How to write a good requirements specification document

The most important step in an app development or app design process is the perfect communication of the requirements. It is necessary to make sure that your technology partner knows exactly what you want to develop, by creating a document that clearly presents what you want. The document should be complete, clear and solid, avoiding any possible ambiguities.

Let’s have a look at what all a requirements document should include:

1. Summary

1. A brief about your vision and mission
2. What is In Scope and What is Out of Scope of the Application
3. Whether Designing is required or not
4. Reference Applications (If any)

2. User Personas

You may have many user personas using the application. Each one may require a different flow all together or with small variances.

For example, a Taxi Booking App may have user personas like:

1. Passenger
2. Driver
3. Admin

So, it would be great if you can specify the user personas that you expect in the application and also align the feature list accordingly.

3. Features List

You can list out the set of all the features that you require in this section. It is better to make it as descriptive as possible, so that there is a better understanding about the details.

Here is an example of feature list of a Taxi booking applicationAll Personas

1. Home Screen
2. Login/ Registration
3. Notifications

Driver

1. View bookings, Start / Deliver / End Ride.
2. Route map to passenger location by button to (google maps)
3. Accept/ Reject Rides
4. Calculate Price

Passenger

1. Manage Profile
2. Browse Options
3. Book a trip
4. Track driver/car
5. Provide feedback
6. Contact Admin
7. Store payment details
8. Make Payment

Admin

1. Manage driver and passenger accounts.
2. Manage Cars Categories and Availability of Cars.
3. Manage and Confirm Bookings.
4. View and respond to feedback
5. Generate Reports
6. View bookings

4. Platform Considerations

Here, you may describe on what platforms you require this application. Is it for Desktop, Web, Mobile, or All three? In Desktop, you can mention which OSs to cover out of Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux with version details. Similarly, you can mention which browsers and versions are to be supported by the Web Application. Is it going to be responsive or not? For Mobile Apps, you need to specify whether you want to cover both Android & iPhone or only one and which OS versions need to be supported.

For example: “The user app and driver app should be for Android and iPhone, and there should be a web application for admin”

5. Technology Stack Considerations

You may have some specific technologies to be considered for developing the application. For example, for Mobile App, if you are considering developing it using native tech stack then you will choose Swift for iOS and Android/Kotlin for Android. And you are considering building a native Mobile App using a Hybrid Tech stack then you may specify React Native or Flutter or Xamarin or Iconic. Similarly, for Web Server Side Development you may prefer Node.js or Spring Boot or .Net or Django Python or PHP and for Web frontend, you may want to choose AngularJS, React.js or Vuejs and HTML5, CSS3 etc. You can mention the set of technologies you prefer in the document. For cloud, you may have a preference for AWS or Azure or Google Cloud or Digital Ocean etc.

6. UI/UX Considerations

In addition to technology considerations, you may have some preferences in regard to the UI/UX. If you have any concepts in mind in regard to the design, it is necessary to mention that as well.

For example, you may require heavy usage of In-app animations and design elements inspired by some other reference applications. You can state those in your requirements document.

7. Third Party Integrations

If you have any third party integrations like payment gateways or sms gateways or Social media integration with FB/Twitter/Linkedin etc. to be included appropriately in the application, you can go ahead and mention your preferences in the requirements.

It is not necessary that you should have technical knowledge to mention all these preferences. You can mention all your functional requirements, and your technology partner can take care of those considerations. However if you have any thoughts in regards to the Third Party Integrations, you can include it in the requirements.

8. Architectural Considerations

There are important architectural considerations like whether the App should be single tenant or multi tenant. If you have a great technical knowledge, you can definitely mention those architectural preferences in the document.

9. Security Considerations

Security is vital for most of applications, and a good technology partner will take care of those considerations by default. But if you have some specific requirements in regards to security, it should be mentioned in the requirements.

10. Compliance Considerations

Compliances like GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, etc., can be a specific requirement depending on the category or functionality of the application. If there are such specific considerations, it is necessary to communicate them as a part of the requirements.

11. Performance Considerations

If there are any specific requirements in regard to the performance of the application, you may include them in the document. It can be parameters like load speed or screen resolutions or time to interact.

12. Other Considerations

When it comes to customized app development, there may be many preferences that are specific to the functionalities of the particular application. The more you get into detail better will be the communication of the requirements.

13. Timeline or Budget Considerations

If there is a specific budget or timeline that you have in mind, it would be great if you can include that also in the requirements document. It can enable your technology partner to come up with a better approach or suggestions to move forward.

If you need more help in framing your requirements, or if you feel that you are stuck in the process of realizing your app development idea, please feel free to send an email to amit@synclovis.com or book a free app consultation at www.synclovis.com