Re: Writing a product functional spec AFTER the product is built

[John Posada <jposada99 -at- gmail -dot- com>]

> Hello. I am wondering how often technical writers have been asked to write a
> product functional specification after a product has been built. I have been
> working feverishly on one. The goal is for it to be used as a sales tool and
> even more importantly, to ensure that customers have a clear definition of
> the the features and functions (via use cases) so there is no
> misinterpretation.

Hey, Tara...how are ya? How's the gig?

To answer your question, which I don't know if it was before going off
on a tangent, I see no difference with creating an FS on a system
before or after build, except that the FS after the build might be a
little more accurate. Don't let the state of the application confuse
you...just write it as you would a normal FS. When I've written them
post development, they were more an "As built" document, oten becaus
they wanted to upgrade but before they could, they needed to know what
they had so they could write the spec for the next generation.

However, what does have an influence is that it is beiong asked for by
marketing. Because of this, the FS should have more benefit-related
information. Every feature you describe, instead of just how it
functions, should have something about what impactt that function has
on the user who is using it.

Picture marketing writing their stuff base don this FS. You want them
to have an accurate picture of the feature impacts.

-- 
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
Vonage
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