Product Requirements Documents

What is a product requirements document?

The product requirements document is a key template that defines a product and lists probable functionalities and use cases. It contains the product requirements that end-users have requested and acts as a guideline for developers.

Companies can have multiple product requirements documents for a single product, with each focusing on different use cases.

Who creates product requirement documents?

Product managers, product owners, or any product team member can create product requirement documentation.

Many companies engage product design and development firms to help them create product requirement documents for their product.

The PRD is a living document that’s accessible to product development teams and related stakeholders while still retaining the history of changes between different iterations.

Why do product teams need a product requirements document?

A product requirements document (PRD) describes the functional and non-functional characteristics to be delivered by a new or modified product. It provides detailed information to developers and testers on how the product should behave and describes acceptance criteria for user stories and development tasks. 

A PRD helps teams work together more effectively in real-time as everyone refers to the same requirements. It also serves as a reference for your product management team, business analysts, and executives to understand the product's features and functionality from a technical perspective.

Here are a few reasons development teams need a product requirements document.

• Clarity and better understanding within your team
• Better requirements management and control over product evolution
• Helps avoid major change requests at the tail end of the development cycle, eliminating expensive code rewrites or project delays
• Promotes clear product understanding by all stakeholders, developers, testers, and marketing team members
• Helps create well-defined, measurable, and precise user stories
• Better management, prioritization, and estimation of user stories
• Facilitates better estimation of release dates, allowing more accurate project planning
• Reduces the volume of ad hoc documentation created in the development process
• Centralizes critical product management information in a unified and accessible database

How to create a product requirements document

Creating a PRD allows the development team and stakeholders to get on the same page before teams move into the detailed design and development process.

Here's a simple product requirements document template that you can use to craft yours from scratch:

1. Business requirements: A high-level description of the new or modified product. This section must clearly define target users, functional, and non-functional requirements. Use client personas to describe your diverse end-users.
2. Design considerations: Describe the elements to be considered while designing the product. For example, does it need to work within an existing system? Define any constraints that are part of the project scope.
3. Development requirements: Define software requirements and miscellaneous development details that need to be incorporated into the product. Include information on the user interface, databases, system integrations, and related resources.
4. Build requirements: Compile a list of hardware requirements, software dependencies, third-party integrations, and testing tools used for product creation.
5. Deployment requirements: In this section, teams describe the final software product version rollout out to users. That includes the use of staging servers, beta programs, or an enterprise rollout.
6. Product acceptance criteria: Establish guidelines that confirm product completion by validating the required functionality, usability tests, sign-off documents, and other criteria to confirm successful implementation.
7. User stories: Include user stories to define functional requirements. Make sure to write them in the present tense to outline the finished product and its functionality.
8. A short, user-centric description: This is an explanation of how different features fit into the product roadmap and deliver value to end-users.
9. Maintainability: Describe the tools required to maintain the product, such as relevant documentation, code samples, or other resources used by developers to identify and resolve issues quickly.
10. Product versioning: Assign a version number for every specific release of the product. Include release date, release notes, and references to any existing documentation.
11. Security: Discuss the product's security requirements including password requirements, encryption standards, and other rules to be followed when protecting data.
12. Testing requirements: Clearly articulate the testing requirements for each product functionality to ensure that it conforms to quality standards. Make sure that automated and manual testing details, integration, and regression testing are included.
13. Support requirements: Explain each product's support needs that may include documentation for support technicians to reference. Establish a process for acknowledging and resolving user issues.
14. Standards compliance: Inform the development team of essential compliance standards that need to be met while building the product. These may include standards for accessibility, mobile development, or ADA standards.
15. Change management requirements: Steer the processes and manage changes to the product after release that includes details on how change requests are initiated, implemented, and tracked within your organization.

The format of a PRD may vary depending on what is being created, for example, enhancements to an existing system or new development. In both cases, it includes the project scope, deliverables, acceptance criteria, impacts to other systems, risks, and assumptions.

Are product requirements documents (PRD) and marketing requirements documents (MRD) the same?

Many people confuse product requirements documents with marketing requirement documents.

Marketing requirement documents are often seen as a subsection of the main product requirements document, but they are increasingly being created as standalone documents.

Whether it is part of the PRD or a stand-alone entity, marketing requirement documents (MRDs) and marketing requirement workshops (MRWs) are an essential part of the go-to-market product management process.

Core value proposition

The product requirements document (PRD) is the product manager's bible. It typically changes once or twice a year. The product requirements document details the exact features that go into each product release, the use cases, and who will be responsible for them. It also specifies test procedures used to validate product performance.

A marketing requirements document (MRD) is a sales enablement tool that includes go-to-market product requirement specifications. It captures the specific marketing requirements of a product, including its positioning and messaging plans.

Nature and scope

The product requirements document contain detailed product specifications, including:

• Product life cycle strategy
• Product marketing strategy
• Product branding strategy
• Product name and positioning statements
• Product features
• Use cases and their descriptions
• Product pricing information
• Product support details

A marketing requirements document (MRD) is an actionable report that outlines the marketing strategy and plan for a product.

It’s also popularly known as the business case, as it justifies the need for the product and the precise problems that it solves. A typical MRD includes some or all of the following information:

• Product definition in marketing terms
• Product overview including market segment, positioning, product concept, or proposition
• Market awareness and research
• Marketing strategy and objectives
• Key messages or main features of the product
• Pricing strategy and licensing models
• Sales channels, marketing channels, and distribution partners
• Marketing communications plan including marketing launch guidelines and marketing support material
• Revenue forecast by product unit, wholesale dollar value, or dollar volume

Is a product requirement document different from a product design document?

Product requirement documents are quite different from product design documentation. Let's take a closer look at the possible differences between the two:

Value proposition

A product requirements document (PRD) details what kind of product would be created, while a product design document describes how the product will be created.

Target audience

A PRD is used to document product features, functions, and requirements for all product stakeholders. A product user manual is written for end-users after the product is created.

Nature and scope

A product requirements document includes:

• Product feature information with relevant constraints and assumptions
• Product acceptance criteria
• Business rules
• Related product design details essential for product creation

On the other hand, the product design document includes details such as:

• Product components
• Product features
• Requirements and constraints of the requested features
• Product measurements to fulfill product requirements
• Project schedules, budget, and cost analysis for product creation

Key stakeholders and ownership

Product managers, product business analysts, product requirements engineers, and product designers compile a product requirements document. A product design document is created by product designers, product development engineers, and product developers.