What is a website specification document?
Document specification represents a detailed plan of each website page. Its goal lies in making vision of the future internet site clear for everyone, so everyone can clearly understand the project’s final goals. In the process of designing a document, you take into account web developer’s views, designer, copywriter and other team members.
Specifications for the websitehas such main components as:
- Website architecture: navigation structure and functionality
- Website design: its look and placement
- Page copying: the type of content to be placed in each page
What is the need of specifications for a website?
Website planning refers to the most important part of website development,it needs to take place before resource creation. Lots of site developers create a website design and modules without coordination with the website strategy. That is why you need to write specifications for a website before the beginnig.
Specifications of a website set objectives for your team and ensure you get a much more efficient and user-friendly final product. You will not have to spend time and resources to redo the website that does not fulfill its purpose or reach the desired conversion rate.
Advantages of website specifications
If you write specifications for website development, you solve the following problems:
- adequate distribution of tasks;
- accurate assessment of the website development deadlines;
- transparent plan of the upcoming work;
- list of tasks in order of priority for the development team;
- creation of the product that suit the customer and his users;
- rational budget planning and optimization;
- no misunderstandings between the product owner and the performers of the task.
How does KATASIS develop website specifications?
Good planning and clear specifications represent the main difference between a success and a failure.
Our rules for writing specifications for a website:
- The initial materials are stored until the completion of specifications.
- We estimate the costs until specifications are completed.
- We create two types of specifications: functional and technical. The functional specification for a website lists user functions to determine user possibilities with an app or site. The technical specification for a website describes the implementation of functions. This covers everything from coding language, platform and system architecture to website maps, wireframes and URLs.
- We gather information and use reviews of existing solutions, briefings, brainstorms with stakeholders, research and focus groups to study usability. Thus, we create a list of necessary user functions that will be included in the functional specification and then transferred to the technical specification.
- We develop user paths using flowcharts and wireframes. After defining key pages/stages and their interrelations with each other, we create simple wireframes for each key page/stage.
- We describe risks and suggest ways to reduce them.
Design specifications for a website: list of our specifications
- Presentation organization’s activity. It covers: short company history, basic services, major achievements.
- Website goals. We answer the questions: What is the point of the site for you? What the desirable results are? Is it possible to measure them? What are the problems with a current site? What are the main motivating factors? Here are some examples of goals: increasing request quantity through the website, increasing online sales, increasing phone requests quantity. Goals may be minor: attracting the attention of the press or increasing leadership positions.
- Identification of the target audience: prospective clients, existing clients, the press, prospective employees. After determining the target audience, we take into account the needs of all groups: what their aims and expectations are.
- Developing preliminary website architecture. It will be changed a lot during the process of development but still it clearly describes the main information on the website. The main goal is not to forget about the mandatory website sections.
- We specify technical characteristics. In case if this is a brochure website, we point out that most of its pages will be static. If this is an e-commerce website, we write down the product lists requirements, search pages and product details. If the resource is more unique, we register individual requirements.
- Non-functional requirements. For example, usability, and special features for tablets. We point out loading time and how important it is. We also write down all the legal requirements.
- Competitive resources. The list of your competitors performs is needed for: gain all the data concerning other offers and use it to create our own ideas for the website; it is possible to improve the product in comparison to other services; difference of website design from competitors is guaranteed.
- Budget. We match our solutions to your expectations and resources. If you have rather restricted budget our company will choose a number of ways to save money in the process of development, or step-by-step approach can be offered and add more functions would be added later.
- Time frame. Based on the nature of the order its development might last a couple of weeks or six months.
