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Subject:Re: Help requested re Software Specifications From:"Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 3 Jun 2004 20:42:55 -0400
Dick Margulis wrote:
> My opinion (to which I'm entitled whether anyone else agrees
with me
> or not) is that it is MUCH easier to learn about these
document types in
> a team environment, working with people who have experience
with them.
It's not a matter of determining the structure of the document
and writing it? I'll talk with the prospect tomorrow, but his
inquiry leads me to believe there are no people there now who
know about these types of documents.
If it's up to me to find a document structure or template, do you
have any specific suggestions?
> That said, you have clearly understood the basic difference
between
> functional and design specifications;
I'm not so sure that I do; there seems to be an awful lot of
overlap. And are "technical" and "design" specs the same?
and you might be able to
> struggle
> through them on your own.
I'm not sure what you are meaning here. I don't want to "struggle
through" them; I want to write them. If has existing documents,
so much the better, but as I said, my initial impression is that
there are no documents that I would be able to use as a guide.
But it's going to be hard slogging at first,
> and you need to be up front with the prospect about your lack
of
> experience.
If the structure and design of every specification document is
different from company to company, then I have a great deal of
experience. But perhaps you are meaning something else. If so,
what do you mean?
You also need to go in with the attitude that the excess
> time you take is training on your dime, not the client's. In
other
> words, don't come back to techwr-l whining about how much
longer it
> took
> than you charged/budgeted for and can you charge the client for
your
> learning curve.
>
Learning about the software is all that would be required to
write a specification, but again, I fear I may be
misunderstanding you.
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