How to Properly Create a Technical Specification for a Web Project: Tips for Clients

A well-crafted technical specification (TS) is the foundation of a successful web project. The quality of it affects not only the final result but also the development cost, implementation timeline, and the absence of misunderstandings with the contractor.

It is important to understand: the technical specification should be written by the contractor, not the client. Your task as a client is to provide the most complete information about your needs, business processes, and expectations. An experienced developer or agency will structure this information into a professional TS themselves by asking the right questions and giving expert recommendations.

If the contractor asks you to write a detailed TS yourself — this is a reason to be cautious. A quality TS requires technical expertise that the client may not have.

How to properly interact with the contractor when creating a TS

The process of creating a technical specification is a dialogue between the client and the contractor. A professional developer will interview you, ask the right questions, and help structure your ideas into a working solution.

1. Clearly define the project goals and objectives

Start with the big question: why do you need this website? A good contractor will definitely ask this and help formulate specific, measurable goals.

Bad example: "We need a beautiful website for our company"

Good example: "Create a corporate website to increase consultation requests by 30% within 6 months. The main audience is small business owners aged 30-50 who look for legal services via Google search"

Specific goals help the developer understand which solutions will be most effective.

2. Tell about your business processes

Do not try to invent the site functionality yourself. Instead, describe in detail to the contractor how your business currently operates. An experienced developer will suggest optimal technical solutions based on this information.

What to tell the contractor:

• How orders are currently received and processed
• Which documents you generate for clients
• Which systems you already use (CRM, 1C, warehouse software)
• Which tasks take the most time
• What are the main problems of current processes

The developer will analyze this information and propose functionality that truly automates your processes instead of creating extra work.

Example of a dialogue with the contractor:

Client: "We need a shopping cart on the site"

Contractor: "Tell me, how does the order placement happen now? Do clients call or write in messengers?"

Client: "Usually they call, I write the order in a notebook, then transfer it to Excel..."

Contractor: "Then instead of a complex cart, it’s better to make a simple order form that immediately sends data to your CRM system. This will save you time and reduce development costs."

3. Share knowledge about the target audience

Tell the contractor as much detail as possible about your clients. A professional developer will create user scenarios and suggest suitable UX solutions based on this information.

What to tell about your clients:

• Age, gender, income level
• Where they most often hear about you
• Which devices they use to access the site (phone/computer)
• What questions they most often ask
• At what time of day they are most active

Example: "Our clients are mostly women aged 25-40, mothers. They visit the site from phones in the evening after work. Often they can’t decide on the size, so they call with questions."

Based on this information, the contractor might suggest a convenient size chart, online consultant, or detailed product descriptions.

4. Trust in technical matters

Do not try to define technical requirements yourself — this is the contractor’s job. Instead, describe your needs, and the developer will propose suitable solutions.

Instead of technical requirements, describe the needs:

Incorrect: "Need integration with payment system API" ✅ Correct: "We want clients to be able to pay for orders online by card"

Incorrect: "Need responsive layout with breakpoints at 768px and 1024px" ✅ Correct: "It is important that the site works well on phones — 70% of our clients visit from mobile devices"

An experienced contractor will determine the necessary technical solutions themselves: how to set up responsiveness, what speed and security requirements are needed for your niche.

5. Prepare content and visual materials

Clearly specify who is responsible for content creation.

What to specify:

• Texts (who writes, volume, deadlines)
• Images (photoshoot, editing, formats, sizes)
• Video materials
• Logos and branding

Example: "The client provides texts for all sections by December 15. The homepage volume is up to 3000 characters, service pages up to 1500 characters each. The client provides product photos in JPG format with resolution no less than 1200×1200 pixels."

6. Define design requirements

Even if you don’t have a clear design vision, give the developer some guidelines.

Helpful to specify:

Examples of websites you like (with explanations of what exactly)

Color preferences or restrictions

Style (minimalist, corporate, modern, classic)

Special requirements (e.g., large font for an older audience)

Example: "Design in minimalist style, main colors — white, gray, blue (like on apple.com). Important: large buttons and readable font, as 40% of the audience is over 50 years old."

7. Set clear deadlines and stages

Break the project into phases with specific deadlines and acceptance criteria.

Example structure:

• Stage 1 (2 weeks): Design of the homepage and 2 inner pages
• Stage 2 (6 weeks): Layout and programming of main functionality
• Stage 3 (2 weeks): Testing, fixes, launch

8. Specify acceptance criteria

Clearly define when the work will be considered completed.

Example: "The site is considered ready when:

• All pages display correctly on devices with resolutions from 320px to 1920px
• Forms send emails to the specified addresses
• The homepage load speed does not exceed 3 seconds (checked via PageSpeed Insights)
• All comments from the testing checklist are fixed"

9. Consider post-project support

Discuss support and site development issues in advance.

What to include:

• Warranty period and its conditions
• Cost of changes after project delivery
• Who is responsible for hosting, domain, updates
• Scalability possibilities

10. Red flags: when to change the contractor

The contractor asks you to write a detailed TS yourself — A professional should structure your needs into a technical specification themselves.

Does not ask questions about your business — How can an effective solution be created without understanding how your company works?

Immediately offers a ready-made solution — "We have a standard online store" — without studying your processes.

Uses many unclear technical terms — A good contractor explains complex things in simple words.

Is not interested in budget and deadlines — A professional always offers several implementation options for different budgets.

Conclusion

A quality technical specification is the result of a professional dialogue between the client and the contractor. Your task as a client is to openly tell about your business, goals, and needs. The contractor’s task is to structure this information into a working technical solution.

Don’t try to become a technical expert in one day. Instead, find a contractor who knows how to ask the right questions, gives expert recommendations, and creates the TS based on a deep understanding of your business.

Remember: a good TS is not a document you write before starting the project. It is the result of joint analytical work, which forms the basis of successful development.