Driving Product Excellence with Agile Principles: The Power of Done and Backlog Refinement

By Vijay Singh, Product Manager at Material

Advances in technology are reshaping customer expectations and opening doors to entirely new possibilities in product development. In this highly competitive digital product landscape, businesses must swiftly innovate to remain competitive. In this context, product management, powered by agile methodology promotes both flexibility and innovation.

The key agile principles of Defining Done (DoD) and Backlog Refinement are pivotal in product development, each playing a distinct role in achieving business outcomes like ROI, time-to-market, product quality and customer satisfaction. In a competitive world, these agile practices distinguish thriving organizations from those left behind.

In product development and management, DoD should come before backlog refinement to ensure every task is assessed against clear, agreed-upon standards. This reduces ambiguity and aligns the team on what “complete” truly means.

Understanding the Definition of Done in Agile Product Management

DoD is a collective agreement within a team that defines what it means for a task, user story, product enhancement or feature to be considered fully complete. By setting clear and measurable criteria, the DoD provides a standard everyone can understand and apply consistently. This approach not only enhances the quality of the final deliverables, but also ensures the entire team shares a unified understanding of what constitutes “done,” reducing misunderstandings and aligning efforts.

Depending on the scale of the work, the DoD can have multiple layers or stages. The DoD usually evolves across layers, from individual tasks to broader project goals. Each stage ensures consistency in “done” across the agile process. Stages of “done” include:

Task-Level Done – At the most granular level, individual tasks (or user stories) are considered “done” when they meet the team’s specific criteria. These criteria might include:

• The code has been developed and thoroughly reviewed.

• Unit tests have been created and successfully executed.

• The code has been merged into the main branch without any conflicts.

• All user acceptance criteria (UAC) have been satisfied.

• Relevant documentation, where necessary, has been finalized.

Example: A new feature is considered “complete” only when it has been fully developed, tested, reviewed and merged, with all acceptance criteria satisfied.

Sprint-Level Done – A sprint is considered “complete” when all the planned user stories or tasks meet their respective DoD. Sprint-level completion criteria may include:

• Every story/task has fulfilled its defined DoD.

• The objectives of the sprint have been accomplished.

• The product enhancement is ready for potential release (usable by end-users).

• A sprint demo has been conducted to present the finished work to stakeholders.

Example: At the end of a sprint, the team demonstrates the functionality that has been completed, after it has been tested and reviewed and is ready to be deployed.

Release-Level Done – For a release, the DoD is more detailed and encompasses a wider range of requirements to ensure the product is fully prepared for deployment to customers. The release-level DoD might include:

• Thorough testing of every feature, including regression and performance evaluations.

• Completion of security audits and compliance verifications.

• Finalization of all product documentation and user manuals.

• Securing approvals from key stakeholders.

• Successful deployment in a production-like environment.

Example: A software product release/update is deemed ready for release only after passing all the tests, receiving approvals and ensuring that release documentation is available for end-users.

Product-Level Done – At the highest level, a product or project is considered “complete” when it fulfills all business objectives, is fully deployed and is effectively maintained in a live environment. This phase generally includes:

• The product is fully deployed in production and accessible to end-users.

• Systems for gathering customer feedback are active, allowing the team to monitor user satisfaction and gather insights for future improvements.

• All primary stakeholders are satisfied with the delivered features.

• Post-launch support processes, such as bug fixes and user assistance, are established to ensure smooth operation.

• Plans for ongoing maintenance and future enhancements are established.

Example: After iterative releases, the product reaches its final release version. It is live, fully operational and delivers on the original business objectives, marking it as complete from a product-level perspective.

The DoD can be tailored to fit the specific context of the project, the size of the team, and the organization’s requirements. As the project evolves, teams often review and adjust the DoD to address new learnings or challenges. For instance, a team that initially prioritized unit testing may later broaden their DoD to incorporate load testing as their product grows in scale.

Maximizing Clarity and Focus with Backlog Refinement in Agile Product Management

Backlog refinement, also known as backlog management, is an ongoing agile practice where the team revisits and improves the product backlog. This process keeps the backlog organized with clearly articulated user stories that are effectively prioritized, and accurately estimated. It ensures that the development team is always working on tasks that are well-defined, relevant and aligned with current business objectives. Effective backlog refinement keeps teams organized, agile and focused on delivering maximum value in each sprint or iteration.

Key Aspects of Backlog Refinement

• Clarifying User Stories: Product owners and development teams collaborate to ensure user stories are well articulated, detailed and easy to understand, making it easier for developers to deliver exactly what’s needed.

• Prioritizing Backlog Items: Backlog items are reordered based on business value, customer needs and dependencies. This ensures the team is always focused on the most valuable work first, aligning their efforts with current business needs.

• Estimating Effort: Teams assess the effort required for each task based on the story points. These estimates help to manage workload, set realistic sprint goals and prevent overloading the team, resulting in a more balanced and predictable workflow.

• Breaking Down Large Tasks: Large user stories or epics are split into smaller, more manageable tasks. This breakdown allows for incremental value delivery within sprints and makes it easier to track progress and adjust plans as necessary.

• Removing or Updating Irrelevant Items: This involves outdated or irrelevant tasks, keeping the backlog lean and focused on priorities that matter, which helps the team avoid distractions.

• Aligning Stakeholders: Refinement sessions align the team and stakeholders on priorities, ensuring clarity, reducing miscommunication and fostering collaboration.

Through regular backlog refinement, teams can stay organized, focused and adaptable, consistently delivering the highest value in every sprint.

Integrating Agile Practices for Maximum Impact

DoD sets clear criteria for what “done” means for each task, while backlog refinement keeps upcoming work organized, prioritized and well-understood. Integrating these two agile principles in product management helps teams deliver high-quality, valuable work efficiently through:

• Enhanced team alignment.

• Clear task expectations.

• Improved quality control.

• Better resource planning.

• Reduced development risks.

The integration of these two principles gives teams a structured approach to planning and executing work, ensuring every task meets both business goals and quality standards.

From Quality to Competitive Edge: Unlocking Business Value

DoD and backlog refinement are more than operational tools – they’re strategic drivers that sharpen focus and elevate outcomes. The DoD acts as a quality filter, ensuring that no feature reaches customers until it fully meets both business and customer standards. Meanwhile, by refining backlog, business leaders enable teams to prioritize high-impact features that can maximize ROI. The table below shows how these principles drive business success and enhance performance.

Unlock Efficiency and Business Impact with Material

Key practices like defining done and backlog refinement in agile methodologies for product development offer a solid framework for organizations striving to thrive in today’s fast-changing and competitive business landscape. By embracing agile principles and practices, companies can foster innovation, enhance collaboration and provide greater value to their customers. These practices drive better decision-making, elevate output quality and accelerate delivery.

Organizations that consistently implement DoD and backlog refinement practices are better positioned to achieve business objectives and enhance performance. Through regular backlog refinement, teams ensure alignment with business priorities and customer expectations, focusing on the most impactful work. Moreover, by strictly following the DoD, teams minimize technical debt, reduce the need for costly rework and enhance the overall quality of their deliverables. For businesses committed to delivering exceptional customer value and product excellence, Material brings the agile expertise needed to build a disciplined approach that promotes transparency, boosts efficiency and strengthens team collaboration, giving companies a clear competitive edge in the market.

If you’re ready to improve efficiency and take your product management to the next level, reach out to Material today. Let’s start the conversation.