What is the difference between the DoD and Acceptance Criteria?
The use of “acceptance criteria” is not technically part of Scrum, but is a valuable complementary practice. The Definition of Done describes characteristics of the Increment and whether it is “done.” In contrast, “acceptance criteria” are generally characteristics of a Product Backlog Item (PBI) and describe whether the PBI is done.
You may hear Scrum practitioners talking about getting a PBI to Done, or that their PBI meets the DoD. But since the DoD actually pertains to the Increment, these folks are using a verbal shortcut. What they really mean is that when their work (PBI) is integrated into the Increment, the Increment conforms to the DoD.
Blog Post
The DoD and the acceptance criteria are two fundamental concepts in product development. While DoD is part of Scrum, Acceptance Criteria is an additional practice.
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The Definition of Done describes the quality standards for the Increment. Learn why getting to Done is so important, what undone work is, if it’s okay to show work that isn’t done to stakeholders, can you present undone work at the Sprint Review and what’s the difference between the DoD and Definition of Ready or acceptance criteria.