One of the initial and most essential parts of any project is the creation of a technical requirements document, also referred to as a technical specification of a project. In this post, we will tell you why a project without a technical specification has little chances of making it big. Also, we will explain why a development team cannot deliver the best results without a technical specification document.
Who Should Write Technical Requirements?
A client is the only person that needs to be involved in writing the technical requirements by all means. A client is the person who came up with the project idea, has the project concept in their mind and thus can explain it better than anyone else.
Some clients wonder why the development team needs the technical requirements at all. Such a request can even make some clients suspicious about the competence of the team they chose. Such a client assumes that there’s no need to tell the specialist how to do their work. Shouldn’t the latter know how to implement the idea in the best technical way?
The thing is, if you don’t provide any precise technical requirements, you risk to get a product that is far from what you’ve expected. The technology scope is huge, and so is the choice of how to implement every idea in a technical way is. There is no fit for all solutions when it comes to the website and mobile app development.
Only a Client Knows What They Need
Let’s draw a parallel between the development process with a dinner out. When you come to different restaurants and order your favorite meal, let it be fried eggs, you are likely to have different experiences with the same meal. The cooking time, the service, the price are going to be different depending on where you order it. The taste might differ too if you don’t specify what exactly you want and just ask for fried eggs. Some places will make you a four-egg omelet, others will bring you one egg Benedict, some will make you three scrambled eggs, some will add vegetables, and just one place will make you the two sunny side up eggs you initially had in mind. While you didn’t have to tell the chef how to heat the stove, break the eggs, and what kind of plate to serve your eggs it, you should have said to the waiter what dish you would like to get.
The same applies to both website and mobile app development. While you don’t need to teach your development team how to code, track bugs, and organize their work process, you do need to tell them what product you are looking for. Don’t expect your development team to guess what you want and waste everyone’s time by trying to align the unspoken expectations with the unexpected project results.
Content of a Good Technical Requirements Document
An excellent technical requirements document should contain the following information:
- the objectives of the project;
- the target audience of the project;
- the interface of the project;
- the constituents of the project;
- the description of the project milestones;
- the requirements for the deployment of the project.
Provided that your technical specification has all this information, this document will serve as an excellent reference for all the sides involved in the development of your project. After your product is ready, you will be able to use it for further project maintenance. In case you ever need to change a development team, the transition will be much easier with a good technical specification.
Things to Delete from the Technical Specification
It’s important to keep your technical requirements document as brief as possible. Take time to eliminate any redundant information from it. Remember, technical specification is not a functional specification. The latter should contain information on the product’s performance from the user’s point of view, as well as a detailed explanation of how the product operates. The technical specification does not answer these questions, as it deals with the technical side of the development of your software product.
What to Do When Technical Requirements Are Impossible to Make?
Are there any exceptions from the “a project needs a technical requirements document” rule? What if there is no way to create a technical requirements document for your project? Generally, you can skip the creation of technical requirements in case your project development will take less than one week, and one programmer will do all the work. In any other case, having no specifications puts your project at risk.
How Design Influences Technical Requirements
The amount of data in your technical requirements, its complexity, and structure will depend on the level of UI design you would like to implement. A basic user interface requires much less technical documentation than a sophisticated one. In any case, technical requirements are still vital for your project.
For example, let’s take three different websites with a similar design. Take a good look at them .
At first sight, it might seem that technical requirements for these websites would be nearly identical, wouldn’t it? However, the pictures you see are all just tips of icebergs. Take a look at each of the pictures carefully.
Here are the discrepancies between website designs that might not be so obvious for non-technical clients:
- In the first picture, we have a simple design with default buttons.
- In the second picture, we see the utilization of the design libraries.
- There is a custom design in the third picture.
- The sophistication of design grows from example one to example three.
So, the design of every one of the above-described websites will take a different amount of time. Consequently, the development cost will differ in every case as well. Without precise technical requirements, the development team will not know what you are looking for and based on the reference picture and their perspective, they can deliver a product that can surprise you with its functionality and cost.
Final Thoughts
The main message we wanted to convey to you in this post is that technical specifications are the foundation of your project. To avoid misunderstanding, conflicts, and a waste of everyone’s time and money, prepare comprehensive technical requirements that will answer any question about the project. Once the product is delivered, you can refer to the previously written requirements in case anything in your product does not work as intended. Having documented your technical requirements, you laid down your expectations and showed the way for the developers to follow. The less accurately you describe a product you need to develop, the less likely are final results to meet your expectations.
