As the name is self explanatory a PRD is a document which lists all the requirements for the product. A PRD contains the objective, scope, technical requirements, design requirements etc. which are necessary in order to create a product within a given period of time⌚. By the way, timeline is also an important part which is considered while writing the PRD.

It serves as a guide for the product team or the technical team to build and launch the product. We can use any format to write, but here I’m gonna explain you how to write a PRD in a markdown format. But before that, lets deep dive into the components of a PRD.

People involved in Product Requirements Document creation 👯

1. Product Manager

2. UI/UX designer

3. Development team

4. Quality assurance team

5. Marketing team

6. Sales team

7. Customer support

8. Stakeholders

9. Operations team

10. Customers/End users

Components of a Product Requirements Document

Objective 🎯

The objective of a product requirements document (PRD) is to clearly define the product's goals and requirements, and to align the development team around a shared vision.

Let’s take an example, suppose we need to create a website for a juice shop. So what could be the objective ?🤔

• Building a fast website with the best user experience, seamless transactions and an easy to use interface.

• Categorization of different varieties of juices.

• Minimal latency.

• Searching and sorting of products based on prices should not be difficult for the user.

Scope 🔭

Scope of a PRD means the boundaries of a product, what all things should be included and what all things should not be included. From the above example we can define our scope as following :

Inclusions -

• 1. Homepage

     • Attractive and user friendly design, with high quality images.

     2. Product Cards

        • A proper descriptive info about the product with their prices.

     3. Categorization

        • Filter for categorizing juices based on prices, flavor etc.

     4. Ordering and customization

        • Online ordering and customization such as add-ons like protein shots etc.

     5. Cart

        • Storing the products in cart for future considerations.

     6. User accounts

        • Creating user accounts(Signup/Login) for managing their past history, their choices.

     7. Delivery and Pickup

        • Delivery and Pickups options and real time pickup delivery feature.

     8. Contact and Support

        • A proper contact form for the user to share their issues.

     9. Responsive Design

        • An optimized design for desktops, tablets and mobiles.

• Exclusions -

  1. Advanced AI features like recommendation systems.

  2. Multi language support.

  3. No cash on delivery accepted.

  4. No International orders.

Features and Requirements ⚔️

As the name suggests features and requirements section deals with the necessary features(what the product will offer) to displayed on the website.

How to write them ?

Features should not be too technical for the stakeholders to understand. It should be simple and clear and it would be great to have some uniqueness for a competitive advantage.

Make sure that the requirements align with the features which are offered. It should be divided into functional and non functional requirements and should be focused on how system will work.

Requirements are detailed descriptions of how these features will be implemented. There are mainly 2 types of requirement (Functional and Non-Functional) which has their own purposes.

Functional Requirements

• Customer should be easily able to search for their favorite juice based on their category.

• There should not be any trouble for the customer while checking out.

• Customer should be able to raise their queries through contact forms.

Non functional requirements

• Minimal latency of the website(load within 2 sec).

• Website should not feel laggy.

Now here comes the features part. What are the necessary and important things to offer ? Features are also divided based on their priorities(p1, p2 and so on).

P1 features(most important):

1. Online ordering of the juices.

2. Customizable orders(add/remove ingredients).

3. Real time tracking of their orders.

P2 features :

1. Offers based on their reward points or on any special occasions.

2. International orders.

User stories 👤

User stories or use cases both are almost the same. It describes the requirements based upon the user perspective. What the user actually want ? It helps define what the user wants to achieve and why, guiding the development team in building user-centric solutions.

Most of the user stories follows a template like (As a [user role], I want to [demands] so that [outcome])

For example :

1st user story🙍‍♂️ -

• As a customer I want to browse the juice menu so that I could filter out my favorite juice.

2nd user story 🙍‍♀️-

• As a customer I want to customize the ingredients based upon my personal choices.

3rd user story 🧔‍♂️-

• As the store admin, I want to list some new offerings so that customer could access them.

Why user stories are needed ? They are important because they bridges the gap between the stakeholders and the developers as they are properly aware of the customer needs.

Technical requirements 🖥️

Technical requirements are required for the development team so that they are aware of what tech stack is required for building the product. They guide the engineering and development teams in implementing the product's features effectively and ensure that the system aligns with technical feasibility and performance expectations.

Categories of Technical requirements :

1. System architecture -

   • As a simple juice website we could use the MERN stack(MongoDB, ExpressJS, React, NodeJS).

2. Performance requirements -

   • A website could handle 5000 simultaneous requests within 2 sec.

3. Security measures -

   • All the user data such as username, passwords etc. should be properly encrypted.

4. Databases -

   • Database could easily store 10,000 user details and could scale based upon userbase.

Its just a very basic overview of how technical requirements are listed down in a PRD. There are many more categories which are to be considered.

Design Requirements 🖼️

Design Requirements in a Product Requirements Document (PRD) outline the visual, interactive, and user experience (UX) elements of the product. These requirements ensure that the product's design aligns with user needs, branding, accessibility, and overall usability goals.

Categories of Design requirements :

1. Visual design -

   • Use a very clean and simple UI with orange and white as the theme color.

2. Navigation -

   • User must be able to easily navigate in the webpage. Navbar should contain the brand’s logo and nav links such as Home, Juices, Cart, Categories and even a search bar and the most important link that is a Login/Signup button.

3. Animations -

   • Website should have proper hover and cool animations for increasing the user experience.

4. Homepage -

   • Homepage should list most popular juice cards and an order/buy button. Customer must be able to order in not more than 5 clicks.

5. Checkout page -

   • It should not be too confusing for the customer. A basic and simple UI with one side having the order details and the other having the payment options.

6. Footer -

   • A footer should be placed at the bottom having necessary information about the brand with their social links.

Designing is like a deep ocean, its a creative field so it could be as great as possible. Here was an overview of it. You can add many more such things based upon the customer’s choice.

Success metrics 🥇

Success metrics are quantifiable measures used to evaluate whether a product, feature, or project has achieved its intended objectives. These metrics help track progress, assess the effectiveness of the solution, and demonstrate its impact on the business, users, or other stakeholders.

Key Characteristics of Success Metrics:

1. Measurable: Must be specific and quantifiable.

2. Relevant: Should align with the product’s goals and objectives.

3. Actionable: Insights gained should lead to meaningful actions or improvements.

4. Time-bound: Include a timeframe for achieving the desired outcomes.

Types of success metrics :

1. User metrics - It measures user satisfaction with the product.

2. Engagement metrics - Tracks how the user is engaged with the product features.

3. Financial metrics - Focuses on financial success of the product.

4. Performance metrics - Measures the product’s technical performance.

5. Customer metrics - Measures how well the product meets the customer needs.

Timeline ⌛

The timeline outlines the key milestones, deadlines, and phases of a project. It guides the development team and other contributors to finish building the product withing the given period of time.

Divide the entire timeline into different phases :

Phase 1 (Week 0 - Week 1) :

• Planning and research

Phase 2 (Week 2- Week4) :

• Design phase

Phase 3 (Week 5 - Week 9) :

• Development phase

Phase 4 (Week 10 - Week 11) :

• Testing phase

Phase 5 (Week 12) :

• Launching phase

A well-structured timeline increases the likelihood of delivering the project on time and meeting its objectives.

Conclusion 🙋‍♂️

A Product Requirements Document (PRD) is a critical tool that serves as the foundation for successful product development. It clearly defines the what, why, and how of a product, ensuring alignment among stakeholders, development teams, and designers. By outlining goals, scope, features, technical specifications, design requirements, success metrics, and timelines, the PRD acts as a roadmap, minimizing ambiguity and guiding the product's lifecycle from conception to launch.