The PRD describes the product your company will build. The purpose is to clearly and unambiguously articulate the product’s purpose, features, functionality, and behavior.

1. PRD 1

2. Definition
• The PRD describes the product your company will build
• The purpose of the product requirements document (PRD)1 or
product spec is to clearly and unambiguously articulate the
product’s purpose, features, functionality, and behavior.
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3. Differences with common concepts
• The PRD versus the MRD
• The PRD versus the Product Strategy and Roadmap
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4. Ten steps to a good PRD
• Let’s see them.
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5. Step 1: Do Your Homework
• This means studying your customers, your competitors, and your
team’s capabilities, including available technologies.
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6. Step 2: Define the Product’s Purpose
• You must have a clear understanding of that need, and how your
product addresses need.
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7. Step 3: Define the User Profiles, Goals and
Tasks
• In-depth understanding of the target users and customer.
• User Profiles
• User Goals
• Tasks
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8. Step 4: Define your Product Principles
• For tradeoffs it is important that you have some criteria in which
to make the best decisions for your product.
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9. Step 5: Prototype and Test the Product
Concept
• Come up with your product ideas.
• Feasibility Testing
• Usability Testing
• Product Concept Testing
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10. Step 6: Identify and Question Your
Assumptions
• Make sure you don't specify a candle in the PRD and prevent
yourself from getting a light bulb.
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11. Step 7: Write It Down
• Get all this down of course.
• Major areas
• Product Purpose
• Features
• Release Criteria
• Performance
• Scalability
• Reliability
• Usability
• Supportability
• Localizability
• Schedule
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12. Step 8: Prioritize
• It is important to prioritize and rank-order every one of your
requirements.
• must-have
• high-want
• nice-to-have
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13. Step 9: Test Completeness
• Can an engineer get enough understanding of the target in order
to get the product there?
• Once the stakeholders have all reviewed the PRD and identified
any areas that need additional details or clarification, and you
have addressed these issues, you now have a PRD to build a
product from.
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14. Step 10: Managing the Product
• There will be countless questions identified, even with the best of
PRD’s. Resolve all questions about requirements by pointing
people to the PRD.
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