A good specification is the one that is easily implementable and meets the consumer’s business objective. Clean specification implies that the expectation of the various consumers of the specification document is indeed satisfied.
Properties of a good specification document are,
- Lack of ambiguity – That there is only one possible interpretation for each specification
- Conciseness – Minimal number of words used, and presented in a distinct visual form (not embedded in a paragraph of explanatory information)
- Completeness – The specification contains all requirements known to date
- Consistency – There are no conflicting specification
- A trace to origin – The source/origin of each requirement is identified. It may have evolved from a more general requirement, result from a conversation with a user, result from adoption of a standard, or adhering to new regulation.
- Organized into logical meaningful groups