Day 13: Write the spec (PRD)

[Day 13/30: Product Manager to CEO 30 Day Challenge] It's time to write your product requirements document!

Your product spec will be the foundation of your project, so it's important that it clearly communicates the needs and wants of your users, as well as your vision for the product. The better you can capture these ideas in one place, the easier it will be for everyone on your team to get on board. A well-written PRD will serve as your guide throughout the development process. It can help you make decisions about budget, timelines, and even personnel.

The first step is deciding who your audience is going to be: what kind of person will use this product? Through the previous exercises, you should be in an amazing place to write a stellar PRD for your product. You'll want to think about your users goals and motivations, which means knowing who they are as individuals. Then you can think about how their needs will impact the way they interact with your product. Once you've figured out who they are, start writing down the features that would help them achieve their goals.

A well-written PRD should include:

- A clear and concise description of the problem you are trying to solve

- The business goals you're hoping to achieve with this project

- The user personas you're trying to address (this can be as detailed as you want)

- The features and functionality that will address those user needs (again, as detailed as necessary). Break these into multiple epics with individual feature flows, use cases, benefits and KPIs.

- Limitations and constraints that may affect your ability to implement these features and functions

A PRD is a living document, meaning it evolves over time. It should be updated with every new feature or change to existing features, so that you know what you're building.