Templates for lifecycle documentation *

Question

Does anybody have some good templates (or links to) that they use for software lifecycle documents (feasibility, concept, requirements, architecture)?

I've taken some old ones I've had from school and slimmed them down a bit since none of the current projects that I work on are to that scale, but they always feel somewhat clugey. Sadly enough there isn't any kind of lifecycle support here at my current job, so I don't have anything here to base mine on.

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@dragonmantank

I definitely agree about the "living document" approach. Up to this point, I've use MBASE/Risk oriented which tends to work the documentation in a spiral, where realizing a new requirement needs to be added while working on the design doesn't turn into a massive hassle.

@Christian

I went to the site and all the templates I can find are in HTML format, is there any way to get a Word template for them?

Answer

I have a couple sites that give a good basis for much of the documentation you are looking for. I would recommend modifying anything you see within these sites to your own needs.

1. Check out The Software Requirements Memory Jogger by Ellen Gottesdiener <link>. She gives a great overview of what's needed and when.

2. Karl Weigers is highly respected in the requirements field. He has free templates on his website in the "Goodies" section. <link>

3. Volere is also respected in the field, though I have never found their templates to be quite what I wanted (probably because I am used to other formats). <link>

4. Use the "filetype:" modifier (doc / pdf / ...) in a google search, such as "filetype:doc software architecture template"

What you don't ask about, but needs to be addressed, is the need for some standard documents within your company.

While this is a standalone question and answer all by itself let me recommend that you take what you like above and modify it just a bit for your own needs. Then run it by two or three respected peers within your company. Ask for their feedback on what they like and would like to see modified in your template. This process of socialization and feedback will help you succeed with introducing your lifecycle documentation.

(Last tip: Depending on what you think they will respond to best, you may want to get feedback on a solid draft rather than a blank template. Some people visualize better than others and you should take this into account too. )

< br > via < a class="StackLink" href=" http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5326/" >Templates for lifecycle documentation< /a>

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