Functional Specification Checklist

Writing the functional specification occurs after we’ve evaluated the product or technology.

If we look at the project planning lifecycle, we can see it’s the second process:

PS – you can download a Functional Specification Checklist template over here.

Before we start writing this document, we need to ensure we understand and check the following:

1. Check if features were deleted from the vision/scope document.

2. Identify assumptions about the solution, customers, and users.

3. Identify dependencies the solution may have on other services, technologies, and people within the organization.

4. Plan how to address security.

5. Identify installation and un-installation requirements.

6. Identify integration requirements.

7. Understand the business case and business benefits.

8. Identify the solution’s high-level architecture.

9. Identify the solution’s components, including how they relate to other components.

10. Identify naming standards it must follow.

11. Identify security guidelines that the solution must follow.

Inputs

To write the Functional Specification, the following inputs are required:

1. Vision/scope document

2. Requirements documents, including:

3. Business requirements.

4. Operations requirements.

5. System requirements.

6. User requirements.

7. Product and technology evaluations

After writing the Functional Specification, the following outputs are generated:

1. Design documents, including:

2. Conceptual design.

3. Logical design.

4. Physical design.

5. Functional specification

1. Avoid scope creep.

2. Use the vision/scope document to integrate the business goals.

3. Trace features back to the original requirements.