FAQ · Source references checked 2026-11-06
How can product managers use spec-driven development without losing discovery?
Separate an uncertain product hypothesis from an agreed delivery contract. Product managers and engineers test the risky assumption before expanding the specification, then revisit intent when adoption evidence arrives.
AI-assisted reference synthesis. Read the linked sources for evidence and limits. Read as Markdown.
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What should product managers and engineers agree on?
Agree on the problem, who experiences it, the result worth pursuing and what remains uncertain. Then decide which uncertainty must be reduced before building and which can be tested through a small release. A specification should carry those decisions into delivery without presenting assumptions as established facts.
Product managers do not need to prewrite every implementation task. Engineers need enough product context to challenge a solution as well as implement it. Agents need access to the relevant intent, examples and constraints; a polished specification cannot supply missing product judgment.
How can discovery and specification evolve together?
Keep a product hypothesis separate from the delivery contract. The hypothesis concerns the behavior or benefit expected from the change. The contract concerns what a particular increment will do. Discovery tests the assumption most likely to invalidate the bet. Delivery checks test whether the chosen increment behaves as agreed.
An experiment may reveal that the workflow, audience or solution should change. Record that decision, update the affected contract and retain the evidence that caused the change. This is an iterative lifecycle even when each bounded implementation step starts from a specification.
Does SDD require replacing Scrum or Jira?
No particular meeting cadence or tracker follows from using specifications. Preserve the functions your current process needs: alignment on purpose, coordination, inspection, feedback and adaptation. Change a mechanism when evidence shows a better way to perform its job.
The question is whether the working arrangement keeps useful feedback close to the work. Moving a Jira description into Markdown does not by itself improve discovery. Requiring a complete solution specification before learning from users can reproduce the delays people associate with waterfall.
What should happen after release?
Assign someone to review whether the intended audience used the increment and whether the relevant behavior changed. State when to check and what would cause the team to continue, revise or stop. Put that handoff into the work before delivery is declared complete.