standard agreed upon. To do so, start by identifying and organizing all user stories into categories and assigning priority numbers for each.
Afterward, inspect each item's Description of Done (DoD) document to confirm it adheres to the established criteria. You can also use this time to assess whether additional requirements are needed or if the scope has changed. Once you have gone through all of the stories in the backlog and ensured that they meet the standards set out in the DoD, then move on to review other areas such as architecture, code base, data model, and test cases. This will allow for a more thorough understanding of all aspects of development before release.
Types of DoD
- Definition Of Done Agile For A Feature
DoD's feature level is its most fundamental. Here, we will assess the team's comprehension of the presumptions underlying each specified backlog item. Here, we further check the code quality and ensure that all the necessary steps are taken to complete the process. User stories are for execution, whereas features serve as the strategic layer. Since user story is the accepted term in the scrum, we may use it in place of the quality going forward.
- Definition Of Done Agile For A Sprint
The sprint at the intermediate level is where we guarantee a better level of work check. This is accomplished by determining whether all user stories have been executed in a way that ensures they meet the presumptions. Before deploying it in production, we verify that it satisfies all the requirements.
- Definition Of Done Agile For A Release
This is the last and highest-level stage, which includes a sprint and user story check. However, because agile is an iterative process, this check will only apply to releases because they can only get to this point after passing the sprint. A thorough checklist for a release is created using the feedback from the sprint retrospective.
Conclusion
A Definition of the Done checklist is a great way to ensure that your team is on the same page and knows what is expected of them for a project to be considered complete. It can also help to prevent confusion and wasted time by ensuring that everyone understands the steps needed before a project can be officially marked as finished.
A DoD checklist should include all of the tasks or activities necessary for a project to be completed, as well as who is responsible for each job. It’s essential to make sure that everyone involved in the project agrees and follows the Definition of Done checklist so that there are no surprises when it comes time to mark the task as finished.
Reference
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316441150_A_systematic_review_on_the_use_of_Definition_of_Done_on_agile_software_development_projects
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0164121222001637
