Approver Guide

Approver Guide

As an approver, your role is to formally sign off on the unified PRD before it is locked. You are the last line of review before the specification becomes immutable and development begins. This is a significant responsibility — your approval signals that the spec is ready to build from.

Who Is an Approver?

Approvers are designated by your organization's admin and are typically:

• Department Leads — ensuring their department's requirements are adequately represented.
• Product Owners — confirming the spec aligns with business goals and priorities.
• Technical Leads — validating that the technical requirements are realistic and well-specified.
• Executive Stakeholders — approving from a budget, strategy, or risk perspective.

If you've been added as a required approver for a project, you'll receive a notification when the project enters the Approving phase.

What You're Approving

Your approval means you are satisfied that:

1. Requirements are complete — the PRD captures what needs to be built, with sufficient detail to act on.
2. Your department's input is represented — the wishes your team submitted are either incorporated or explicitly deferred with a documented rationale.
3. The scope is realistic — the spec doesn't commit to things that aren't feasible within the known constraints.
4. Conflicts are resolved — the conflict resolutions represent reasonable, documented decisions.

You are not approving implementation details, technology choices, or code. Those come after. You are approving the specification.

How to Review the PRD

From the Approvals page of the project, click View PRD to open the full unified PRD. Review it systematically:

Check Your Department's Wishes

Navigate to Wishes and filter by your department. For each wish your team submitted, verify:

• Is it reflected in the PRD? (Check which PRD section it's linked to.)
• If it wasn't incorporated, is there a documented reason? (Check resolved conflicts.)
• If it was incorporated, is the implementation described accurately?

It's normal for some wishes to not make it into the final spec — prioritization decisions are expected. What matters is that the rationale is documented and you were heard.

Review the Conflict Resolutions Affecting Your Team

On the Conflicts page, filter for conflicts that involved your department's wishes. For each:

• Was the resolution reasonable given the trade-offs?
• Was your team's perspective reflected in the discussion?
• Do you agree with the chosen path?

If you disagree with a conflict resolution, you can use the PRD comment threads or your rejection comment to flag it.

Read the Full PRD Sections Relevant to Your Role

Focus on the sections most relevant to your expertise. A Legal approver should read the Security and Data Management sections carefully. A Technical Lead should focus on Non-Functional Requirements, Architecture Constraints, and Integration Requirements.

Look for:

• Vague or ambiguous language that could lead to misunderstandings during development.
• Requirements that are contradictory within the unified PRD itself.
• Scope that seems far too large or far too small for the stated goals.
• Missing requirements that are obvious from your domain expertise.

Submitting Your Approval

From the Approvals page:

To Approve: Click Approve. Your approval is recorded with a timestamp. You don't need to add a comment, though it's welcome.

To Reject: Click Reject and provide a comment. Your comment should be specific:

• What exactly is the problem?
• Which PRD section or wish does it involve?
• What change would make you approve?

A rejection like "I'm not satisfied with the security section" is not actionable. A rejection like "Section 4.2 (Data Retention) specifies 30-day retention but our legal obligations require 7 years for financial records — this must be corrected before I can approve" gives the project lead exactly what they need to address your concern.

After Submitting a Rejection

The project lead will review your comment and either:

• Edit the PRD to address your concern and ask you to re-review.
• Reach out to discuss the concern and clarify why the current wording is correct.

When you're satisfied that your concern has been addressed, return to the Approvals page and submit your approval.

After All Approvals Are Received

Once all required approvers have approved, the project lead locks the PRD. From this point the specification is immutable — no changes can be made. Development begins.

As an approver, your involvement in SpecGraph is now largely complete for this project unless you're also involved in post-build review or your department is part of the implementation team.