Done, also Doneness or Done Done. When a Product Backlog Item or an Increment is described as Done, everyone must understand what Done means. Although this may vary significantly per Scrum Team, members must have a shared understanding of what it means for work to be complete, to ensure transparency. This is the definition of Done for the Scrum Team and is used to assess when work is complete on the Product Increment.
The same definition guides the Development Team in knowing how many Product Backlog Items it can select during a Sprint Planning. The purpose of each Sprint is to deliver Increments of potentially releasable functionality that adhere to the Scrum Team’s current definition of Done.
Development Teams deliver an Increment of product functionality every Sprint. This Increment is useable, so a Product Owner may choose to immediately release it. If the definition of Done for an increment is part of the conventions, standards or guidelines of the development organization, all Scrum Teams must follow it as a minimum.
The Definition of Done is defined by the development organization, if there is none, it is defined by the Scrum Team.
If Done for an increment is not a convention of the development organization, the Scrum Team must define a definition of Done appropriate for the product. If there are multiple Scrum Teams working on the system or product release, the Development Teams on all the Scrum Teams must mutually define the Definition of Done.
Each Increment is additive to all prior Increments and thoroughly tested, ensuring that all Increments work together.
As Scrum Team mature, it is expected that their definitions of Done will expand to include more stringent criteria for higher quality. New definitions, as used, may uncover work to be done in previously Done Increments. Any one product or system should have a definition of Done that is a standard for any work done on it.