Don’t Start Development Without This Checklist: A Complete Technical Specification for a Website That Will Save Your Budget and Deadline

Serhii Shypylov

• 3 min read
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Don’t Start Development Without This Checklist: A Complete Technical Specification for a Website That Will Save Your Budget and Deadline

Introduction

Most failed projects start the same way: “let’s do it roughly and then adjust it”. Adjusting usually means new deadlines, new money, and frayed nerves.

A technical specification is not just a document. It is a protective wall between your vision and the chaos of development.

The main goal of a technical specification is not to describe every tiny detail, but to make sure the client and the developer speak the same language about money, time, and the result.

What Is an Ideal Technical Specification

An ideal technical specification is a simple answer to three questions: what we are doing, for whom, for how much. If even one block is unclear, expect problems.

  • 🎯 Business value — why this website is needed and how it makes money
  • 🧍 Target audience — who will use it and why
  • ⚙️ Functionality — what exactly must work
  • 🎨 Design — how it looks and behaves
  • 🔗 Integrations — which services it works with
  • ⏰ Timeline — when and in what order
  • 💰 Budget — how much it costs and what is included in the price

Functionality: The Brain of the Project

Don’t just write “a store with payment.” A developer will see ten different things in that. Describe each function as if you’re explaining it to an intelligent but uninvolved person.

  • 🛒 Catalog: categories, filters, sorting, search
  • 📦 Cart: quantity changes, promo codes, shipping calculation
  • 💳 Payment: which systems, which currencies, whether prepayment is available
  • 👤 User account: order history, saved data, bonuses
  • 🖥 Admin panel: who edits what, what access rights
  • 📈 SEO: human-readable URLs, meta tags, sitemap, microdata
  • 📱 Responsive design: mobile, tablets, desktop
The more detailed the functionality is described, the easier it is to prove later that “this is not a bug, but unexpected behavior.”

Design: Not “Beautiful” but “Precise”

The words “make it stylish” are the biggest risk. Design must be fixed in references and states.

  • 🖌 References: mockups, links to websites you like
  • 🧩 Prototypes: how blocks are arranged on each page
  • 📐 Responsive design: how it looks at 320px, 768px, 1200px
  • 🎭 States: hover, active, error, loading, empty
  • 🏷 Design system: fonts, colors, spacing, buttons
  • ♿ Accessibility: contrast, alternative text, keyboard navigation
  • 🖼 Media: image formats, video, icons, animation
Good design is not taste, but a responsibility fixed in the technical specification.

Integrations: The Important Little Details

A website rarely lives on its own. All the magic starts when it begins communicating with other systems.

  • 💳 Payment systems: LiqPay, Fondy, PayPal, Stripe
  • 📦 CRM and ERP: Bitrix24, KeyCRM, Perfectum, 1C
  • 📨 Notifications: email, SMS, Telegram, Viber
  • 🗺 Maps and delivery: Nova Poshta, Google Maps, taxi
  • 🔐 Authentication: Google, Facebook, Apple ID
  • 📊 Analytics: Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, Tag Manager
  • 🤖 Third-party services: chatbots, antispam, advertising

In the technical specification, specify not only the integration names but also the data flow direction: who sends information to whom and how often.

Timeline, Budget, and Risks

This is the least pleasant part, but it is exactly what saves you from lawsuits and scandals.

  • ⏰ Phases: what is delivered in 2 weeks, a month, a quarter
  • 🏁 Milestones: key points after which you can understand progress
  • 💰 Price fixing: whether the cost changes when requirements change
  • 🧾 Payment schedule: advance, milestone payments, final settlement
  • ⚠️ Who is responsible for what: content, hosting, domain, access
  • 🛡 Penalties for delay: whether they exist, how they are calculated, whether there are “buffer days”
  • 🔑 Risks of changing the spec: how many revisions are included in the price
The technical specification must answer not only “what we are doing” but also “what happens if...”

Acceptance Criteria

Without a clear finish line, the project can last forever. Define the conditions under which you sign the acceptance certificate.

  • ✅ All pages open without errors
  • ✅ All forms work and submit data
  • ✅ Payments go through and money reaches the account
  • ✅ Responsive design does not break on key devices
  • ✅ Integrations exchange data without loss
  • ✅ All access credentials, source files, and documentation are handed over
  • ✅ Warranty period and list of free revisions are provided

This is your lifesaving checklist. Add it to your future contract, discuss it with the developer before the start — and then you will get not guesses, but a working product for the agreed money.

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