spec-driven-development

Specification-driven development reduces ambiguity by defining clear requirements, scoping use cases, and producing user stories alongside measurable acceptance criteria. This approach centers defined requirements throughout development to minimize rework and ensure traceability.

Create user stories and acceptance criteria by starting with a complete sample feature specification. This process defines the use case scope, establishes technical constraints, and generates traceability artifacts linking implementation decisions directly to requirements.

Define measurable success criteria and traceability artifacts by decomposing tasks, assessing risks, and planning implementation. This step explicitly links architectural decisions to requirements, ensuring verifiable delivery and clear tracking throughout the software lifecycle.

Specification-driven development supports architectural decision planning by capturing technical constraints alongside user stories. It produces an Architecture Decision Record for a sample feature, ensuring implementation plans maintain direct traceability to defined requirements.

Avoid specification-driven development when a project lacks a clear feature scope or demands immediate code output without defined requirements. The approach requires upfront investment in user stories and acceptance criteria to prevent ambiguity and downstream rework.