Ask HN: Writing a good spec

4 points by opminion 13y ago ↗ HN

Any tips, experiences, successes or failures in writing a specification for a small software project, for internal use?

I've heard of folks writing a user guide before writing the program. There must be a myriad creative ways of nailing down a good spec (and a gazillion ways of writing a bad one).

3 comments

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wslh 13y ago ↗

1. Identify risks

2. Have a rough idea of the UI and workflow

3. Events: user events, external events, timers

4. Data details

5. How 2,3,4 interact

6. Deployment and upgrades (mainly if it is a desktop application)

petervandijck 13y ago ↗

1. Don't make it too long. If you're inexperienced, keep it even shorter.

2. Discuss it with the developers halfway through, then revise.

3. Use screen mockups/wireframes.

logn 13y ago ↗

Have actual priorities. I remember implementing a spec with several hundred or maybe thousands of req's and all but about 3 were marked High priority.