specificationswithout

Specificationswithout is a term used in design, engineering, and procurement to describe an approach that minimizes or rejects prescriptive technical specifications in favor of outcomes, evaluation criteria, and flexible implementation methods. In this approach, success is defined by measurable performance, interfaces, and validation methods rather than exact component choices or implementation details.

The term is not widely standardized and tends to appear in discussions of agile procurement, lightweight contracts, and design thinking as a way to reduce lock-in and encourage innovation. It contrasts with traditional, highly prescriptive specifications and with purely open-ended briefs by focusing on verifiable results while allowing multiple means to achieve them.

Core principles include specifying desired outcomes and constraints, defining acceptance criteria and tests, clarifying interfaces and interoperability, and allocating risk to the party best suited to manage it. The emphasis is on verifiability and evaluation over dictating the precise means of construction or delivery. Specificationswithout often relies on performance-based or functional requirements rather than detailed technical instructions, enabling suppliers or teams to propose diverse solutions that meet the intended goals.

Applications span software, hardware, and services. In software, acceptance tests and user-centric metrics may determine success without mandating specific architectures. In hardware or systems, performance, reliability, and durability targets replace exact component selections. In procurement, outcome-based contracts align incentives with end results rather than prescribed processes, though they require clear governance, robust validation, and careful risk management to prevent ambiguity or scope creep. Related concepts include performance-based specifications and outcome-based contracting.