Steps for creating a specifications document

You want to create a website or application for your business and you are going to hire an agency, but they are asking you for specifications…

But what exactly is a specifications document?

The specifications document is essential for creating a project. It allows you to gather all the information you need to send to your agency to ensure your project is carried out successfully. By creating it with all the stakeholders (logistics, communication, etc.) in your company, you can be sure that nothing is overlooked and that everyone has their say.

Steps for creating your specifications document

Project specifications can take many different forms, but they generally contain the same information: the budget, deadlines and requirements for your project.

Let us now turn our attention to the specific case of specifications for a website.

1. Presentation of your company

This section introduces you, your industry and your competitors. This is where you describe what you do and what you have already achieved in the past.

2. Presentation of your project

What is your project? What do you want to do? How? Who is it aimed at? You will answer several questions to help your service provider understand the scope of your project and what you have already thought about. Of course, what you have written is not set in stone and is open to discussion. Your service provider can also help you refine certain details that you are struggling to answer.

3. Scope of your project

Now that you have presented your project, it is time to go into a little more detail. In the Scope section of your project, you will indicate how you envisage the project being carried out, whether you want specific technical solutions, list the features you expect, the content, etc., and how you see the future of your website, i.e. whether you would like maintenance or not.

This entire section will help your service provider draw up a quote that corresponds to the next section:

4. Budget

As with any project, there comes the unfortunate stage of budgeting. Answering these questions is a prerequisite, as it will enable your service provider to refine their quote in order to offer you one that suits you, but also to estimate whether what you are requesting fits within your budget.

5. Project follow-up

The penultimate section to read and fill in with specifications is Project Follow-up. Here, you can indicate what you want to see from an agency, the terms of exchange and the deadlines to be met. This section also informs you of the role that you and your service provider will each play in your collaboration.

6. Deliverables

Although a predefined list of deliverables is predefined for your website project, you can request additional deliverables in this last section (e.g. instructions for using your website).

7. Conclusion

A properly drafted specifications document is one of the keys to the success of your project and allows both you and us to refer to it to ensure that nothing has been overlooked. Please take the time necessary to draft it. We can also assist you in completing certain sections.