A bad specification is a nightmare. Developers need to know what is expected of them so they can give accurate estimates of cost, time and possibility. Follow these handy tips on how to write a technical specification for a project.

1. Provide as many details as possible

When setting out your project, think about what you want it to do. Break each step down and consider what it will involve. Say your company wants to develop an app that plays music at different volumes, connects to an online server to download new music, and shows visual patterns according to each file. This raises a bunch of questions. For starters, does the app need to:

– work on both Android and iOS?

– work on different versions of the software? How far would these need to date back?

– work on tablets?

– be integrated with any other services (e.g. social media, Google Analytics)?

– be built from scratch, or improved from a framework?

– pull information from a database?

– be designed?

– have written content created?

– have visual content created?

– be localised into different languages?

– have a database of downloadable music curated?

– utilise downloaded songs on the device it works on?

– connect to a server with designated endpoints, or have those decided by the developer?

– take into account submission timelines (e.g. Apple App Store, Facebook Approval, etc.)?

– be tested by the freelancer, the business, or a third party? Which one?

Each of these questions should have answers in order to make a freelancer feel confident in taking on your project, as it shows that you understand the role you’ve hired them for. If possible, show your specification to a known developer before you start, so they can give you feedback on what else you may need to include.

You should also try to avoid using project specification templates. They are a useful way to get ideas, but don’t rigidly adhere to a template that doesn’t fit with your specific project.

2. Say what’s already been done

Nobody likes the prospect of extra work hanging over their head. The easiest way to avoid that is by explaining what parts of the project have already been completed, as this can answer many questions that a developer has.

Let’s take our music app again. Maybe you’ve gone over it with a consultant, and they’ve given you a page count that gives a scale for the app (which gives an idea of how much work a developer will have to do). You’ve also hired a designer, who has done all of the visual design, decided how the user interface will look, and what buttons will go where. Perhaps you have an existing web service and you have another person hired who can code in Android, so all you need is the iOS app developer.

Mentioning this in your project specification will make you look more professional, and make your project more attractive to freelancers. After all, what good is a specification if it’s not specific.

3. Break it down (into different projects)

Depending on how your company works, the easiest way to complete a project may be to split it up into multiple, smaller tasks. The music app project could outsourced to at least four different people.

Our music app will need to be coded in both iOS and Android: that could be done by one person with knowledge of both operating systems, or by two people working on their specialities. The design could be done by the developer, but you may get better results faster from a dedicated designer. And do you want to leave testing entirely in the remit of the developers, handle it internally, or outsource that to a different freelancer?

Content creation may also need to be outsourced to a copywriter, as the crossover of professional developers and professional content creators may be fairly slim. In general, if any aspect of a project has to answer different questions, then it might be better off delegated to a different professional freelancer.

This way, you can give your designer and copywriter information on target demographics, end user experience, tone and feel, without having to bog down your developer specification with superfluous information. Streamlining the project lets each professional concentrate on what they’re best at: it’s just another way to make it more specific.

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So what have we learned? Easy: make each project specification as targeted as possible. It’s better to give too much information rather than too little, and you want freelancers to have as few questions as possible to allow work to start faster. It may take a little more time at the start, but it’s bound to pay off further down the line.