Technical specification

A useful specification answers four questions. Why: the product goal and the metrics that define success. For whom: user roles and their scenarios. What exactly: functional requirements broken down by screen and state, the data model, the list of integrations and APIs. Under what conditions: non-functional requirements covering load, speed, security, personal data storage rules, supported browsers and devices. The document closes with acceptance criteria, worded so that anyone can say unambiguously whether the work is done.

The out-of-scope section deserves its own heading, because it protects both sides. Most conflicts on commercial projects come not from a poorly described feature but from a feature the client considered obvious and the contractor considered outside the scope: multi-language support, a marketplace export, a second admin role, migration of legacy data. A written line saying "not included in version one" costs one line, while leaving it unwritten costs two weeks of argument and a damaged relationship.

Russian projects carry an extra layer of formality. When working with state customers and in tenders, the specification often has to follow a national standard, GOST 34.602 for automated systems or GOST 19.201 for software, and that changes the document structure rather than merely its formatting. Commercial projects are not bound by the standard, but the substance is the same: a workable specification for a web application usually runs 20 to 40 pages and is billed separately, because it is the output of analysis rather than a restatement of wishes.

Two traps recur constantly. The first is a specification written by the contractor with no client involvement: internally consistent and completely detached from how the company actually operates. The second is the specification as monument, agreed, signed and never opened again while decisions get made in chat. A living document with versions and recorded scope changes beats a perfect frozen one. And separately: a specification does not replace a prototype. Screens that are drawn and clickable remove far more ambiguity than any amount of text.

Related terms

• DiscoveryDiscovery is a one to three week pre-project phase that frames the problem, studies users and competitors, describes scenarios and constraints, and produces a prototype, a specification and an estimate with a justified range instead of a number pulled from the air.
• WireframeA wireframe is a rough screen schematic without colour, typography or imagery: it fixes which blocks exist, their priority and the transitions between screens, so the interface logic is agreed before expensive visual design starts.
• Fixed price vs time and materialsFixed price and time and materials are two contract models: the first fixes scope, deadline and price with the risk premium sitting on the contractor, while the second pays for hours actually worked at an agreed rate and leaves scope control with the client.
• Product backlogA product backlog is a priority-ordered list of everything that could be built into a product: it is not a dated plan, it is continuously revised, and one person, the product owner, is accountable for the order of it.
• MVPAn MVP is the first release of a product that carries exactly one user journey end to end, shipped in four to eight weeks so the demand hypothesis gets tested against real users and real payments rather than survey answers.

Related services

• IT consulting and product auditThe most expensive mistakes in software happen before the first line of code: a misread problem, a stack chosen out of a contractor’s habit, and a specification that does not exist. Consulting exists to settle all of that before the development meter starts running: what to build, out of what, at what cost and in which order. The result is a document, not an opinion on a call.
• Website audit: technical, SEO and UXBefore changing the design, raising the ad budget, or telling support the site "just feels slower," find out what is actually happening. An audit is one report that pulls technical health, SEO and usability into a single list: what is on fire, what matters, and what can wait.
• Web app and Telegram Mini App developmentFor when a site is no longer enough and you need a product: an account area, a dashboard, an internal tool or a Mini App inside Telegram. We design the architecture, write the backend and frontend, and take it to release.

Read more

• The Technical Specification: Structure, a Worked Template and the Usual MistakesA specification is not bureaucracy, it is leverage: anything that does not match it gets fixed by the vendor at no charge. Here is the section structure, a filled-in example for a corporate site and how to write acceptance criteria somebody can actually test.
• How to Choose a Development Contractor: The Question List and the Red FlagsA practical guide to choosing a development vendor: who needs a freelancer and who needs an integrator, the 25 questions for the first call, how to verify portfolio cases and what belongs in the contract.
• What a Website Actually Costs in 2026: The Estimate, Line by LineA practical breakdown of a web development estimate: what analytics, design, front end, back end and integrations actually cost, which expenses always show up after launch, and where cutting the budget is safe.