Writing Product Requirement Documents

Define clear problems and bounded solutions to maximize team velocity and creative output.

Help the user with writing product requirement documents using insights from 14 guests and posts across Lenny's Podcast and Newsletter.

How to Help

1. Drafting the core problem - Assist in articulating a concise problem statement that is agnostic of any specific solution.
2. Establishing success metrics - Help define specific, measurable outcomes that will act as a filter for future feature requests.
3. Defining project boundaries - Guide the user through narrowing fuzzy requests into a bounded concept using shaping techniques.
4. Reviewing for clarity - Audit existing drafts for brevity, readability, and technical awareness to prevent micromanagement.

Core Principles

Design for functional prototyping

Jenny Wen: "We used to go off and make this two-year, five-year, 10-year vision even. Now it becomes a vision that's three to six months out, and isn't necessarily creating this beautiful deck, sometimes just creating a prototype that points people in the right direction."

Design should focus on short term functional prototyping rather than static long term planning to keep up with AI driven engineering speeds.

Shape project boundaries early

Ryan Singer: "What we need to do in a shaping session is we come out with some kind of diagram where engineers, product and design, they're saying, "We understand that." So the first thing is we are not going to start something unless we can see the end from the beginning."

Use high intensity collaborative sessions with design and engineering to create a shared understanding of boundaries before development begins.