What 'Done' Means in Engineering (It's Not What You Think)
When an engineer says "it's done," they mean the core logic works. They probably don't mean it's tested, documented, deployed, monitored, reviewed, handles edge cases, and won't break under load. The gap between "done" and actually done is where most product delays live.
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Transcript
"It's done." Two of the most dangerous words in a product build. Done to an engineer means the logic works. It doesn't mean tested, reviewed, deployed, monitored, or safe under load. The gap between those two definitions is where timelines collapse.
Before you update the roadmap, run through this checklist. Are tests written? Has it been reviewed and merged? Is it deployed to staging? Most of the time, when a developer says done, they're at step one. The rest of the checklist — the part that gets you to actually done — is still ahead. That work takes time. It's not optional. It's just invisible until someone asks.
Here's what actually happens after the engineer says done. Edge cases get found in testing. Load testing reveals the thing breaks at scale. Documentation hasn't been written. Monitoring isn't set up. And there's no runbook for when it fails at 2am. None of this is unusual. All of it takes time. Build this into your estimates upfront and your stakeholders will thank you.