Editorial draft available to read. Factual and language review is pending. Examples are illustrative.
Decision and method
For each field, document meaning, type, allowed values, required status and ownership. Add when it is completed and which decision uses the data. Avoid requesting fields out of habit: if nobody can explain their purpose, reconsider the need before transferring the maintenance burden to the team entering them.
Illustrative example
Illustrative example: budget may mean the customer's spending capacity or the amount in our proposal. Create two separate fields, each with a currency and known or pending status. The dictionary explains that unknown budget is not zero and that the proposed amount can change between document versions.
Acceptance check
Give two users a sample of records and compare how they complete the fields. Differences reveal ambiguous definitions. Accept the dictionary when importing, editing and exporting require no reinterpretation, and when meaning changes are versioned so historical values are not silently mixed with a newly introduced definition.
Key takeaways
- A useful field has shared meaning, a capture point and a decision that justifies maintaining it.