How to write a good Product Requirement Document?

The sole purpose of the Product Requirement Document (PRD) is to build a shared understanding of what to build. It’s written agreement between PM, engineering, and UX that serves following purpose:

• Offers a forum to reach shared understanding, and once finalized it serves as a source of truth to refer back in case of any confusion
• Goes beyond enumerating requirements and coveys the “why” by highlighting customers problem and asks
• Input for engineering and UX to draft design docs and mocks respectively

At Google, PRDs are written in Google Docs, and it gets tons of comments from stakeholders, which is how teams reach a shared understanding. Product managers conduct meetings, answer comments, and drive discussions to get buy-in from stakeholders.

PMs typically invest 100+ hours writing PRDs. Even minor design choices can be tricky and consequential at the same time, consuming a huge deal of effort.

What PRD is?

PRD comes into the picture once the decision on investing in the feature has been made and before design docs are written…