Software Project Requirements Checklist

Business Requirements

Define the business problem The product should solve a clearly understood operational or customer problem. Identify user roles Document administrators, staff, customers and other user types. Define success criteria Specify how the organization will know the software is useful. Separate launch scope from future scope Prevent unnecessary features from delaying the initial release.

Functional Requirements

Document primary workflows Describe the main tasks users need to complete. Define permissions Each role should have appropriate access. Define notifications Document email, push, SMS or in-app communication requirements. Define administration requirements Operational teams often need dashboards and management tools.

Data & Architecture

Identify core data entities Understand important records and relationships. Define database requirements Consider scale, consistency, reporting and retention. Define API requirements Document internal and external service interfaces. Plan file and media handling Understand upload, storage, processing and delivery requirements.

Integrations

Document payment integrations Specify providers, currencies, refunds and transaction flows where applicable. List external APIs CRM, ERP, maps, communication and third-party systems should be documented. Define webhook requirements Identify events that systems need to exchange asynchronously. Plan integration failures External service downtime should not break critical workflows unexpectedly.

Security & Compliance

Define authentication Specify login, password, SSO or multi-factor requirements. Review authorization controls Backend permission enforcement should match user roles. Plan secret management Credentials and API keys should not be exposed in source code. Review privacy and compliance Consider applicable data, retention and regulatory requirements.

Infrastructure & Reliability

Define environments Development, staging and production should be separated appropriately. Plan backups Critical application and database data should have recovery procedures. Configure monitoring Errors, performance and service health should be observable. Document scale assumptions Expected traffic, storage and concurrency affect architecture decisions.

QA, Deployment & Maintenance

Define testing strategy Functional, integration and regression testing should be planned. Define deployment process Releases should be repeatable and recoverable. Plan rollback procedures Failed deployments should have a safe recovery path. Plan ongoing maintenance Security updates, dependency changes and product improvements continue after launch.

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