Difference between ‘Done’ and ‘Finished’

It’s an age-old question: what’s the difference between “done” and “finished”? We’ve found that when it comes to projects, there is a distinct difference.

A “Done” project is something that looks good and works.

A “Done” project is something that looks good and works. That’s it. It doesn’t have to be understood by all parties; it just needs to be finished. A good example of this would be building an app for your company, which you do using a team of developers who have been working on it for several months. Once they’ve made the deadline and released their new product, they’re done! They don’t need anyone else’s approval–it’s ready for use in your organization as soon as it comes out of beta testing phase (or whatever).

On the other hand: A “Finished” project is one that has undergone rigorous testing before being released into production mode; this means that not only does it look good but also functions properly according to user specifications.

A “Finished” project is something that looks good and works, and is also clearly understood by all involved parties.

A “Finished” project is something that looks good and works, and is also clearly understood by all involved parties.

A “Done” project can be unfinished; it could have bugs or problems with it, it might not have been tested enough to be sure it will work for all users.

You need to make sure that any time you’re using the word “done,” you’re referring to something that is truly finished: no more changes are expected or desired for this particular task at this time.

Takeaway:

You’ve done it! You’ve finished reading this article. Now, what?

In the same way that you want your readers to walk away from your article with a takeaway, or lesson learned from reading it, you also want them to be able to take away one specific message from each section of your piece. The takeaway should be in keeping with the tone and voice of your writing–it should feel like an extension of what has already been written rather than something tacked on at the end.

The important takeaway is that “done” and “finished” are not the same thing. They are two very different things, with very different meanings and connotations. These words should not be used interchangeably because they’re confusing to everyone involved in a project! If you want to get the most out of your team members’ efforts, make sure they know what each word means before using them in conversation or writing assignments.”