User classes may be differentiated based on frequency of use, subset of product functions used, technical expertise, security or privilege levels, educational level, or experience.
Describe the pertinent characteristics of each user class. Certain requirements may pertain only to certain user classes. Distinguish the favored user classes from those who are less important to satisfy.
Identify any known user documentation delivery formats or standards. These could include third-party or commercial components that you plan to use, issues around the development or operating environment, or constraints. The project could be affected if these assumptions are incorrect, are not shared, or change.
Also identify any dependencies the project has on external factors, such as software components that you intend to reuse from another project, unless they are already documented elsewhere for example, in the vision and scope document or the project plan. You may prefer to organize this section by use case, mode of operation, user class, object class, functional hierarchy, or combinations of these, whatever makes the most logical sense for your product.
You could also include specific priority component ratings, such as benefit, penalty, cost, and risk each rated on a relative scale from a low of 1 to a high of 9. These will correspond to the dialog elements associated with use cases. These are the software capabilities that must be present in order for the user to carry out the services provided by the feature, or to execute the use case.
Include how the product should respond to anticipated error conditions or invalid inputs. Requirements should be concise, complete, unambiguous, verifiable, and necessary. This may include sample screen images, any GUI standards or product family style guides that are to be followed, screen layout constraints, standard buttons and functions e. Define the software components for which a user interface is needed. Details of the user interface design should be documented in a separate user interface specification.
This may include the supported device types, the nature of the data and control interactions between the software and the hardware, and communication protocols to be used. Identify the data items or messages coming into the system and going out and describe the purpose of each. Describe the services needed and the nature of communications. Refer to documents that describe detailed application programming interface protocols.
Identify data that will be shared across software components. If the data sharing mechanism must be implemented in a specific way for example, use of a global data area in a multitasking operating system , specify this as an implementation constraint. Define any pertinent message formatting. Specify any communication security or encryption issues, data transfer rates, and synchronization mechanisms. Specify the timing relationships for real time systems. Make such requirements as specific as possible.
You may need to state performance requirements for individual functional requirements or features. Define any safeguards or actions that must be taken, as well as actions that must be prevented. Define any safety certifications that must be satisfied. Define any user identity authentication requirements.
Refer to any external policies or regulations containing security issues that affect the product. It is important to note that the more detailed you make your project charter, the more convincing it will be and it will serve as a key reference for all project stakeholders , as well as the timeline for effective project execution.
Find below a list of 10 things you should include in your project specification. This first part gives a quick description of the company so that the third-party contractor understands the identity of his customer. The presentation should include:. Here, you should not go too much into detail, you should mainly list the key information about your company so that a person can understand in a few lines your project goals.
To begin, you must use a descriptive title when naming your project. The aim here is to explain the ins and outs of the project "body of knowledge" so that all the project stakeholders understand the issues and work to respond to them as well as possible. Each project has different goals. This is why it is essential to know them in order to move in the right direction and make the right decisions. By describing your target s accurately, you will have a high chance of reaching them.
This is not an easy exercise to do, but it will save you a lot of time once you have done the work. Describe your marketing persona , i. In order to position your project successfully, you need to know your main and secondary competitors , their strengths and weaknesses , as well as your Unique Selling Points.
Then, you are free to determine your positioning by offering something fundamentally new or better. It is recommended to write this part when you already have a graphic charter and you want to keep it for the project. It can also be used if you want to create a new graphic chart that is in line with the previous one. Break down the project cost structure and where the funds will come from. This section could also list any additional estimated resources and materials needed to execute your project and ensure it meets your standards.
Set a deadline by which the project must be launched. As with the budget, don't underestimate the time required to complete each element, and be realistic. For complex projects, do not hesitate to set different milestones and make a schedule in the form of a Gantt chart. The functional part of the project charter is used to translate project requirements into functionalities.
It is recommended to go as much in detail work breakdown to ensure that the functionalities are well understood and the project scheduling up to par with your expectations. The technical part consists of describing how the functionalities will be implemented, and are especially important in the case of software development.
Moreover, this part highlights the technical requirements and constraints of the project to meet the needs of end-users. Here you should put all the documents and detailed information that are required to complete the project. These may include wireframes, mock-ups, drafts, etc. Since project charters can be adapted according to the type of project you use and its complexity, therefore, it is recommended to consider different examples of project charters before writing your own.
Here are two project charter examples that may inspire you to design your own. Lucidchart is an online diagram software that allows you to visually build your project specifications. Thanks to its intuitive interface, you can use Lucidchart to create project charters and diagrams. Drag and drop shapes in the work area, then complete them with your information you can import your data from a CSV file and customize diagrams to your preference.
Once you have created your project charter, it is essential to keep track of the completion of your project with a dedicated tool. Thanks to its system of customisable tables , you can manage your tasks and subtasks using a visual and intuitive tool. Once you have identified your projects, assign each of them the necessary resources and budget.
This project management tool goes one step further, by providing time management features to meet the deadlines of your projects and by offering different views of your tables, with a Gantt chart for example. Project specifications are essential to building a framework for your project and helping you to reflect and formalize your needs and objectives.
They allow you to communicate with team members and project stakeholders in the project so that everyone can make informed decisions in a collaborative work environment.
However, you must accept that the project may evolve, either because new external elements change the situation or because it is difficult to be exhaustive and perfectly express your needs. This is where working with an agile method is interesting because it allows you to present a functional version of the product as soon as possible which will allow you to make adjustments to the project charter.
Operations Management. Project Management. By Ricardo Singh. Table of contents Free project specification template. Project specifications: definition What are project specifications? What is the purpose of writing down project specifications? Who writes the project specification? Present the company 2. Present the project 3. Set your target 4. Identify your competition 5. Use a graphic charter 6. Set your project budget 7.
Set a completion time 8. List functional specifications 9. List technical specs Project specification examples. Best tools to help you build your project specification Creating project charters with Lucidchart Monday. Accurate project specifications and agile management to anticipate evolutions. Here is a free template to get you started:. Project charter template.
Here is a short video that explains what a project charter is :. Project specifications can be used to : get authorisations to start a building project, think about objectives and set them, assign the priorities of the project, help key stakeholders give you more relevant advice, estimate the budget , resources and project deliverables necessary to the successful completion of a project.
It can be the project manager or the project owner to : reflect the corporate culture and company values better than an outside person, stay as close as possible to the needs of the end-user. The presentation should include: your sector of activity, your core business, your flagship products or services, key project stakeholders. To glean this information, you can : ask your customers questions; analyse information from your prospects; read the discussions on the forums dealing with their problems; collect more precise information via the use of contact or download forms.
Describe each functionality as follows: title, objective, description, subfunctions, constraints and business rules, level of priority.
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