What is the primary purpose of a Sprint?

The primary purpose of a Sprint is to deliver a done increment of working product. This focus on delivering a potentially shippable product increment ensures that each Sprint culminates in tangible progress that can be assessed and potentially released to stakeholders. The core of Scrum lies in its iterative approach, where work is organized into short cycles—Sprints—which allow for regular delivery of value.

By concentrating on producing a completed increment, the Development Team provides an opportunity for inspection and adaptation not just at the end of the Sprint but throughout the process as they aim to meet the Definition of Done. This ensures that the increment is usable, complete, and capable of receiving feedback from stakeholders, guiding future decisions and adjustments.

The other options involve important aspects of the Scrum framework but do not capture the fundamental purpose of the Sprint itself. Planning future product releases and evaluating the Development Team’s performance can occur as a result of the delivered increment but are secondary to the goal of producing working software. Feedback from stakeholders is also valuable, yet it follows the delivery of a completed increment; thus, the emphasis remains on the delivery during the Sprint.