There are two problems with software specifications. 1) People don’t like writing them. 2) The people who do like writing them don’t write very good ones. And c) people don’t like reading them, even if they are any good.
But the sad fact is that there is a 1:1 relationship between a good software specification and spending money efficiently. Or to put it another way, the better your specification is, the less money you’ll waste.
A fun fact is that next year I have a book coming out and a good third of that is about how non-technology people can get better at writing specs, and avoid commissioning software that doesn’t deliver what they want, but this is now, and not 2024.
Solving this problem is a bit like going to the gym or starting a diet – he says carefully hiding his belly below where the video cuts off – but once you know you have to do them, it’s a matter of committing to actually going through the work.
Don’t get fooled into allowing your software agency to write the spec, although they would likely write a good spec, the only way that you know if the document describes the software you actually want to but is – sadly to write the specification.
So – fire up that copy of Microsoft Word and get on with it.