A practical, battle-tested PRD template for product managers building digital products. Comprehensive enough to drive alignment, concise enough to actually get used.
This template strikes the balance between thoroughness and usability. It's based on patterns from leading tech companies but adapted for real-world constraints—you can skip sections that don't apply, but the critical elements (problem statement, success metrics, user focus) are non-negotiable.
- Copy PRD_TEMPLATE.md to your project
- Fill out Goals & Success Criteria first to establish alignment
- Reference EXAMPLE_PRD.md for guidance on tone and depth
- Iterate with stakeholders throughout discovery and development
- PRD_TEMPLATE.md - Clean template ready for your next product
- EXAMPLE_PRD.md - Fully completed example demonstrating best practices
- README.md - This guide
Use a full PRD for:
- New products or major features requiring cross-functional alignment
- Multi-sprint development efforts with significant engineering investment
- Projects needing clear success metrics and stakeholder approval
- Initiatives with meaningful business or user impact
Use something lighter for:
- Minor bug fixes, UI tweaks, or well-understood changes
- Quick experiments or A/B tests with single stakeholders
- Internal tools with minimal complexity
Executive Summary - Write this last. If stakeholders only read one section, they should understand the why, what, and expected impact.
Background & Context - Use real data and user quotes. Avoid generic problem statements.
Goals & Success Criteria - Define measurable outcomes before building. "Increase DAU by 15%" not "improve engagement."
User Personas & Use Cases - Base on research, not assumptions. Make personas feel real.
Product Requirements - Be ruthless about MVP scope. Most P1 features can wait for v2.
Non-Functional Requirements - Don't skip this. Performance, security, and scale are expensive to fix later.
Dependencies & Risks - Identify blockers early. Honesty about risks enables better planning.
Post-Launch Plan - Schedule success measurement check-ins before launch, not after.
Feel free to:
- Remove sections irrelevant to your product or organization
- Adjust detail level based on project complexity
- Add company-specific sections or modify formatting
- Link to external documents rather than duplicating content
Always keep:
- Clear problem statement with user evidence
- Measurable success criteria
- User-focused requirements with acceptance criteria
- Risk identification and mitigation plans
- Stakeholder approval
- Draft - PM creates initial version from research
- Review - Stakeholders provide feedback, PM iterates
- Approved - Key stakeholders sign off
- Living Document - Update as you learn during development
- Archive - Preserve for historical reference after launch
- Start with Executive Summary and Goals to get early alignment
- Share drafts early to avoid surprises
- Ask for specific feedback ("Does MVP scope feel right?") not vague input
- Keep updated during development—stale PRDs create confusion
- Link to design files, specs, and analytics rather than duplicating
- Get written approval from decision-makers
- Markdown editors: VS Code, Notion, Obsidian, Typora
- Version control: GitHub, GitLab, Confluence
- Design: Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD
- Analytics: Mixpanel, Amplitude, Google Analytics
- Project management: Jira, Linear, Asana
Books:
- Inspired by Marty Cagan - Product discovery and vision
- The Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen - MVP definition and validation
Articles:
Suggestions for improvements? Found sections confusing or missing?
Open an issue or submit a pull request on GitHub.
Free to use, modify, and distribute. No attribution required.
Version: 1.0 Last Updated: October 23, 2025