Product Requirements Document: How to Write a PRD

In the world of new product development, a product requirements document (PRD) is a touchstone document that outlines success metrics for a finished product. It aligns all stakeholders—from the product manager to outside consultants—on the functional requirements of a successful product. A great product requirements document can facilitate an agile development process because all team members share a common understanding of what needs to happen by the time the product launches.

A PRD is a living document that may change multiple times leading up to the product release date. As the product development process unfolds, marketing teams may learn new information about customer needs, user problems, and competing products. Technical teams may have new insight on product features and use cases. Sales teams may provide new release criteria that affect the product roadmap. For these reasons and others, project management teams must be open to changing their PRD to suit the latest information.

A product requirements document is important because it aligns all key stakeholders toward a common understanding of the product they are building. It also sets an agreed-upon template for the functional requirements of a successfully completed product.

The best product requirements document for your business will depend on the exact type of product you are launching. For instance, the PRD for a piece of software may be quite different from the PRD for a medical device. To get started, work from this product requirements document template, which contains five key sections.

1. 1. Product objectives: The first entry in any PRD template is a statement of objective. Name your goals for a successful product, end-user personas (in other words, your target customers), release milestones (like a product launch date), and release dependencies (what has to happen before the product can be released).
2. 2. Product features: This section should describe each feature your product will offer and the functionality of those features. Explain how the product will solve identified user problems and what an end-user can accomplish when they use your product. If the description is written from the perspective of the end-user, it is called a user story.
3. 3. User experience: In addition to providing an overview of what a product can do, describe its usability for a target customer. Some businesses include wireframes and mockups in the PRD to illustrate the user flow of a product. By including this item in a PRD, you commit to the prioritization of a baseline customer experience.
4. 4. Release criteria: At this point in your PRD, you will name the milestones and dependencies that factor into your product's release date. Consider how many iterations of your prototype you might cycle through before launch, what sort of reliability and performance you’ll insist upon, and whether customer service teams will be ready to help customers with the product. Setting these criteria—and adhering to them—is more prudent than picking an arbitrary release date.
5. 5. Timeline: Lay out projected milestones for your workflow, from the starting point in your development lifecycle through prototyping, a formal release, and iterative updates to keep the product working and your customers satisfied. Target dates may change as the project evolves, but laying out a timeline in your PRD can help each team stay on task.

As you go about drafting a product requirements document, there are a few useful tips to keep in mind.

1. 1. Research before you write. A great product requirements document comes from industry experience and methodical research of similar products. If you are launching a new toy, for example, research past use cases of toy launches. See how past development teams set and met goals, and apply your newfound knowledge to your own product launch.
2. 2. Offer big-picture goals. A PRD should only lay out goals and requirements for a successful product launch. Avoid delving into a prescribed methodology for meeting those goals. Executive leadership teams should ideally trust product managers and technical teams to use their expertise to meet these goals in the way they see fit.
3. 3. Solicit input from specialized stakeholders. The person writing a company's PRD may not be fully aware of all the technical hurdles and cross-team integrations required to successfully launch a new product. Rather than speculate, product managers should directly ask their colleagues for their help in drafting a PRD. Ask questions and accept input before you start writing.

A product requirements document is closely related to a business requirements document and a market requirements document, but the three terms are not synonymous.

• Product requirements document (PRD): A PRD aligns stakeholders on what a successful product will look like, from functionality to user experience to release dates.
• Business requirements document (BRD): A BRD aligns stakeholders on what a successful business endeavor looks like—whether or not it involves the launch of a new product. Business requirements documents may be shared with a contractor, consultant, service provider, or an internal project team.
• Marketing requirements document (MRD): A marketing requirements document is generated by a company's marketing department, and it solely focuses on user needs and pain points. It is typically generated before a PRD to get a snapshot of the current marketplace.

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