Now that you have a finished and signed off spec, you're ready to begin development. Be prepared to answer questions as people begin developing the application from your spec. By going through this process and writing everything down, you'll see a decrease in development time and a more efficient application development process. You may even see better applications being built and happier customers!

Although there are a scant few sites out there that deal with Functional Specification Documents directly, there are many resources you can use for various aspects of spec writing. The following sites are just a handful of the really good informational sources out there relating to (in one way or another) the discipline of creating Functional Specs: usability, visual design, architecting information, web design, etc..

Sample Functional Spec -View a chapter from a spec I wrote

xblog -visual thinking weblog

elegant hack -information architecture reading list

peterme -interface design reading list

metagrrl -design process in online Environments

Usable Web -links to web usability articles

Webword -usability

Use It -usability

Joel on Software -good look at writing functional specs

Webmonkey IA Tutorial -information architecture

Photoshop Workshop -Photoshop tutorials

Boxes and Arrows -The definitive source for the complex task of bringing architecture and design to the digital landscape

STC Reference Documents -This collection of reference documents and templates is housed by the Society for Technical Communication.

TECHWR-L Document Types -Similar to the above STC, here you can find many tools and examples for the functional spec writer (although not always aimed squarely for functional specs).

Extending the Benefits of Prototyping -Good article about software prototyping.

Chart and Diagram Tutorial -Very interesting tutorial on creating charts and diagrams.

Software Usability Research Lab -You can find some very good articles about web usability and designing a strong web experience.

Seven Pitfalls to Avoid in IA -Interesting and relevant article highlighting the common things to avoid when structuring your information.

How Non-Programmers Use Documentation -This article points to the ways non-programmer type people use documentation and how you can use that information. A useful perspective since at least some of your readers will undoubtedly be non-programmers.

Strategies of Influence in Interaction Design -Funny thing is, is that the scenario described in this article pretty much happened to me as well. Read this and learn how to manage the other part of your spec: the office politics.

Representations and Perceived Information Architecture -This article discusses two key ideas. First, it briefly outlines four ways to represent the same information. Second, it provides a high level overview of Perceived Information Architecture.

The following the list of tools I currently know about that are currently used by spec writers of all stripes. If I've missed anything, be sure to let me know!

DocBook -DocBook is a widely used DTD for creating technical documents in XML and SGML. Be prepared to learn about open-source tools if you go this direction (that's either a good or bad thing, depending on who you are).

OASIS -OASIS maintains the most current version of DocBook, and also has a lot of other useful information for the DocBook user.

XML Pro -If you're using DocBook then you'll probably want some sort of XML editor (of course, you can always use your own favorite text editor if you wish). XML Pro is a pretty good one (I haven't used it extensively though).

FrameMaker -Depending on what you're working on, FrameMaker might be an overkill. Typically, my functional specs are no more than 100 pages. FrameMaker is more designed for 500+ page documents, but again: it's a personal preference.

PageMaker -PageMaker can also be used by your average spec writer. The advantage here is the ability to manage multiple documents and assemble them into books.

PhotoShop -I don't know what I would do without PhotoShop. For me, this is a must-have.

Word -Of course, there's always the standby: Word. This is the primary tool I use to write, but I am trying to move away from it. My chief complaint against word is that I find it a bit inefficient when producing large documents...especially those with pictures and diagrams.

Visio -Visio is another tool that I find very, very useful. This is the program you use to create diagrams, flowcharts, models, etc.

Acrobat -This is what you use to convert your specs into .PDFs. Having your spec in a .pdf format is useful because it is the format of choice for sharing and protecting your documents.

Google -Ok, this may not fall in line exactly with the others listed but Google is perhaps the one tool I use the most out of all of them! It's an absolute necessity for researching your application.