Definition of Done vs Acceptance Criteria: What's the Difference?

Teams find it difficult to differentiate between Definition of Done vs Acceptance Criteria. End the confusion! Learn what acceptance criteria are and see examples of acceptance criteria for user stories. See why some call acceptance criteria conditions of satisfaction.Then understand how this is different from the definition of done, again with examples.

Explore User Stories with Mountain Goat

Inside this Video
00:00 Introduction
00:39 Acceptance Criteria Defined
00:50 Example Acceptance Criteria
01:38 Acceptance Criteria Are Specific to One Story
01:56 What Is a Definition of Done?
02:08 Example Definition of Done Items
02:45 Difference between Acceptance Criteria and Definition of Done
03:37 Using Definition of Done and Acceptance Criteria

[Relicarious]

Very much on board with this.
I often explain it like this:
The acceptance criteria are usually about the content of the feature and are readily verifiable to a stakeholder (could be the user from the user story), e.g. it has buttons, it's pink, it's available on Thursdays.
The definition of done is about the quality or finish of the craftsmanship on the feature and the process surrounding it, e.g. we have unit tested to so-and-so level, we have received thumbs up from at least one stakeholder, at least two developers have an understanding of the way it works.

It then follows that usually
Unmet acceptance criteria means feature not finished.
Unmet definition of done means technical debt.

Extra important to be diligent about definition of done because the receiver will let us know if the criteria for acceptance went unfulfilled whereas definition of done rarely has an active champion outside the team. And for sustainable production we need both upheld.

[eniolaboluogun]

Mike, I must appreciate you for making this video concise and fun to watch. You are the reason why I have succeeded with Agile over the years. Thank you!

[DonPapiChulo]

Never seen this topic explained so well. Awesome content!

[ushadigiacomo]

Thank you. Your vídeos are great. Clear and concise. Passed with flying colors through my acceptance criteria 😂

[charlottesmith]

One of the GOATS! thank you Mike ! Love your videos :) Very concise and easy to understand- plain english! love it

[AnnaBerdnik-zs]

You are the best speaker on BA I have met on the YouTube so far. Thanks for making each video short, clear and comprehensive!

[ancore]

Thank you for this video Mike, very clear and straight to the important points. I had a good understanding of 'Acceptance Criteria' but wasn't too sure about 'Done', I do now - thank you.

[ABS]

Your training skills are outstanding. You make everything clear and simple, with your helpful examples and visuals. Excellent work!! Many thanks for making these.

[cbaloch]

I have gone through different videos on DOD. But this was is very insightful, different and practical. Thank you

[WaqasAhmed-ubht]

Simple and to-the-point explanation! Nicely done Mike.

[sunnyprabhat]

Wow! Very nicely and precisely explained the difference, Mike! Appreciate you making this video to help the larger audience get the clarity of thought and concepts clearer. Thank you!

[jonno]

That's the slickest segway to subscribing I've ever seen 👍 great channel Mike

[kathycrowley]

Great video with a simple definition. Will be sharing this with my team.

[maddog_jcanikon]

Thank you Mike, great and easy to understand contribution to comon sense in agile wording.

[akpbrai]

This is such a refreshing video I am looking forward to watching more content

[ChrisLuttrell]

Thank you Mike! Your videos are as great as your books.

[martynagiszczak]

Really nicely and simply explained topic, thank you for that, Mike :)

[marianov]

Thanks a lot for the information, AC and DoD successfully completed by your video :) regards from Argentina!

[MoTheFcker]

best videos about scrum on the interweb ;)

[rachnanj]

Great explanation, would love for you make a video on Defination of Ready and it's relevance in scrum best practices. Thank you