{"id":5459,"date":"2023-02-09T16:23:30","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T16:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durolabs.co\/?p=5459"},"modified":"2025-01-27T15:56:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T15:56:53","slug":"prd-template","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durolabs.co\/blog\/prd-template\/","title":{"rendered":"Product Requirements Document – Elements, tips and a PRD template"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The key to success for any new product development effort is clearly defining what you want to produce. A Product Requirements Document (PRD) helps you create this definition. An effective PRD template acts as the destination to guide the development journey.<\/p>

This blog explains what a PRD is. It covers what should be in it, what to leave out, and how to write it. Whether you\u2019re responsible for getting a new product developed and released or just part of the development team, reading this will increase your chances of success.<\/p>

We also provided a free PRD template via a Google Doc, which you can download at any time throughout the article, as well as additional templates further on in the article.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What is a product requirements document (PRD)?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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A PRD is a master document that spells out what you want to develop, why, and to an extent, how. This \u201chow\u201d is where you define the product features and functionality required. A PRD may also cover the release criteria, timelines, milestones, information about potential volumes, and success metrics.<\/p>

The length and level of detail depends on the type of product. For example, a doorknob may need only a single page, while a graphics card might take dozens of pages to define.<\/p>

Organizations that use the\u00a0waterfall methodology<\/a>\u00a0of development (where the project moves from one clear-cut stage to the next), will require a large and detailed PRD document. The PRD document for those with an agile development environment will likely be more dynamic and evolve as work progresses and teams learn new information.<\/p>

A template helps ensure nothing gets overlooked when creating a PRD. Your PRD template will need to be tailored to your product development process<\/a> and new product introduction<\/a>. It must be thorough and available to everyone working on the project. Remember: a document that no one can access is useless to anyone.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The 5 main stakeholders involved in PRD development<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Product development requires input from many different teams. Because so many business functions are affected, they should be involved from the outset. (The alternative is that they find out their input is required after key decisions have been made, making it hard to get their buy-in and likely resulting in suboptimal product performance.)<\/p>

Who are the key stakeholders involved in developing a PRD? The engineering team will probably be the group most deeply tied-in, but it\u2019s vital to get other key people involved as well. These include:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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1) Product Manager (PM)<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The PM is the principal author of the PRD. They document the final vision of the product, incorporating input from engineering, sales, marketing, management, and even customers. While the leads of each of these departments are responsible for specific contributions, the PM pulls together their inputs and ensures the project stays on track.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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2) Engineering Manager<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The engineering team reality-checks the product definition. Can the features outlined in the PRD be developed without defying the laws of physics? In the timeline requested? For the targeted costs? Sometimes, a small R&D effort is required to answer these questions before the PRD can be finalized \u2014 and that\u2019s okay. It\u2019s better to spend time early on to answer these questions rather than waiting until it\u2019s too late or too costly to make changes.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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3) Sales Manager<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The sales team needs to help determine if end users actually want the features listed in the PRD, and if any fine-tuning is required to optimize the product-market fit. The sales team is also responsible, along with finance and customer teams, for helping figure out how much customers would be willing to pay for the product that\u2019s been defined<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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4) QA Manager<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The new product will need an inspection (and testing) to ensure it meets requirements and is fit for sale. Letting the QA team see early versions of the PRD helps them budget for and organize the resources needed. These peripheral costs are often neglected when calculating the actual cost to develop, test, and manufacture a product. Test equipment can get expensive quickly!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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5) CEO<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The CEO needs to review the product roadmap outlined in the PRD to make sure it aligns with the company vision and is consistent with the business model.<\/p>

None of these teams should work in isolation. PRD development is a company-wide effort involving multiple conversations and debates. And the effort will definitely test your negotiating skills when the engineering team reports that the features are too expensive or will take too long to build, the sales team refuses to raise the price for the customer or remove a feature, and the CEO mandates the product be on store shelves within six months!<\/p>

Resolving these conflicting objectives or points of view requires the Engineering-Management-Sales team triad to roll up their sleeves and work together. It often takes multiple iterations of the specifications before all three teams are happy with the outcome. The PM is the final arbiter and records the decisions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Pros and cons of using a product requirements document<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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It\u2019s common in engineering for people to want to dive straight into design and development. When told a PRD is required, the response is usually complaints about how it will slow the process. In fairness, while PRDs are used by many organizations with mature product development processes, there are arguments against creating them. Below, we break down a few of the positives and negatives of going through the process of creating a PRD .<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Pros of a PRD<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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