Start with people and objects
Document daily tasks for each role: a manager receives an enquiry, a supervisor approves a discount, an accountant checks payment. List objects and relationships separately. One company may have several contacts and one deal several invoices. Include anonymised forms and spreadsheets to expose required fields and exceptions before designing the database.
Describe failures as well as the happy path
For each workflow, specify its trigger, user actions and outcome. Include cancellation, duplicates, unavailable services and missing permissions. Replace a vague fast search requirement with searchable fields and allowed results. For imports, specify file format, row validation and how errors are corrected.
Make scope verifiable
Separate the first release from later ideas. Give each requirement an acceptance example, decision owner and external dependency. State data volumes, mobile access, file storage and recovery needs. Keep unresolved questions visible instead of silently treating them as included in the estimate.
Checklist
- Describe permissions through examples.
- Agree fields, relationships and validation rules.
- Assign integration owners and API documentation.
- Attach acceptance criteria to core scenarios.
Project questions
Should the brief prescribe a technology stack?
Hosting limits, security and maintenance requirements usually matter first. A stack choice should follow those constraints.