Definition of Done – why it matters Helen Wassef @hw0809

About Me Helen Wassef Email: helen.wassef@gmail.com https://twitter.com/hw0809 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-wassef

Outcomes vs Activities Are you activity or outcome driven?

DoD – Setting Expectations Defines what conditions must be met for potentially shippable code Outcome based team vs activity based team Sets collective team expectation and eliminates assumptions Drives common understanding around quality

Crafting the Definition of Done Quality is never an accident, it is the result of an intelligent effort. – John Ruskin Get everyone in a room to brainstorm Vote and agree on an achievable DoD Document it, print it, make it visible Different levels of Definition of Done Include testing requirements Level of testing Type of testing Automated testing Include all involved roles

Building the Right Thing the Right way Driven by acceptance criteria Focus on value Solving user problems Leads to… Happy users Happy teams Strong reputation Driven by definition of done Readable code Productive code reviews Quality Gates High quality unit tests High quality automated tests Collaborative effort Culture built around preventing fires not fire fighting

Definition of Done Characteristics Criteria Inclusion List Accepted Achievable Mitigates risk how we design how we version how we code how we test how we document how we deploy Approval process

Levels of Definition of Done Release Feature User Story Compliance requirements are met Non technical work identified Supporting material & documentation published Deployment standards met All the underlying user stories are done Accepted by users Quality metrics Coding standards PO & team agreements

Integrated Teams – DoD What if multiple teams are working on same product? Do they need some level of commonality in their DoD?

Who owns DoD The development team The Product Owner Architects

During Marking User story Done When it matters Quality is not an act, it is a habit – Aristotle Grooming sessions Planning Day During the sprint During Marking User story Done

Definition of Done Evolution High performing teams will evolve the DoD

Summary DoD drives outcome focused culture vs activity focused Get together, brainstorm and outline DoD wish list Vote and publish DoD Make it visible Enforce Periodically revisit and make changes