This article discusses the the role of the Product Owner in moving a backlog item to done. It explores how to achieve the productivity benefits of an up-front enabling specification, given the reality that Scrum is an empirical framework in which emergent understanding of the story under development is inherent.
“Done” is not some arbitrary state of a backlog item. When an item is done, users can take advantage of the new functionality and give meaningful user feedback. The article lists some common issues with software delivery: annoying user interface, busy Product Owner, or suboptimal functionality. It then discusses the concept of “enabling specification” and its implementation in an empirical approach like Scrum.