Product Requirements Definition (PRD)

A product requirements definition (PRD) is a document that describes the values and goals of a product. The PRD is written by the product manager and serves to provide comprehensive product information to the product, development, design teams and stakeholders.

It is used as an instrument to align entire team on a problem and potentially on a high-level solution to a problem.

The PRD is the main document for every product being developed. Without it, the team will not understand what they are working on and what product should be in release. On the basis of the PRD, subsequent documents are built, sprints and a release date are planned. The PRD helps balance product aesthetics and functionality.

The product requirement document content

The product requirement document contains a description of the goals of the product release and all the necessary features that need to be included in the release. Each feature is documented in an accompanying use case that illustrates the user's interaction with the functionality and is used for future testing.

For complex functions, sub-items are used that detail information for technical teams. If necessary, use cases are also framed in sub-items. In addition to functional requirements, the document also prescribes other requirements such as convenience, system and environmental requirements.

At the final stage, the document includes expectations and assumptions, technical or budgetary constraints, and dependence on known products on which the product will rely.

How to define the product requirements?

1. Define the Product Purpose

Identify the key users and their problems that you plan to address. Discuss the issues in the context of each target user group (companies, customers, users).

2. Describe the Product Features

This is the main section of the PRD. In the process of defining features, you must ensure that they are aligned with the goals of the product. In order to provide maximum design flexibility, design and user interaction must be considered when describing functions. It is also a good idea to rank features to help prioritize the development process.

3. Define the release criteria

Determine when the product is ready for testing. Product release criteria should be agreed upon by stakeholders early in the development phase.

To do this, outline the criteria in the following areas:

  • Functionality. What are the must-have functions?
  • Usability. Is the product intuitive for users and easy to use?
  • Reliability. What is the maximum allowable failure rate? The ability of the product to recover from failures.
  • Performance. Max response time, memory consumption and bandwidth.
  • Supportability. Is it possible to carry out maintenance, testing and tuning?

4. Specify restrictions and schedule

Having determined the workflow constraints and schedule, you can plan from the end date and more realistically assign the sprint duration for each feature.

Key components of the PRD

Objective

Mapping user groups issues to product goals.

  • Goals
  • Vision
  • Users

Release

Identify key milestones and describe a product delivery timeline to help development teams plan their work.

  • Release
  • Date
  • Initiative
  • Features
  • Milestones
  • Dependencies

Features

Mapping of each feature to be in the release.

  • Feature
  • Description
  • Purpose
  • User problem
  • User value
  • Assumptions
  • Not doing
  • Acceptance criteria

User flow and design

Shows how the feature will look and where it will be located. Visualizes the user's interaction with the functionality.

Definition to success

Defines the criteria for how the success and achievement of the results of the features will be measured.

Future work

The future roadmap plans that would help the teams understand how a product can evolve over time.