The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/67910
The Next Generation of Legal Service Delivery Creating the Functional Specification Once the prototyping exercise was completed, our next objective was to create a functional specification that provided a complete blueprint of the site and how it was to be developed. The specification covered: • Information architecture • Security and user permissions • Navigational and functional components • Administration and content management • Content templates and features • Integration points The specification document was self-contained and allowed our project team (and the development team) to come together and share a joint understanding of what we were building (and not building). Working our way through the functional specification (all 170 pages of it) was the most time-consuming — and most important — aspect of the project, and we had to get it right. We completed it in iterations, spending time on each of the key site areas, providing feedback and then signing off on sections sequentially. Once all sections were reviewed, the specification was signed off in its entirety. Although this was a time-consuming process, it was worth the time and effort invested. The document continues to be a reference point for us and a valuable aide-mémoire on the decision-making rationale during the early phase of the project. Project Budget and Timeline The specification document addressed two other important aspects of the project — providing a mechanism that allowed us to: • Detail the costs of project delivery more accurately • Project our timeline for completion When seeking our budgetary approval for the project, we had a broad estimate because all of the details of the build had not yet been extracted. The specification process helps you form an idea of what is essential to include, the "nice-to-haves" and those areas that can be excluded or delayed until a later phase. We also started to have a much clearer view of key project milestones and when we would need to line up resources to Easily catch and clean it with the only patented* server-based metadata removal product Learn more about content risk management solutions at www.litera.com Word. PPT. Excel. PDF. Server. Desktop. *U.S. Patent Numbers 7,895,276 and 8,060,575; licensed by Litéra Technologies, LLC Peer to Peer 131