Purpose

This Standard defines Specification-Driven Development (SDD) as the standard engineering approach within AAOE. Engineering work shall be driven by explicit Specifications before implementation begins.

Standard

Engineering teams shall define Specifications before implementing software.

Specifications become the authoritative engineering reference throughout implementation.

Implementation shall conform to Specifications unless governed change is approved.

Principles

Specification-Driven Development shall:

separate design from implementation
establish shared understanding
reduce ambiguity
improve consistency
improve AI collaboration
improve human collaboration
improve traceability

Required Artifacts

Every implementation should have, where applicable:

Functional Specification
Technical Specification
UX Specification
Architecture Specification
Acceptance Criteria

Artifacts should be proportionate to project complexity.

Engineering Workflow

The preferred engineering sequence is:

Requirements
        ↓
Specifications
        ↓
Architecture Review
        ↓
Implementation
        ↓
Validation

Implementation should not precede Specification except when performing explicitly identified exploratory work.

Traceability

Implementation should remain traceable to:

Specifications
Discoveries
ADRs
Case Studies

Specifications should identify the engineering problem they solve.

Exceptions

Exploratory prototypes may temporarily precede Specifications.

When exploratory work produces valuable engineering knowledge, Specifications should subsequently be created before production implementation.

Relationship to Discoveries

This Standard operationalizes DISC-0002 — Specification-Driven Development.

The Discovery explains why this approach emerged. This Standard defines how engineering teams apply it.

Relationship to the Operating Model

The Operating Model applies this Standard through:

Work Orders
Architecture Reviews
Implementation Reports

Compliance

Engineering work conforms to this Standard when:

Specifications precede implementation.
Specifications remain the authoritative reference.
Traceability is preserved.
Exceptions are explicitly documented.

Future Evolution

Future Standards may define:

Specification Templates
Specification Quality Criteria
Domain-specific Specification Standards