How to Start a Software Project

December 11, 2025 · 7 min read
custom-software software-strategy

How to Start a Software Project: The One-Page Brief

One of the most persistent challenges in software development is the gap between a stakeholder’s vision and the engineering team’s execution. Too often, significant resources are deployed to build features that, upon delivery, fail to meet the actual business need.

This alignment issue rarely stems from technical incompetence. Rather, it is a failure of translation.

In the enterprise space, this gap is often bridged by dedicated Product Managers and exhaustive Product Requirement Documents (PRDs). However, for many organizations, the administrative burden of creating fifty-page requirement documents is impractical. Conversely, relying on unstructured verbal instructions creates significant risk and costly assumptions.

The most effective compromise is The One-Page Brief.

This document provides sufficient structure to ensure strategic alignment without introducing bureaucratic friction. Below is a guide on how to construct a brief that effectively delegates execution while maintaining control over the outcome.

The Principle: Define Outcomes, Not Implementations

The most common error stakeholders make is attempting to dictate the technical solution rather than clearly defining the business problem.

  • Ineffective Instruction: "Add a button on the login screen that opens a popup, takes the user's email, and runs a script to update their password in the database."
    (This constrains the engineer to a specific implementation.)
  • Effective Instruction: "We need a secure, self-service method for customers to reset their passwords without contacting support."
    (This defines what is needed and why.)

When stakeholders focus on the Business Objective and the User Context, they empower engineers to design better technical solutions.

The 5 Pillars of a Functional Brief

A usable brief must contain five specific elements to be effective:

1. The Business Case (The "Why")

Context is the primary driver of good engineering decisions. You must articulate the business value behind the request. Is this feature intended to reduce operational overhead? Is it designed to increase conversion rates?

  • Key Question: What is the cost of not building this?
  • Key Question: What specific business metric are we trying to impact?

2. User Context & Trigger (The "Who")

Software does not exist in a vacuum. Engineers need to understand the specific workflow surrounding the feature. A warehouse manager using a tablet with poor connectivity has vastly different constraints than an accountant using a desktop workstation with dual monitors.

  • Key Question: What specific task is the user performing immediately before they need this feature?
  • Key Question: What environmental constraints (e.g., split attention, time pressure, mobile device) exist?

3. Core Requirements (The "What")

This section defines the functional scope. List the specific behaviors the software must exhibit. We recommend distinguishing between Critical Requirements (Must-Haves) and Enhancements (Nice-to-Haves) to assist with prioritization and scope management.

  • Key Question: What are the non-negotiable functions required for this to be viable?
  • Key Question: What functions can be considered optional for the first iteration?

4. Scope Exclusion (The "No")

Scope creep is the enemy of velocity. Explicitly listing what is out of scope is often more valuable than listing what is in scope. This sets boundaries and prevents the project from ballooning into a wish list that delays deployment.

  • Key Question: What features can we explicitly defer to a future iteration?

5. Definition of Done (The Acceptance Criteria)

Ambiguity in completion criteria leads to endless revision cycles. Define exactly how you will verify that the project is complete. It should describe a clear, observable outcome.

  • Key Question: What observable behavior or outcome must exist for us to consider this request fulfilled?

Case Study: Automated Inventory Alerts

To illustrate, consider a requirement for an e-commerce operation that needs better visibility into stock levels.

Project Name: Automated Low Stock Notifications

1. Business Case

Operational friction is high due to stock-outs. We are currently reacting to out-of-stock events only after orders are placed, leading to refunds, customer dissatisfaction, and increased support volume. We need proactive visibility to prevent these incidents.

2. User Context

The primary user is the Inventory Manager. They operate primarily from a laptop in a busy office environment and need to be alerted while working on other tasks outside the dashboard.

3. Requirements

  • Monitoring: The system must track inventory levels to identify potential stock-outs.
  • Logic: When a product's available quantity falls below a critical threshold, the users should be notified.
  • Notification: The system must proactively notify the inventory team via an active channel (email, mobile alert, etc.).
  • Content: The notification must include sufficient details for the manager to identify the item and its current stock status.
  • Frequency Control: To prevent alert fatigue, the system must avoid sending duplicate alerts for the same item repeatedly within a short timeframe.

4. Out of Scope

  • Configuration: We do not need a user interface to update settings (such as the threshold limit or the recipient list) at this time.
  • SMS: Text message integration is not required unless it is the simplest path to the goal.
  • Automation: Automated supplier re-ordering is not required.

5. Acceptance Criteria

Verification: When a product is manually adjusted to a low-stock state in the database, the appropriate notification is received by the target user.

Best Practices for Stakeholders

  • Visual Communication (Optional): Visual aids can be included but are not mandatory. Feel free to include a flowchart or sketch if it simplifies a complex concept that is hard to describe in words.
    • Illustrative, Not Prescriptive: These artifacts serve only to clarify the written requirements, not to replace them or dictate design. A sketch shows examples of what data matters, not how it looks.
    • Maintain Scope: Ensure any visual aid strictly maps to the written requirements. If the drawing implies features not listed in the "Core Requirements," the drawing is wrong and should not be included.
  • Pre-Development Alignment: Do not simply transmit the document. Schedule a brief alignment call to review the requirements. Ask your engineering partners: "Are there any requirements here that are disproportionately expensive or complex to build?" This allows you to leverage their technical expertise to identify your best options.
  • Change Management: The brief establishes your baseline, but software development is an evolutionary process. As you learn more, your understanding of your needs will inevitably shift.
    • Collaborate on Solutions: When a new requirement emerges, engage your engineering partner to evaluate the impact. They can help identify which levers are feasible for accommodating the change. While you typically balance Scope (swapping features), Timeline (extending dates), and Cost (adding resources), the technical reality will dictate which options are viable. Work together to select the trade-off that best aligns with your business goals.
    • Formalize the Decision: Avoid casual "scope creep" via chat messages. Whether you use formal change orders or confirmed email threads, ensure there is a recorded agreement on what is changing and how it affects the project budget or schedule. The specific method matters less than maintaining a shared understanding.

By adopting this disciplined approach to requirements gathering, stakeholders can significantly reduce development waste and ensure that the software delivered is the software the business actually needs.

[Template] Stakeholder Requirements Brief

Project Name: ___________________
Date: ___________________

1. Problem Statement & Business Value
- Current operational challenge:
- Target outcome/metric:

2. User Profile & Context
- Primary User:
- Environment/Constraint:

3. Functional Requirements (Must-Haves)
- System behavior:
- User capability:

4. Scope Exclusions (What we are NOT building)
- Deferred features:
- Constraints:

5. Definition of Done (Acceptance Criteria)
- Observable outcome: