What is the Difference between Acceptance Criteria and Done Criteria?
Acceptance criteria are the objective components by which a User Story’s functionality is judged. Acceptance Criteria are developed by the Product Owner according to his or her expert understanding of the customer’s requirements. Acceptance Criteria should explicitly outline the conditions that User Stories must satisfy. Clearly defined Acceptance Criteria are crucial for timely and effective delivery of the functionality defined in the User Stories, which ultimately determines the success of the project. At the end of each Sprint, the Product Owner uses these criteria to verify the completed deliverables; and can either accept or reject individual deliverables and their associated User Stories.
User Stories corresponding to rejected deliverables are added back to the Updated Prioritized Product Backlog during theGroom Prioritized Product Backlog process, to be completed in future Sprints. The rejection of a few individual deliverables and their corresponding User Stories is not a rejection of the final product or product increment. The product or product increment could be potentially shippable even if a few User Stories are rejected.
The following diagram illustrates the how Acceptance Criteria for the User Stories are used in the product increment flow of a Sprint.
Done Criteria are a set of rules that are applicable to all User Stories in a given Sprint. General Done Criteria could include any of the following:
· Reviewed by other team members
· Completed unit testing of the User Story
· Completion of quality assurance tests
· Completion of all documentation related to the User Story
· All issues are fixed
· Successful demonstration to stakeholders and/or business representatives
The key difference between Done Criteria and Acceptance Criteria is that while Acceptance Criteria are unique for individual User Stories, Done Criteria are a set of rules that are applicable to all User Stories in a given Sprint. But as with the Acceptance Criteria, all conditions of the Done Criteria must be satisfied for the User Story to be considered Done.
Here is a video on Acceptance Criteria and Done Criteria: http://www.scrumstudy.com/watch.asp?vid=594
The Scrum Team should use a checklist of the general Done Criteria to ensure a task is finished and the result meets the Definition of Done (DoD). A clear Definition of Done is critical because it helps remove ambiguity and allows the team to adhere to required quality norms. The definition of Done is typically determined and documented by the Scrum Guidance Body.
The required records and data to comply with the project’s documentation requirements can be generated as the team proceeds through Sprints and Releases.
The inclusion of activities such as holding review meetings and writing design documents can help ensure compliance with internal and external quality standards. The basic principles of Scrum such as short iterations, incremental building, customer involvement, adaptation to changing requirements, and constantly adjusting scope, time, and cost within the project will still apply.
Toward the end of any iteration, the respective business unit and stakeholders participate in a Sprint Review Meeting in which the product increment is demonstrated to the Product Owner, sponsor, customer, and users. While feedback from all the stakeholders is gathered, only the Product Owner has the power to accept or reject a particular User Story as Done, according to the agreed upon Acceptance Criteria and Done Critieria. Thus, Acceptance Criteria and Done Criteria play a vital role in maintaining quality and need to be clearly understood by the team.
