DoD stands for Definition of Done.
It's a clear, shared agreement within the team about what it means for a work item (like a user story, task, or feature) to be considered fully complete.
Think of it like a checklist or a quality standard — it ensures that when someone says, "This is done," everyone knows exactly what that means. It usually includes things like:
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Code is written and reviewed
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Code is tested (unit tests, integration tests)
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Documentation is updated
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Feature is integrated and working
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No critical bugs
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Product Owner has accepted it
Without a solid DoD, teams can easily have mismatched expectations about what's "done," leading to unfinished or low-quality work.
Example: Detailed DoD for a Web App Team
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User story is implemented according to acceptance criteria.
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90%+ unit test coverage achieved.
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Peer code review completed.
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Deployed to a staging environment.
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UI/UX verified against designs.
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No high or critical severity bugs.
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Performance tested (page load time under 2 seconds).
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Security checks (input validation, authentication, etc.) completed.
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User documentation (if any) updated.
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Ready for release or demo.