The Definition of Ready I Use to Protect My Sprints

Welcome, Developer 👋

Over time, I’ve realized that most sprint instability doesn’t come from poor engineering. It comes from unclear readiness.

Earlier in my career, I believed delivery speed was mostly about technical skill and focus.

Now I see something different.

Many of the delays, rework cycles, and mid-sprint friction I’ve experienced were caused by work entering a sprint without being truly ready.

Not broken. Just incomplete.

What “Not Ready” Actually Looks Like

In my experience, readiness issues often show up as:

• Integration dependencies still being negotiated
• API contracts not fully defined
• UI screens missing loading or error states
• Analytics tracking left undefined
• Assumed infrastructure availability
• Security questions raised during implementation
• Bugs without reproducible steps

None of these are execution problems.

They are input problems.

And if the input is unstable, execution becomes reactive.

Why I Started Using a Checklist

At some point, I stopped asking:

Does this look good enough to pull into sprint?

And started asking:

What risks are we ignoring by committing now?

That shift led me to formalize a Definition of Ready checklist - not as bureaucracy, but as a way to reduce avoidable friction.

A sprint should be execution. Not discovery.

The Definition of Ready Checklist I Use

Below is the checklist I rely on before work enters a sprint.

It’s not perfect. It’s not rigid.

But it has consistently reduced mid-sprint instability.

It’s built based on my personal experience (not AI generated).

1. General Requirements (All Tickets)

• Scope clearly defined and understood
• Business value and priority confirmed
• Acceptance criteria clear, testable, and unambiguous
• Ticket sized appropriately for one sprint
• No unresolved blockers
• Definition of Done achievable
• Key assumptions explicitly identified
• Ready for estimation

If a ticket cannot be estimated confidently, it usually isn’t ready.

2. Dependency & Integration Readiness (If Applicable)

This is where most hidden risk lives.

• All dependencies identified
• Dependency ownership identified (who is responsible?)
• External/internal services confirmed available in required environment
• API contracts defined and stable
• Integration documentation provided
• Access credentials/configuration provisioned
• Test accounts or sandbox environments available
• SLA / expected behaviour understood
• Failure handling strategy identified (timeouts, retries, fallbacks)
• Observability impact reviewed (logs, monitoring, alerts)
• Data contract changes reviewed and backward compatibility considered

Assumed availability is not availability.

If integration is still being designed, it should not enter a sprint.

3. Feature Readiness

Business & Functional

• Clear description of purpose and expected outcome
• Success criteria defined (how we measure effectiveness)
• Acceptance criteria defined (BDD preferred)
• Non-functional requirements identified (performance, accessibility, security, compliance)
• Supporting documentation linked

UI / UX (If Applicable)

• Figma link included
• Figma screenshots embedded in the ticket (as design can be updated as sprint goes)
• Loading state defined
• Empty state defined
• Error state defined
• Edge cases covered
• Accessibility considerations reviewed

Development should not begin based on partial mockups or verbal alignment.

Analytics & Event Tracking (If Used in Production)

If a product relies on data, tracking is part of the feature.

• Analytics impact assessed
• Event names defined (snake_case, action-oriented)
• Trigger conditions specified
• Event parameters defined
• Business purpose documented
• Legacy tracking impact reviewed
• No PII included without explicit approval

If it cannot be measured, it cannot be evaluated.

Technical & Operational Preparedness

• APIs and integration points identified
• Data model impact reviewed
• Risk level acknowledged
• Change type classified (UI / Backend / API / Infra / Data / Security)
• Rollout strategy defined (feature flag, staged release)
• Observability plan defined

Features do not end at merge. They run in production.

4. Security & Privacy Impact (If Applicable)

Security is often treated as a late-stage concern. I’ve learned it should be part of readiness.

• Data classification reviewed (public / internal / sensitive / restricted)
• Security review required? (Yes / No — reviewer identified if Yes)
• Privacy impact assessed
• New permissions required (app permissions, API scopes)?
• PII exposure risk evaluated
• Compliance considerations identified

Security and privacy should not first appear during code review, it should be evaluated before sprint commitment.

5. User Stories

A User Story is a development-level slice of a Feature and focuses on implementation clarity rather than system-wide strategy.

• A clear technical implementation objective is provided
• A parent Feature exists (unless intentionally standalone)
• Acceptance criteria are technically specific
• The work is small enough to be completed within a single sprint
• Effort estimation has been completed and agreed by the team
• Dependencies relevant to this slice are confirmed ready
• Analytics requirements are inherited or explicitly defined (if introducing new tracking)
• UI references are included (if applicable)
• Security and privacy implications are inherited from the Feature or explicitly evaluated if new scope is introduced

User Stories should execute strategy - not redefine it.

6. Bugs

• Reproduction steps provided
• App version / OS / Device included
• Environment specified
• Screenshots or recordings attached
• Expected behaviour clearly defined
• Impact and severity documented
• Logs / Sentry ID included
• Regression risk identified

Incomplete bug reports should be returned before sprint commitment.

What Changed After Using This

This checklist didn’t make delivery slower. It made sprints calmer.

Fewer clarifications.

Fewer mid-sprint surprises.

Fewer production “why didn’t we think about that?” moments.

It didn’t eliminate risk. It made risk visible earlier.

Conclusion

A Definition of Ready is not about process control. It’s about protecting the team from avoidable chaos.

Control the input. Execution becomes much more predictable.

Stay focused, Developer 🫡