What is a definition of done?

A definition of done (DoD) is an explicit, agreed-upon list of conditions that a work item must meet before it can be marked as finished. It acts as a quality gate, ensuring that every task, story, or card passes the same standard regardless of who worked on it. A typical DoD might include criteria like "code reviewed," "unit tests passing," "documentation updated," and "deployed to staging."

The concept was formalized in Scrum but applies equally to kanban and other methodologies. Without a shared DoD, "done" becomes subjective: one developer considers a feature done after writing code, while another expects it to be tested and documented. This ambiguity leads to rework, escaped bugs, and friction between teammates.

Why it matters

A clear definition of done reduces two of the most common project risks: incomplete work and inconsistent quality. When every team member knows exactly what "done" means, handoffs become smoother. QA does not need to send items back because basic checks were skipped. Product managers can trust that a card in the Done column actually represents shippable work.

The DoD also keeps work-in-progress honest. If your board's Done column is full of items that still need testing, your cycle time and throughput metrics will be misleading. A rigorous DoD ensures metrics reflect real completions, which in turn makes planning more accurate.

Teams typically start with a minimal DoD and expand it as they mature. Early on it might be "tests pass and PR merged." Over time it grows to include documentation, accessibility checks, performance benchmarks, or security reviews.

How Flux handles definition of done

Flux supports definition of done through checklists on cards. You can create a standard set of checklist items that represent your DoD criteria, and the board shows checklist completion progress directly on each card preview. Assign a column as the "Done" column in board settings, and Flux will track when cards arrive there, feeding accurate data into the activity log.

For teams that want more structure, labels can mark cards that have passed specific gates (e.g., "reviewed," "QA-passed"), and the AI assistant can help draft checklist templates for consistent application across new cards.

Related terms

See also: User story, Sprint, Workflow.