You can't go to war without a battle plan!
Very often, when creating or redesigning a website, we're pressed for time. The phase of drawing up specifications is then forgotten or skimmed over: lack of time and sometimes lack of knowledge. And yet, this exercise is essential to success!
What are specifications?
The specifications document, frequently referred to as the CDC, is THE document that will enable you to explain your project in its entirety. It clearly defines your project's objectives, expectations, constraints and challenges. It doesn't require any special technical skills on your part. It's there for you to describe your project. It corresponds to what needs to be done, and reflects the user's vision.
Warning: Do not confuse the Cahier des charges (CDC) with the Cahier des spécifications fonctionnelles et techniques, which is another document that translates the CDC into more technical terms, and is written by your web agency.
What's clear is clear!
Specifications have many functions:
enable the developer of the site to understand your expectations
enable you to receive precise quotes
compare the responses received on the same basis
help you to have a clear vision of your project
The 13 commandments of good web specifications
Here's an example of how to structure your specifications, including the most important points. It's up to you to make it your own and adapt it to your project.
Presentation of your company: this enables the service provider to get to know you better and understand the challenges and objectives your project must meet.
Contact: the various people involved in the project (email, first and last name, telephone) and their roles.
The objectives of your site or redesign: What goals are you trying to achieve? If you want to redesign your current site, identify the problems. Also talk about your strategic objectives: communicate, inform? Build loyalty? Develop a members' area?
Describe your target audience: Who visits your site, or who will visit your site? Prospect, customer, advertiser? It's important to be precise, as this step will help you identify what your visitors are looking for on your site, or what you want them to do easily
If you already have a site: Take stock of what needs to be improved, modified or added. Do you want to start from scratch or work on the existing
Competition and inspiration: List your competitors and give your sources of inspiration, whether they're in your field or the complete opposite. Detail what you like and don't like, and why.
Structure & Content: Structure is often referred to as tree structure, and involves defining the site's structure, pages and their layout. Estimate the number of pages your site will contain, how they will function, what content they will contain (video, pdf, slider, blog, contact form, etc.)
Features: Describe your site's features, multilingual, responsive, search engine, analytics, newsletter ...... Take the time to detail the specific functions of your site so that the service provider has precisely what you have in mind. A high number of features can quickly drive up the price, so you may want to categorize them as "must-haves", "nice-to-haves", and "extras", to ensure a "drawer" quote.
Expected services: In this section, you can describe what you expect the service provider to do, and what you may be able to do in-house. For example, a single development service, or development and design, etc.
Technical framework: What are your expectations and specific needs for the technical framework of the future site? Development language? Custom development? Use Worpdress, Drupal, or another Content Management System (CMS)? Does the site need to be optimized for mobile and tablet reading? What about security? Accessibility for people with disabilities?
Hosting and security: Who will host your site? Will there be associated e-mail addresses? Does your site require specific security standards?
Budget and schedule: The budget is often a subject of gnashing of teeth, and is not indicated, but announcing your budget will enable the service provider to see what is possible within your budget range. Say when you want your project to be online, what the validation stages will be, who validates what and when... .... The schedule will enable the service provider to determine whether the project is feasible within the given timeframe.
Format of the response expected by the service provider: Specify your expectations regarding the response. Deadline? Context (invitation to tender)? Contact person?
Lack of time? Don't feel like it?
Give us a call!
