How to Write a Product Requirements Document

Update: June 21st, 2022. I have made changes to the PRD template making it more user-friendly.

A Product Requirements Document (PRD) is a document that contains high-level details about a product. Over time, I have come to realise that not every company uses one, however, it is important to know how to write one as a product manager.

A PRD entails the overall details of a product — what it does, its vision/goal, user personas, wireframes, etc. It could guide the product team throughout the development phase and even after. Different companies have different formats they use in writing PRDs and note that PRDs are confidential. The format below contains general items in a Requirements Document, especially if you’re just learning how to write one.

Next up, these are some steps to go through when creating a PRD:

1. Name of Product
2. Author(s) of the document or name of the company
3. Introduction/Background: A brief overview giving some context into the need to solve the problem or build a product
4. Problem: The problem the customers/business is facing
5. Solution: Briefly discuss the solution the product is providing
6. Goal: List the goals you want the product to help the company achieve
7. Audience: Who you are building the product for
8. How: What’s the plan for building the product? Include the links to user stories, user flows, wireframes, product features etc.
9. Success metrics: What metrics would you track to ensure the product is a success

I’ve created a template and made it available here. Enjoy!

From

Anesii

PS: I’m going to be sharing more articles about things I learn on my product management journey both on LinkedIn and on my portfolio. Please feel free to reach out to me in case of any questions or discussions. I’m really looking forward to it.