"Future Work" v.s. "Recommendations" - a technical writing question

I am writing a technical report on a product that I designed. I have a section called "Future work" and another section called "Conclusions and Recommendations."

I am a little confused about the differences between "Future work" and "recommendations." Could anyone advise me?

I was advised by someone else that "Future work" means the work not completed, whereas "recommendations" are more like lessons learned, future development of the product, etc. However I am still confused with their differences.

I have also seen some articles only have a section called "Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Work." Should I follow this convention instead?

Thanks,

Tom

Tom

I am a consultant specializing in technology-related services. Future work means "Work that should be completed in the future" For example, when the iphone was released future work consisted of add video messaging, add copy/paste functionality.

Recommendations are your/your company's recommendations (which will probably include prioritizing future work). For example:

1. Implement copy/paste functionality within 3 months as it is the most requested feature for the iphone
2. Configure iphone software to work with Verizon by end of Q2 as there are many potential customers who use Verizon.

Let me know if this helps.

Thanks very much Centrc!

Tom

Application may be another word used, if your product is going to enhance another product.

For example, if you invented a widget that enhances another product, then future application could be used.