Software Specifications: Define, Plan and Execute More Effective Projects

A project specification is a comprehensive description of the objectives for the development of the project. It contains all the goals, functionality, and details required for a development team to fulfill the vision of the client. It describes how the software product will be used from a user perspective and performance details such as speed, availability, and response time.

Its main purpose is to make good communication with developers and know what they need to do. You can prepare a project specification for any tech projects such as apps development, websites. It is prepared with strong collaboration with every person involved in the project, from the project manager to software developer

What is a Software Specification?

Software specification is a set of documents that has enough information on how final products look like and their performance.

A ‘good’ software specification describes all the functional and technical specifications required to get things done. A comprehensive specification may contain detailed information and extensively describe the scope of work:

• Project objectives
• Targeted audience
• Product structure
• Product behavior
• Project milestones
• Deployment requirements

In a narrow sense, software specification is an instant reference for all the concerned stakeholders of a project. It accumulates the customer’s needs and requirements. Simultaneously, it provides necessary information for the developers, quality assurance team and management. As we know, there are two types of specifications; functional and technical specifications. The major difference between these two is, the functional specification describes how the product will perform whereas technical specification describes the technical aspects of software product development.

Functional Specifications

It is a software development design document. It is well-detailed information on how the product will perform from the perspectives of users. It provides information on the general understanding of how the
product will look and work after everything required has been implemented. It is not that vague and a non-technical person too can
prepare it too.

Technical Specifications

It is meant to describe all the technical aspects of software product development. You can find the following things:-

• Detailed information on the interface signatures
• Class models
• Specific algorithms

As you know, technical specifications dwell only around the technical aspect of the software product development. It is more sophisticated and complex for a non-technical person to prepare this kind of document

Why do You need Software Specifications?

Project specification is the essence of software product development. A well-prepared project specification document helps to direct both the client and the developer on the right path throughout its project life. Some tech companies may not require the specified project specification but without them, they get entangled and the development process may take a long time to finish. The following headings signify the importance of project specifications. Here are 8 important reasons on why you should not neglect software specifications:

• You define your requirement

It is a clear cut reason for why you need to create specification documents. If you are able to define your requirements and expectations
clearly then your project has more chances to perform well and get success.

• It makes your project estimation smooth

If a product is not fully specified, it is almost impossible to estimate the project like the budget requirement for the project. And this brings failure in the distribution of the workload too. So, if the product specification is created by the in-depth analysis done by professionals then it can make a fair estimation of budget and you can work on it smoothly.

• To make the project schedule right

A properly created project specification helps to assess the workload of the whole team and each member separately which prevents the heavy workload. Not only this, it precisely assigns the tasks and checks the progress of software product development.

• Developers get to become familiar with your product

Software developers can make totally different perceptions and put their own experience on your product. If the product specification is created, developers know better about your idea, vision and how the final product will look like.

If you take these things lightly, the result might get deviated more from what you want. If you pick out the mistakes in earlier days of development you can somehow change and correct them. But after a major part of development is already done, it is really hard for you to avert the mistakes. It makes clear that the product specification has huge importance. It not only saves your time and budget but also helps to make the type of product you really want. And the next thing, you cannot always check on the progress of product development, it is not feasible.

Sometimes, it is not a bad idea to listen to how developers put their vision on your product. Their suggestions can become crucial for you to the latest technology. Overall, you can benefit from the experience and skills of the best developers. At the counterpart, it is certain that when two or more ideas collide there are chances of misunderstanding and disputes. These controversies can go really big and tough to solve. At this point, the product specification can help a lot. Since what you want to have and how you want it to work is mentioned in the product specifications; there will be less room for disputes and if there arise any disputes then you can take the reference from the product specifications to resolve.

• Development team knows your idea better

As you have put a really hard effort to prepare and document the product specifications, you always want a better understanding of the developers' team. The product specifications help both the client and the customer to reach an understanding. All the efforts you made to make the product of your interest and idea you put into it will not go in vain. It actually engages the developers’ team to meet all your expectations about the product.

• Ensure transparency

After creating a product specification, the process of software product development becomes a lot easier. It will have a clear mention of what work is assigned to whom and when the work has to be completed. It makes the development process systematic through enhanced communication. Due to the seamless workflow, productivity is more likely
to get enhanced. It significantly reduces the chances of errors and controversies.

• Risk and cost reduction

A product specification has a clear description of the design and architecture of your product, and it offers a boundless development process. There is no need to make an investment in the redevelopment of the product because there would not arise a situation where anything goes wrong. The development team follows everything mentioned in the plan.

• Product maintenance

The market is always changing. Your product will not work efficiently throughout the lifecycle unless you respond to changes and adapt them to your product. The product specification leaves room for making changes to the product on later days even after the product is deployed.

The project starts to fulfill all the requirements and in that case, you can bag huge success. There are fewer disputes and misunderstandings during the development process. A project with a well-prepared project specification is sufficient for taking the right direction throughout its life. It’s a plan, where everything you need for your project is clearly specified. Information is provided for what to apply under what circumstances. Apart from this, a good level of understanding is maintained between the client and the developers. Your idea is heard or understood better and you will actually get the product exactly what you wanted.

How to Get a Specification for Your Project?

You might have an idea and you don’t know what to do next. Since execution is what matters more than just an idea in your head. You might want to own a business and take it to the next level using different mobile and web applications. Your initial ideas are greatly needed by the developer’s side to build your dream into reality.

We, the developer team from Truemark, can give your 3 options to build the specification for your dream project.

1. Somehow, you already have a ready-made software specification:

Just provide us your technical specification and we will carefully analyze your specification and we will make sure that it meets our tech expertise. After that, we are ready to collaborate.

2. You create functional and technical specifications yourself:

You can create functional and technical specifications from your side. It is not an easy thing to create one though. To create it, you will need an experienced technical specialist. Make sure to include everything, so that you provide us enough details to make the project successful. No worries even if you even miss a few things, we will provide you a project manager and a technical specialist to revise your requirements and even plan the whole architecture as soon as we get your requirements.

3. We jointly prepare win-win project documentation:

Why not we prepare win-win project documentation? All you have to do is provide us the basic information about your product. We will then note out the requirements and work to prepare a specification in collaboration. We will again let you revise the final documentation for revision and to add missing specifications.

This was also published here, and I hope this article helped you!