A companion-app Product Backlog item is coded, reviewed, and demoed internally, but it hasn't been run through the automated regression suite the Developers agreed belongs in their Definition of Done. What should happen to this item?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
A demo isn't the same thing as meeting the Definition of Done, no matter how good it looks. If the agreed regression testing hasn't happened, the item simply isn't Done yet, full stop. It goes back into the Product Backlog and waits its turn, not into the Increment with an asterisk.
Full Explanation
An item that does not meet the Definition of Done cannot be part of the Increment, and there is no partial credit for having been coded, reviewed, or demoed; the standard is binary, not a checklist to be finished later. That means the correct outcome is for the item to remain outside the Increment and go back to the Product Backlog, where it can be reconsidered for a future Sprint. Presenting it at Sprint Review as Done with a footnote misrepresents the Increment's actual state to stakeholders and erodes the transparency the event depends on. Treating a successful internal demo as equivalent to meeting the Definition of Done confuses a subjective impression with an objective, previously agreed standard. Escalating to the Product Owner to waive testing "this once" misplaces the decision: the Definition of Done isn't the Product Owner's to suspend, because doing so would let release pressure quietly erode the quality bar over time. A concrete check for Nestbot: before anything is called Done, walk the specific unmet criterion, note it plainly, and leave the item incomplete rather than negotiating around the gap.