Paper Presentation
What’s Ready in a DoR? Rationales, Responsibility & Rules in using a Definition of Ready
Mark van Riesen and Gerard Wagenaar
Abstract:
In agile software development, a Definition of Ready (DoR) is sometimes used to indicate preconditions a Product Backlog Item has to meet before it can be accepted into a Sprint Backlog. This research aims (1) to identify those preconditions, (2) to investigate why Scrum teams do or do not use a DoR, and (3) to identify which (Scrum) role is responsible for drafting and meeting a DoR. Research questions are answered by a Systematic Literature Review as well as a case study where interviews with Scrum team members are conducted. Results show that a DoR varies depending on specific needs and context of a project, but some common elements can be identified, which include elements embedded in the INVEST criteria, clearly defining a Backlog Item, and giving a Backlog Item a corresponding priority. Reasons why teams might use a DoR are related to positive impact on the workflow, like having a faster process, more efficient, less error prone, cheaper, and increasing the quality of the final product. Teams might not use a DoR, because of the overhead of making it, outweighing the potential gains, as well as encouraging a less “agile way of thinking”. Both Product Owner and Scrum Master can be involved in defining and maintaining the DoR, and it is also good practice to involve all team members to get everyone on the same page. Our case study also reveals that use of a DoR is not intuitive per se.