Describe the business problem and measurable outcome
Begin with the current problem, who experiences it and what improvement the business expects. “Build a CRM” is less useful than describing how enquiries arrive, where follow-ups are missed and what managers need to see.
Define measurable outcomes such as reduced duplicate entry, faster assignment, clearer order status or fewer missed reminders without promising results that depend on adoption and operations.
List users, roles and permissions
Identify administrators, managers, staff, customers, agents or vendors and document what each role can view, create, edit, approve, export or delete.
Permission details affect data security, interface design, audit logs and testing. They should be decided before development rather than added informally near launch.
Map the workflow step by step
Write the normal path from the first action to completion and include exceptions. For a lead system, document capture, assignment, follow-up, status change, reminder, closure and reassignment.
For each step, define the responsible role, required fields, validation, notifications and next permitted actions.
Define data and reporting requirements
List the information the system must store, which fields are mandatory, retention needs and whether existing data must be imported. Specify reports by decision rather than asking for “all reports”.
Example: a manager may need leads due today by staff member, while finance may need paid orders by settlement status.
Document integrations and external dependencies
Identify payment gateways, email, SMS, WhatsApp, maps, accounting tools, courier providers or other systems. Confirm whether they provide suitable APIs and who owns each account.
Third-party approval, pricing, limits and policy changes may affect delivery and should be treated as dependencies, not developer-controlled guarantees.
Set acceptance criteria and priority
Classify features as essential for launch, important after launch or optional. Write acceptance criteria in observable language, such as “staff cannot edit an order after dispatch” or “the customer receives a confirmation after verified payment”.
Clear priorities make quotations easier to compare and reduce uncontrolled scope changes.
Plan testing, migration, training and support
Define who provides test data, who approves the release, how existing records will be migrated and how staff will be trained. Decide what support covers after launch and how change requests will be handled.
Production ownership should include hosting, backups, monitoring, admin access and documentation.
Practical checklist
- Business problem and expected outcome documented
- User types and permission matrix prepared
- Normal workflow and exception paths mapped
- Required fields and existing data sources listed
- Notifications and reminders defined
- Reports linked to real decisions
- External integrations and account owners confirmed
- Launch priorities and acceptance criteria agreed
- Testing, migration, training and support planned
Common questions
It should be detailed enough to explain users, workflows, rules, data, integrations and acceptance criteria while allowing the technical team to propose the implementation.
Yes, but changes should be evaluated for scope, timeline, cost, testing and impact on completed work.
The business owner or accountable process owner should approve requirements with input from the people who perform the work.
No. It improves the starting information; technical discovery is still needed to validate architecture, dependencies, risks and estimates.