How To Build A Product Requirements Document

The lack of clear requirements will make your development process fail or greatly suffer. Most people see documentation as a herculean task. While building requirements might be hard, it is not as boring as it sounds. You get the opportunity to put yourself in the shoes of your end-user and learn more about what you are going to build.

It helps you understand what the project is about and eliminates uncertainty. In the case of a handover, the requirements document is a better guide to the person carrying on the process. It captures the overall expression of the product idea in a structured way and is the basis for collaboration between you and the development team.

Requirements can be done in two forms and both complement each other. You can choose a design-centric approach or a text-focused approach. The design approach has to do with wireframes or designs with a short description of every functionality on each screen design. Usually done by a UI/UX designer. The text-based approach deals exhaustively with the general information of the development process, the business rules, and other considerations that are important for full understanding.

How will requirements benefit your development process?

Putting ideas to paper is never easy but it remains a necessary process for putting things in perspective.

• You get the chance to think everything through and get rid of unnecessary features.
• Then you get to prioritize the key features for your MVP
• Your plans are written in a way that makes it easier for other people to understand and provide feedback
• It also gives key stakeholders the opportunity to agree on functionalities upfront. This prevents forced changes in the middle of the project.

So, how do you build the perfect requirements?

Step 1. Deal with the general questions about your product/project

• What are the intended goals?
• Who are the target market and end-user?
• Who is your current competition?
• How long should this take?
• To develop your MVP, what budget are you looking at?

Step 2. Think Design

This will encompass what your application will look like and how the intended users will interact with it. Users could also include the back-end admins. As a Product Owner, if you could, start by drafting some wireframes to explain roughly what the idea is about. Turn here for some tools you can use. After this, you can then turn to designers to create the actual design of all the screens of your solution. These will be used by the developers as they build the front end and back end.

Step 3. Describe your Frontend

This is the part all the users get to interact with. It must be fluid and intuitive and can make or mar the solution. Your front end will determine almost everything else including the back end so it has to be done right. Describing how your front end will look and function is the best way to tell your user stories. They say a picture speaks a thousand words. A flow map of how the users will move around the app will inform you of how many screens you will need to build.

Describing a User Story informs you of the steps a user goes through while using the application. For instance:

• As a User: I want to register on your app so I can have access to my account
• As a Supervisor: I want to access the reporting section, so I can view the monthly usage.

With these alone, we have identified

• 2 roles (visitor and supervisor)
• 2 screens (account details and reporting)
• 2 actions (register and login)
• 2 functions (access account details and access monthly usage)

This simplifies things considerably.

Step 4. Describe your backend as well.

This is everything behind the scenes that makes your platform run smoothly. Your database, users, and rules management, and notifications. Of course, you will be working closely with your analysts, developers, and testers to ensure you are on the right path and that your plans are workable.

Inasmuch as it is important to write down everything you want to do, it is equally important to note the things that you will NOT be doing. Some things are essential and some are not. Trimming down and simplifying is healthy for your peace of mind, effective collaboration, and for the success of your product.

Chijioke is a Product Operations expert, tech enthusiast, customer experience advocate, and Banker. Transitioning into Product Management, he has spent the last four years working in both the Fintech (PayCom) and the Banking (FirstBank) spaces in Lagos, Nigeria. Automating processes, product thinking and strategic planning are some of his core competencies.