Everything is going according to plan: how to write a technical specification for website development

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Is it possible to make a cool website without a clear technical task, or simply a technical task? In theory, yes, but in practice it is unlikely. No sane developer will take on the task without a competent technical task. The contractor must clearly understand what the customer wants, and not play the wizard and guess other people's desires.

Today we will tell you how to write a good technical task for website development. At first glance, the Internet is full of examples of technical tasks - you just need to find a suitable example, download it and get to work. If everything were so simple, you would not be reading this article. Let's figure out what should be written in the technical task and what should be avoided.

Technical specifications for website development, what are you?
A technical task is a document that describes in detail how the customer sees the future site from the technical side, in terms of usability, from the point of view of displaying content. The more informative and specific the technical task is, the better for everyone: the developer acts according to the plan, and the client gets the desired result. Let's see what advantages each side gets.

Benefits of creating a technical specification for the customer
The technical specifications allow the client to:

Plan a budget. Thanks to the technical specifications, the customer can find out how much it will cost to create a web resource.
Assess the developer's professionalism. A technical task in which everything is laid out on the shelves shows that the contractor can be trusted.
Speed ​​up the approval process. With a competent technical specification, it is easier to conduct a constructive dialogue.
Protect your interests. The customer can check how well the finished website corresponds to the technical task. If inaccuracies are found, the contractor will have to correct them.
Quickly change the developer. Sometimes the paths of the customer and the contractor diverge - sometimes, life goes on. If the work on the site has reached a dead end, you can simply find another team, hand over the technical task to them and not waste time on hours-long explanations.
Benefits of creating a technical specification for the contractor
The technical task is also necessary for the developer. It helps:

Understand what the client wants. It is important that the contractor knows exactly what result the customer needs. When all the nuances are clearly spelled out in the TOR and approved by the client, you can start working.
Demonstrate your competence. A good technical specification shows the client: “We know what we are doing, we can be trusted.”
Adapt quickly to changes. A technical task is an excellent insurance against various macedonia whatsapp data unexpected events. For example, when changing a project manager, you can quickly bring the new person up to speed. Or another situation: the customer has temporary financial difficulties, so the work is suspended. When everything stabilizes, the contractor will be able to quickly concentrate on the project.
Protect your interests. The work is in full swing, and the customer decided to change everything? This will not work. If the technical specifications have been agreed upon and signed, you can rest assured: even the court will side with the contractor.
Get additional income. Many developers offer to pay for the preparation of technical specifications as a separate service.
In general, there are only advantages for both parties. It is important to understand that the technical task is not "some kind of instruction for programmers and designers." Everything is serious. The technical task is a document that has legal force. At the same time, the technical task does not replace the agreement between the customer and the contractor.

Who draws up the technical specifications for website development?
It is best when the client and the contractor work together to create the technical specifications, have a lively dialogue and come to the best solution. In reality, the task of drawing up the technical specifications most often falls on the shoulders of the developer. This is logical: customers do not know many of the nuances that the contractor understands. That is why the developer should draw up the technical specifications, offer the client to read the document and answer any questions that arise. To save time and help the contractor, the customer can fill out a brief. This is the name of the document with basic questions about how the client imagines the site of his dreams.

The client presents the website of his dreams

*The client presents the website of his dreams

What points should be taken into account when drafting technical specifications?
A proper technical task is objective and specific. The wording in the technical task should be as clear as possible. If any criteria are specified in the document, it is important that they are subject to objective assessment. Let's take a design characteristic as an example. "Delicate", "bold", "comfortable" - all this is very subjective. Another thing is "page background in the shade of dusty rose PANTONE 17-1718 TCX Dusty Rose".

Another point: when the customer specifies his wishes, he is not obliged to know how the developer will implement them. Therefore, in cases that are not mentioned in the technical specifications, the contractor can act at his own discretion. This point should also be spelled out in the final part of the technical specifications.

Important: since the TOR is a document, it is necessary to make sure that it is correctly composed in terms of spelling, punctuation and style. Errors, typos, "crooked" wording - it is better to avoid these.

Now let's move on to the main thing - what the technical specifications for website development consist of.

Recipe for a good technical specification: let's analyze the ingredients
The technical task includes several sections. They may be called differently, but the meaning does not change. Let's look at the "filling" of the technical task.

Section with organizational issues
Here you need to specify the deadline for the project. Let's immediately note that we are talking about average indicators. For example, a small web resource on a template can be launched in 1-1.5 months after the start of work. But the creation of a multi-page portal, especially with a custom code, can take more than six months.

In addition, this section should describe in detail the scope of work. Everything depends on the complexity of the task assigned to the performer.

Site requirements section
There will be several subsections here, which we will now talk about.

Site usage scenario
In this subsection, you need to write down what the resource is being created for — whether it will be an online store, an information portal, or a business card. In addition, it is important to specify the target audience. The contractor must understand what kind of user the site is intended for. The subsection also needs to specify what target actions visitors to the web resource will perform. It is important to clearly lay out what should happen when you click on a particular button. Later, the contractor will detail the user's movement through the site. This is User Flow — visualization of each step that a resource visitor takes.

CMS of the site
CMS (Content Management System), or engine, is the "skeleton" of a web resource. The technical task must indicate which option the client has chosen:

self-written engine;
constructor, for example, Tilda;
popular CMS - 1C-Bitrix or WordPress.
Often the customer cannot decide which CMS he needs. In this case, leading questions will help: who will perform the administrator function, post content, and maintain the site.

From personal experience, we can say that among all CMS, 1C-Bitrix stands out . This solution from Russian developers is often used when creating web resources. The system is intuitive and easy to manage, and if necessary, a site on 1C-Bitrix can be easily "finished".

Requirements for the structure
The content of this subsection depends on the type of site. Let's take an online store as an example. In the technical specifications for developing such a resource, you need to specify which elements the structure should include:

header with the name and logo of the store;
a block with a menu (there should be categories here such as “Catalog”, “Home”, “Information for buyers”, etc. The catalog needs a clear structure - it also needs to be disclosed in the technical specifications);
news block;
block displaying new products;
block with display of advanced search;
footer with links to the brand's social networks or other information.
This is an approximate list, but in practice everything depends on the company's field of activity, the concept of the site, the needs of the audience, etc.