Blog 63: How to write a good technical requirements document?
- Idea2Product2Business Team
- Jun 27, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 17, 2024
In blog 59, we discussed the importance of three requirement documents, i.e. market requirements document (MRD), product requirements document (PRD), and technical requirements document (TRD). We also looked at sample templates for MRD and PRD. In this blog, we are sharing a sample template for TRD (see below for sample template for download).
TRD informs on how we are going to technically build the product. If this document is not done right, it could lead to severe heartaches, rework, and a complete waste of company resources. And eventually the product fails.
This document is generally written by and for the technical team. This document enables the team to think about the solution piece-by-piece. Without jumping the gun.
A TRD can include the below sections:
1. Background
2. User stories by personas
3. Scope and out-of-scope
4. Assumptions-in-scope
Sections 1-4 will feed off the MRD and PRD. If the final technical solution is vast, one can break the solution into phases. Have separate TRDs for each phase.
Sections 5 onwards: These sections are technical. If one is from a non-tech background, the TRD can be written in close collaboration with the Engineering/Tech Lead.
5. Proposed solution
a) Includes block diagram, technical architecture etc.
b) Detailed planning around the database layer, web/application layer, and presentation layer. For example, if we are building a mobile app for android and iOS users, a sample technical architecture will be as below:
Choose an appropriate tech stack (refer blog 21 to learn more on tech stacks).
c) Software/platform/hardware/infrastructure requirements (for development and production deployment).
For example, for a global mobile app (based on requirements) it can be recommended that the development environment be on a public cloud service like Amazon, Azure, or Google Cloud. Similar recommendations need to be included for the production deployment environment.
For example, development environment requirements can look like this:
- Application Engines: 2 (#number)
- Each application engine to have 16 GB RAM, at-least 100 GB Storage
- No-SQL Storage Engines: 2 (#number)
- Each storage engine to have 32 GB RAM, at-least 500 GB Storage
- Etc.
d) Analyse if the solution is required to connect to different data sources. For example, see sample table below:
Data source | DB name | # of tables | Size | About DB |
Source 1 | … | 1000 | 10 GB | Information on … |
Source 2 | … | 2000 | 13 Gb | … |
Source 3 | … | 500 | 7 GB | … |
e) Dependencies on third-party software or APIs (refer blog 74 for more on API products).
f) Plan for number of concurrent users, accepted latency, high availability of services etc.
g) Release/deployment plan.
6. Testing and solution evaluation criteria: For example, test plan will include unit testing, functional testing, integration testing, security testing, failure simulation/failover testing.
Post successful completion of testing, a User Acceptance Test (UAT) can be performed (based on predefined metrics). Following which, the app will be ready for production deployment.
7. Execution plan: A widely used philosophy in software development is Agile. The different forms of the agile development methods include Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP), Kanban, Lean etc. Scrum is the most widely used Agile methodology.
a) Choose an agile development method that works for you. For example, we chose Scrum.
b) Create a product backlog (a list of what needs to be developed). Product backlog is a part of the product roadmap (refer blog 73: What is a Product Roadmap including the when, who and where!).
c) Plan sprints (a mutually decided time duration e.g., 1-week. During which selected items from the product backlog is work upon). Decide timelines and milestones for every sprint.
d) Understand the impact of every item on the product backlog and accordingly prioritise the execution of items in the product backlog.
e) Create a release management plan.
f) Measure the effectiveness of each sprint (use concepts such as velocity, burndown charts)
Jira (from Atlassian) is a popular tool to manage sprints and software project management. Jira supports any agile methodology, be it Scrum, Kanban, or etc.
8. Governance and resource plan: Plan for regular meetings with stakeholders. Plan for resources/team required for development, support, upgrades etc. Analyse the cost of development, deployment, upgrades, and support (after the solution is in production).
9. Risk and its mitigation:
Create a detailed plan for risks and mitigation (see sample table below).
# | Risk | Impact | Mitigation |
1 | Risk 1… | High | Mitigation plan 1 … |
2 | Risk 2… | Medium | Mitigation plan 2 … |
10. Data Privacy & Security initiatives: Plan for potential security threats. Adhere to legal data privacy laws and get necessary certifications (for example, GDPR, ISO 27001 etc.).
You can download sample TRD template. You can expand, customise, and personalise the templates as per your needs. This is only a guide.
Jump to blog 100 to refer to the overall product management mind map.
I wish you the best for your journey. 😊