With designing and developing new technology, as well as the emergence of new products or features, technical specifications (tech specs) take on even greater importance. This leads us to the following question: Who should draft or prepare these basic papers? In this extensive manual, the possible roles that may pertain to the development of technical specifications will be discussed, as well as the significance of teamwork and guidelines for producing an efficient TS.
Understanding Tech Specs
Before diving into who creates tech specs, let’s briefly define what they are:
Technical specifications are documents that contain specific definitions of a system, a product, or a facility’s characteristics that need to be met. They act as a guide for the developers, communicators, designers, and other actors involved in the product realization process.
Key Components of Tech Specs:
- Product Overview
- Functional requirements
- Technical requirements
- User interface specifications
- Performance requirements
- Security considerations
- Integration details
- Testing and quality assurance guidelines
The Collaborative Nature of Tech Spec Creation
While specific individuals may take the lead in writing tech specs, it’s important to understand that their creation is often a collaborative effort involving multiple stakeholders. The process typically involves input and feedback from various team members and departments.
Key Players in Tech Spec Creation
Product Managers
Product managers often play a central role in initiating and overseeing the creation of tech specs.
Responsibilities
- Defining the product vision and goals
- Gathering and prioritizing requirements
- Coordinating with different teams
- This means the objectives laid down for the business should correspond with the available technicality.
Why they’re involved: Although they are responsible for a specific product, product managers always see the bigger picture and can translate business requirements into technical solutions.
Technical Product Managers
In some organizations, technical product managers take on a more specialized role in tech spec creation.
Responsibilities
- Translating business requirements into technical specifications
- Working closely with engineering teams to define technical feasibility
- Identifying potential technical challenges and solutions
Why they’re involved: Technical product managers combine product knowledge with technical expertise, making them well-suited for creating detailed tech specs.
Software Architects
Software architects often contribute significantly to the technical aspects of spec creation.
Responsibilities
- Creating the software system’s general architecture
- Defining technical standards and best practices
- Ensuring scalability and performance considerations are addressed
Why they’re involved: Architects bring deep technical knowledge and can foresee potential issues in the system design.
Lead Developers
Senior or lead developers frequently participate in tech spec creation, especially for complex features or systems.
Responsibilities
- Providing input on implementation details
- Identifying potential technical challenges
- Estimating development efforts and timelines
Why they’re involved: Lead developers have hands-on experience with the codebase and can offer practical insights into implementation.
UX Designers
For products with significant user interface components, UX designers play a crucial role in spec creation.
Responsibilities
- Defining user interface specifications
- Creating wireframes or prototypes
- Ensuring consistency with design guidelines and user experience principles
Why they’re involved: UX designers ensure that the technical implementation aligns with user needs and expectations.
Quality Assurance (QA) Engineers
QA engineers often contribute to sections of the tech specs related to testing and quality assurance.
Responsibilities
- Defining testing requirements and methodologies
- Identifying potential edge cases and scenarios to be tested
- Ensuring the testability of features
Why they’re involved: QA engineers bring a testing perspective to the specification, helping to ensure that quality considerations are addressed from the outset.
Systems Engineers
For hardware or complex system projects, systems engineers may lead or heavily contribute to tech spec creation.
Responsibilities
- Defining system-level requirements and architecture
- Ensuring integration between different components or subsystems
- Addressing performance and reliability requirements
Why they’re involved: Systems engineers have a broad view of how different components interact and can define comprehensive specifications for complex systems.
Technical Writers
In some organizations, technical writers may be involved in drafting or editing tech specs.
Responsibilities
- Ensuring clarity and consistency in the document
- Organizing information in a logical structure
- Consulting with the stakeholders to provide a correct description of the details of the work
Why they’re involved: Technical writers can plan, write, and organize content coherently and express the information in a plain language that will be easily understood by all.
Also Read:
The Tech Spec Creation Process
While the exact process may vary between organizations, tech spec creation typically follows these steps:
- Requirement Gathering: They are then articulated from the perspective of product managers and other stakeholders on a higher level.
- Initial Draft: The first version of the spec is created by a lead author or a product manager and technical lead.
- Collaborative Review: The draft is shared with relevant team members for input and feedback.
- Iterative Refinement: The spec is revised based on feedback, often going through multiple iterations.
- Final Review: A final review is carried out to ensure that all pertinent information is present and per the project’s objectives.
- Approval: Key stakeholders approve the final version of the tech specification.
- Distribution: The approved spec is distributed to the development team and other relevant parties.
Best Practices for Tech Spec Creation
- Start Early: Begin creating tech specs as early as possible in the product development process.
- Be Detailed but Concise: Include enough detail for implementation so long but constrain the writing so as not to be prolix.
- Use Clear Language: Avoid ambiguous words and use simple words to express your ideas so that readers cannot misinterpret what you are referring to.
- Include Visual Aids: In this case, they should prefer diagrams, flowcharts, and wireframes to explain the difficult matters that are difficult for them to explain verbally.
- Consider All Stakeholders: Guarantee the spec answers the concerns of all the stakeholders involved (the developers, the designers, the QA team, etc.).
- Allow for Flexibility: Specs, therefore, need to be synchronized, which must be thorough while giving leeway for adjustments when in the implementation phase.
- Version Control: Each spec version should be recorded through a version control system to show changes made over time.
- Regular Updates: It’s also recommended that the tech specs be revised over time as the project’s overall objective changes.
Challenges in Tech Spec Creation
- Balancing Detail and Flexibility: Providing enough detail without over-specifying and limiting creative solutions.
- Keeping Specs Updated: Ensuring specs remain current as project requirements evolve.
- Cross-Team Collaboration: Coordinating input from various stakeholders with different perspectives and priorities.
- Technical Depth: Striking the right balance of technical depth for different audiences.
- Time Constraints: Allocating sufficient time for thorough spec creation in fast-paced development environments.
Tools for Tech Spec Creation
Various tools can facilitate the creation & management of tech specs:
- Confluence: A used platform most often for collective documentation with an element of wiki often used.
- Google Docs: It makes it possible to share workload & fosters teamwork & effective collaboration across the organization.
- JIRA: This can be related to the specs of the user stories & their implementation.
- Lucidchart: Good when creating diagrams and flow charts while defining specs.
- GitHub: This can be used for version control of tech specs, especially for software projects.
Conclusion
Developing appropriate technical requirements is a joint process that requires many different people within an organization. In most cases, a product manager, a technical lead, or a systems engineer is responsible for writing and evaluating tech specs, but developers, designers, QA engineers, and other stakeholders must also contribute because nothing is missed regarding the details.
The main goal regarding tech specs is constant communication and consideration of everyone’s valuable input. When the right people are involved at the right time and the organization adheres to best practices, it can create a valuable tech specification to guide product development.
At Moobila, we have always attached great significance to creating crisp tech specs to facilitate a smooth and productive delivery of customer products. Our group of technical contributors works hand in hand to develop detailed technical requirements that reflect specific business solutions and achievable technical solutions. Regardless of whether you are creating software applications, hardware systems, or a range of products, more time spent on the writing of good tech specs will have a positive impact on nearly any project.