What You Get
The Software Requirements Template is a five-page PDF for writing down what a piece of custom software has to do, in your own words, before you talk to developers. It covers the problem, the people who will use the system, how the work happens today, the requirements themselves as user stories, and the standards the software has to meet.
Formal requirements specifications, the IEEE-style kind, are written by and for engineers. This one is for the person who runs the business and knows the problem best. The development team turns it into the technical detail later.
What Is Inside
The template has eight sections:
- A one-sentence summary (“this software helps [who] to [do what] so that “), with the problem and what it costs you
- Users and roles, including what each type of user must not see or change
- How the work happens today: the current process, the tools in use, what gets replaced and what has to connect
- Requirements as user stories, with a worked example and space for a “done when” test on each one
- Priorities, split into must-have at launch, next, and later
- Data, reports and integrations, such as Xero, HubSpot or Stripe, and which way the data flows
- A tick-list of standards: user numbers, availability, UK data storage and UK GDPR, regulator rules, two-factor login, audit logs, backups, mobile and accessibility
- Budget, timeline, who makes decisions and who owns the software after launch
Who This Is For
Owners, directors and operations managers planning a client portal, an internal system, a customer-facing app or a replacement for a spreadsheet that has outgrown itself. You do not need a technical background. If you can explain the process to a new member of staff, you can fill this in.
How to Use This
Start with the summary and the current process. Walking through how the work happens today, step by step, usually turns up half the requirements without any extra effort. Then write the user stories one at a time. Most first versions need somewhere between fifteen and forty.
The priorities section is where most of the budget is decided. Be strict with it: the first release should solve the main problem and nothing more, and our guide to scoping an MVP explains why. When you are ready to approach developers, pair the finished document with a short brief, as in how to write a brief for a software agency. How to budget for custom software covers the money side.
Why We Made This
The first weeks of any software project go on finding out what the business needs. Clients who arrive with this information written down get a more accurate scope, sooner, and the discovery conversation can start from their answers instead of a blank page. The sections follow the questions we ask at the start of our own custom software development projects.
Get the Template
Fill in the short form and the PDF opens straight away. We also email you the link. If you are planning a website rather than software, the Website Brief Template is the better place to start, and the full library is in resources.
