Specification

✅ Why this step defines what you’re really building

The specification is your product’s blueprint—it turns vision into measurable detail.

A well-crafted specification aligns everyone—from designers and engineers to manufacturers and stakeholders—on what the product must, should, and could include. It translates strategy and user needs into actionable technical detail. This isn’t about locking things down too early—it’s about knowing what “done” actually looks like.

📘 What you’ll learn

  • How to break your product down into testable features and criteria
  • How to distinguish between essential and optional attributes
  • How to document design constraints and quality expectations
  • How to prepare for manufacturing, compliance, and iteration

🛠️ Tools and methods

  • Specification Sheet (MSC Table)

    Captures Must, Should, and Could requirements across 8 key categories.

  • Design & Feature Mapping

    Aligns user value with design choices and constraints.

  • Definition of Done (DoD)

    Summarises when a phase or feature is considered complete.

  • Progressive Detailing

    Start broad, add detail over time as unknowns reduce.

⚠️ Mistakes you can avoid

  • Skipping documentation. Verbal specs get lost in translation—write it down.
  • Focusing only on tech. Specs should also include user interaction, packaging, logistics, and sustainability.
  • Assuming others share your assumptions. Be explicit—especially with measurements, materials, and standards.
  • Trying to spec everything at once. Start lean. Refine as learning grows.

💡 Tips from the field

“Once we had the spec mapped out, it was easier to challenge cost, prioritise development, and keep stakeholders aligned.”

– Senior Mechanical Designer, Consumer Products

💡 Use the spec to guide reviews—not just delivery. It’s a live document, not a one-time form.

🔗 Helpful links & resources

✍️ Quick self-check

  • Have I captured the “must have” features across design, function, and manufacture?
  • Do I know which materials, components, and standards apply?
  • Are team and suppliers working from the same version?
  • Have I linked the spec back to our goals and constraints?

🎨 Visual concept (optional)

Illustration: A wall-mounted Specification Sheet in progress, organised into sections: “Design”, “Function”, “Manufacturing”, “Environment”, “Project”. Each column has sticky notes labeled M/S/C. A team member ticks off “Must Have” under “Ingress Protection”, while another adds notes to “Assembly Method”.

Visual shows the specification process as a collaborative, evolving anchor for engineering and design decisions.
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