introducing formality and precision earlier in the development process can reduce the risk of critical information being missed or guessed at by the developers.
On the other hand, introducing precision early also has some drawbacks:
- it delays other activities, thereby delaying critical feedback and return of investment, and
- it reduces the likeliness of putting later learnings into the project, because we already have so much invested into the plan, and changing it becomes more costly.
To me, it seems to be even less risky to provide the formal, precise details only shortly before implementation of a specific feature starts, preferably in the form of automated acceptance tests.
The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny - it is the light that guides your way. - Heraclitus