Software Design Document (SDD) Template

Software design is a process by which the software requirements are translated into a
representation of software components, interfaces, and data necessary for the
implementation phase. The SDD shows how the software system will be structured to
satisfy the requirements. It is the primary reference for code development and, therefore,
it must contain all the information required by a programmer to write code. The SDD is
performed in two stages. The first is a preliminary design in which the overall system
architecture and data architecture is defined. In the second stage, i.e. the detailed design
stage, more detailed data structures are defined and algorithms are developed for the
defined architecture.

This template is an annotated outline for a software design document adapted from the
IEEE Recommended Practice for Software Design Descriptions. The IEEE
Recommended Practice for Software Design Descriptions have been reduced in order to
simplify this assignment while still retaining the main components and providing a
general idea of a project definition report. For your own information, please refer to IEEE
1
Std 10161998 for the full IEEE Recommended Practice for Software Design
Descriptions.

1|Page
1
http://www.cs.concordia.ca/~ormandj/comp354/2003/Project/ieeeSDD.pdf

(Team Name)
(Project Title)
Software Design Document

2|Page
 Software Design Document

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 2
1.1 Purpose 2
1.2 Scope 2
1.3 Overview 2
1.4 Reference Material 2
1.5 Definitions and Acronyms 2

2. SYSTEM OVERVIEW 2

3. SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE 2
3.1 Architectural Design 2
3.2 Decomposition Description 3
3.3 Design Rationale 3

4. SYSTEM DESIGN 3
4.1 Object Description 3
4.2 Class Diagram 3
4.3 System Sequence Diagram 3

5. COMPONENT DESIGN 3

6. REQUIREMENTS MATRIX 4
7. APPENDICES 4

3|Page
 Software Design Document

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose
Identify the purpose of this SDD and its intended audience. (e.g. “This software design
document describes the architecture and system design of XX. ….”).

1.2 Scope
Provide a description and scope of the software and explain the goals, objectives and benefits of your
project. This will provide the basis for the brief description of your product.

1.3 Overview
Provide an overview of this document and its organization.

1.4 Reference Material

This section is optional.
List any documents, if any, which were used as sources of information for the test plan.

1.5 Definitions and Acronyms

This section is optional.
Provide definitions of all terms, acronyms, and abbreviations that might exist to properly
interpret the SDD. These definitions should be items used in the SDD that are most likely not
known to the audience.

2. SYSTEM OVERVIEW

Give a general description of the functionality, context and design of your project. Provide any
background information if necessary.

3. SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

3.1 Architectural Design

Develop a modular program structure and explain the relationships between the modules to achieve
the complete functionality of the system. This is a high level overview of how

4|Page
 Software Design Document

responsibilities of the system were partitioned and then assigned to subsystems. Identify each high
level subsystem and the roles or responsibilities assigned to it. Describe how these subsystems
collaborate with each other in order to achieve the desired functionality. Don’t go into too much
detail about the individual subsystems. The main purpose is to gain a general understanding of how
and why the system was decomposed, and how the individual parts work together. Provide a diagram
showing the major subsystems and data repositories and their interconnections. Describe the diagram
if required.

3.2 Decomposition Description

Provide a decomposition of the subsystems in the architectural design. Supplement with text as
needed. You may choose to give a functional description or an objectoriented description. For a
functional description, put toplevel data flow diagram (DFD) and structural decomposition
diagrams. For an OO description, put subsystem model, object diagrams, generalization
hierarchy diagram(s) (if any), aggregation hierarchy diagram(s) (if any), interface specifications,
and sequence diagrams here.

3.3 Design Rationale

Discuss the rationale for selecting the architecture described in 3.1 including critical issues
and trade/offs that were considered. You may discuss other architectures that were
considered, provided that you explain why you didn’t choose them.

4. System DESIGN

4.1 Object Description

List the objects and its attributes, methods and method parameters. Draw an object model.

4.2 Class Diagram

4.3 System Sequence Diagram

5. COMPONENT DESIGN

In this section, we take a closer look at what each component does in a more systematic way. If

5|Page
 Software Design Document

you gave a functional description in section 3.2, provide a summary of your algorithm for each
function listed in 3.2 in procedural description language (PDL) or pseudocode. If you gave an
OO description, summarize each object member function for all the objects listed in 3.2 in PDL
or pseudocode. Describe any local data when necessary.

6. REQUIREMENTS MATRIX

Provide a cross-reference that traces components and data structures to the requirements in your
SRS document.

Use a tabular format to show which system components satisfy each of the functional
requirements from the SRS. Refer to the functional requirements by the numbers/codes that you
gave them in the SRS.

7. APPENDICES

This section is optional.

Appendices may be included, either directly or by reference, to provide supporting details that could
aid in the understanding of the Software Design Document.

6|Page