What evidence do you require before calling a feature “done”?

What does “done” mean on your team?

Four months of building forced us to separate four different things: a source commit proves code exists, a passing test proves a defined behavior, a notarization receipt proves an artifact cleared a gate, and a live-store lookup proves distribution. None of those proves adoption, revenue, or a customer outcome.

We’ve started treating completion as a proof ladder instead of one status: implemented → built → installed → live → customer-ready. It has made product reviews less dramatic and much more useful.

What receipt do you require before your team says a feature is done?

I wrote up our full evidence-first framework here:

https://michaelbarbertech.substack.com/p/building-an-evidence-first-company