Abstract
All technical documentation projects benefit from a good content plan or doc spec. The doc spec is a blueprint for a document. It identifies the product, users, source materials, and subject matter experts (SME). It also provides a preliminary outline of topics, and it estimates the effort to produce the document. Although the doc spec described is for a printed software user guide, you can adapt your doc spec for other types of documentation, including hardware manuals and training guides. The doc spec template is simply a tool that leads you through the document planning and estimating process. Your customized doc spec captures the who, what, when, why, and how of your project.