What Problem Does the DoD Prevent?
The DoD prevents the situation where work that “meets acceptance criteria” is still not releasable due to missing quality constraints (e.g., copyright compliance). It replaces conflicting definitions of “done” with one transparent standard.
Metaphor
Having a Definition of Done is like agreeing on what ‘delivered’ means when ordering furniture—without it, the carpenter says it’s done when the table is built, but you’re shocked to find it still sitting in the workshop. The shared definition clarifies that ‘done’ means the table is in your dining room, polished, and ready to use.
Likewise, the DoD prevents ‘done’ from being split into personal milestones versus business-ready outcomes.
Once the benefits of a DoD are clear, the next challenge is avoiding pitfalls in how it’s defined.
Works Consulted
In addition to any sources cited above, the following works informed my thinking: (1)