System Requirements Document (SRD)

Project Name: sage-salaries

1. Introduction

The sage-salaries platform is designed to empower users by providing a comprehensive global salary comparison tool. It enables individuals to compare their current salaries with those in other countries, states, or cities based on job role, experience, and company type. Additionally, the platform offers a savings calculator that factors in lifestyle costs, helping users make informed decisions about working abroad or relocating.

This document outlines the system requirements for sage-salaries, ensuring alignment with the vision of Gaurang Bansal, the project's creator, and the needs of its target audience.

2. System Overview

The sage-salaries platform will serve two primary user groups:

1. Job Seekers exploring opportunities abroad.
2. Curious Individuals who want to understand how their earnings compare globally.

The system will:

• Aggregate salary data from credible sources and calculate averages.
• Provide a user-friendly interface for salary comparisons based on multiple factors such as location, job role, experience, and company type.
• Include a savings calculator that adjusts for lifestyle costs (housing, transport, food, etc.) based on three predefined lifestyle options.
• Present data through interactive visuals for an engaging and intuitive user experience.

The platform will primarily target users in India (IN) but will cater to a global audience. Currency conversions, cost-of-living adjustments, and other locale-specific factors will be integrated to enhance accuracy and relevance.

3. Functional Requirements

As story points:

• As a User, I should be able to compare my salary globally by selecting country, state/city, job role, experience, and company type (global company or startup).
• As a User, I should be able to input optional parameters like startup revenue to refine my salary comparison.
• As a User, I should be able to view salary data sourced from credible repositories with averages calculated.
• As a User, I should be able to use a savings calculator to estimate how much I can save abroad based on my location and lifestyle.
• As a User, I should be able to select one of three lifestyle options (e.g., basic, moderate, luxury) to adjust savings calculations for housing, transport, and food costs.
• As a User, I should be able to view salary and savings data through interactive visuals like charts, graphs, and comparison tables.

4. User Personas

1. Job Seeker

• Description: Individuals actively looking for jobs abroad.
• Goals: Compare salaries globally, understand cost-of-living differences, and estimate potential savings.
• Pain Points: Lack of reliable data, difficulty in comparing salaries across locations, and uncertainty about lifestyle costs abroad.

2. Curious Individual

• Description: Individuals who are not actively seeking jobs but are curious about global salary comparisons.
• Goals: Gain insights into how their earnings compare globally and explore hypothetical scenarios.
• Pain Points: Limited access to credible and engaging salary comparison tools.

5. Visuals Colors and Theme

Unique Color Palette:

• Background: #F5F7FA (Soft Cloud White)
• Surface: #FFFFFF (Pure White)
• Text: #333333 (Deep Charcoal)
• Accent: #0078D7 (Vivid Azure Blue)
• Muted Tones: #A0AEC0 (Cool Gray)

This palette reflects a professional yet approachable aesthetic, aligning with the platform's purpose of providing reliable and user-friendly financial insights.

6. Signature Design Concept

Interactive Globe with Dynamic Data Points

The homepage will feature a 3D interactive globe that users can rotate and zoom into. Each country will have dynamic data points that glow when hovered over, revealing average salaries for selected job roles in that region.

Key Features:

• Hover Interactions: Hovering over a country will display a tooltip with salary ranges, cost-of-living indexes, and savings potential.
• Filters: Users can apply filters (e.g., job role, experience, company type) directly on the globe, and the data points will update in real-time.
• Lifestyle Overlay: A toggle option will overlay lifestyle costs (basic, moderate, luxury) as color gradients on the globe, visually representing affordability.
• Smooth Animations: Transitions between filters and globe interactions will be seamless, with smooth zoom-ins and fade effects.

This bold, immersive design will make the platform instantly fascinating and memorable, setting it apart from traditional salary comparison tools.

7. Non-Functional Requirements

• Performance: The platform must load interactive visuals within 3 seconds for optimal user experience.
• Scalability: The system should handle up to 1 million users per month without performance degradation.
• Security: All user data must be encrypted during transmission and storage.
• Localization: Support for multiple currencies and languages, starting with INR as the default currency.
• Accessibility: Ensure WCAG 2.1 compliance for users with disabilities.

8. Tech Stack

Frontend:

• React for Web

Backend:

• Python
• FastAPI

Database:

• MySQL (with Alembic for migrations)

AI Models:

• GPT 5.4 for user-friendly responses
• Claude 4.6 Opas for coding-related queries

AI Tools:

• Langchain
• Litellm for LLM Routing

Orchestration:

• Docker for local orchestration
• Kubernetes for server-side orchestration

9. Assumptions and Constraints

Assumptions:

• Users will have basic knowledge of salary comparison and cost-of-living concepts.
• Credible salary data sources will be available and regularly updated.
• Users will primarily access the platform via desktop or mobile web browsers.

Constraints:

• Initial launch will focus on English as the primary language.
• The platform will prioritize INR as the default currency, with other currencies added later.
• Interactive visuals may require modern browsers with WebGL support.

10. Glossary

• Salary Comparison: The process of comparing earnings across different locations, roles, and industries.
• Savings Calculator: A tool that estimates potential savings based on income and lifestyle costs.
• Lifestyle Options: Predefined categories (basic, moderate, luxury) that adjust cost-of-living calculations.
• Interactive Visuals: Dynamic, user-friendly graphical representations of data, such as charts and 3D globes.