memstack-product-prd-writer

PRD Writer — Writing product requirements document...

Generates a complete engineering-ready PRD with problem statement, user personas, functional and non-functional requirements, MoSCoW prioritization, success metrics, and implementation timeline.

Activation

When this skill activates, output:

PRD Writer — Writing product requirements document...

Then execute the protocol below.

Context Guard

Context	Status
User says "PRD", "product requirements", "requirements document"	ACTIVE
User wants a full product spec for engineering handoff	ACTIVE
User is planning a new product or major feature set	ACTIVE
User wants a spec for ONE feature	DORMANT — use Feature Spec
User wants user stories for sprint planning	DORMANT — use User Story Generator

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Why It's Wrong
"Start with the solution"	Start with the problem. Requirements without clear problems lead to building the wrong thing.
"List every possible feature"	A PRD with 50 features is a wish list, not a plan. MoSCoW forces hard trade-offs.
"Skip non-functional requirements"	Performance, security, and scalability are invisible until they break. Spec them upfront.
"No success metrics"	Without measurable outcomes, you can't tell if the product succeeded. Define metrics before building.
"Write it alone"	PRDs need input from engineering, design, and stakeholders. Write the draft, then review together.

Protocol

Step 1: Gather Product Context

If the user hasn't provided details, ask:

1. Product name — what are you building?
2. Problem statement — what problem does this solve? For whom?
3. Target users — who are the primary and secondary users?
4. Business context — why now? What's the opportunity?
5. Scope — is this a new product, a major feature set, or a v2?
6. Constraints — timeline, budget, team size, tech stack?

Step 2: Write Problem Statement

Problem statement template:

## Problem Statement

### The Problem
[Target users] struggle with [specific problem].

Currently, they [workaround or current behavior], which results in
[negative consequences: wasted time, lost revenue, frustration, errors].

### Evidence
- [Data point 1: user research, support tickets, survey results]
- [Data point 2: market data, competitor traction, industry trends]
- [Data point 3: internal metrics showing the gap]

### Impact
If unsolved, this problem costs [users/business] approximately
[quantified impact: time, money, churn rate, opportunity cost].

### Opportunity
By solving this problem, we can [positive outcome for users]
and [positive outcome for the business: revenue, retention, growth].

Problem statement rules:

• Be specific — "Users struggle with X" not "The experience could be better"
• Include evidence — data, quotes, or research that proves the problem exists
• Quantify the impact — makes prioritization decisions easier
• Separate the problem from the solution (no feature names here)

Step 3: Define User Personas

Create 2-3 personas (no more):

Persona template:

### Persona: [Name] — [Role/Title]

**Demographics:** [Age range, job title, company size, tech savviness]

**Goals:**
1. [Primary goal — what they're trying to achieve]
2. [Secondary goal]

**Pain points:**
1. [Frustration 1 — related to the problem statement]
2. [Frustration 2]
3. [Frustration 3]

**Current behavior:**
- Currently uses [tool/process] to [accomplish task]
- Spends [X hours/week] on [manual process]
- Workaround: [How they hack around the limitation]

**Success criteria:**
- This persona succeeds when they can [measurable outcome]

**Quote:** "[A sentence that captures their frustration in their own words]"

Persona rules:

• Primary persona: The person the product is primarily designed for (gets priority in trade-offs)
• Secondary persona: Benefits from the product but doesn't drive design decisions
• Anti-persona: Who this product is NOT for (prevents scope creep)

Step 4: List Requirements (MoSCoW)

Functional requirements:

ID	Requirement	Priority	Persona	Notes
FR-001	[User can do X]	Must	[Persona]	[Context]
FR-002	[System does Y when Z]	Must	[Persona]	[Context]
FR-003	[User can configure W]	Should	[Persona]	[Context]
FR-004	[System supports V]	Could	[Persona]	[Context]
FR-005	[User can do U]	Won't (this version)	[Persona]	[Context]

MoSCoW definitions:

Priority	Meaning	Rule of Thumb
Must	Product doesn't work without it	60% of effort
Should	Important but not blocking launch	20% of effort
Could	Nice to have, include if time allows	15% of effort
Won't	Explicitly out of scope for this version	5% (spec only, don't build)

Non-functional requirements:

ID	Category	Requirement	Target
NFR-001	Performance	Page load time	<2 seconds (p95)
NFR-002	Performance	API response time	<500ms (p95)
NFR-003	Scalability	Concurrent users	[X] users
NFR-004	Availability	Uptime SLA	99.9%
NFR-005	Security	Authentication	[Method: OAuth, JWT, etc.]
NFR-006	Security	Data encryption	At rest + in transit
NFR-007	Accessibility	WCAG compliance	Level AA
NFR-008	Compatibility	Browser support	[List of browsers]
NFR-009	Data	Backup frequency	[Daily/hourly]
NFR-010	Compliance	Regulations	[GDPR, SOC 2, HIPAA, etc.]

Requirement writing rules:

• Each requirement should be testable (you can verify it's done)
• Use "User can [action]" or "System [behavior] when [condition]"
• Never combine two requirements in one row
• Include "Won't" items explicitly — prevents scope creep conversations later

Step 5: Define User Flows

For each Must requirement, document the primary user flow:

User flow template:

### Flow: [Action Name]

**Trigger:** [What initiates this flow]
**Actor:** [Which persona]
**Preconditions:** [What must be true before this flow starts]

**Happy path:**
1. User [action]
2. System [response]
3. User [action]
4. System [response]
5. User sees [outcome/confirmation]

**Error states:**
- If [condition], show [error message] and [recovery action]
- If [condition], redirect to [fallback]

**Edge cases:**
- [Edge case 1: what happens when...]
- [Edge case 2: what happens when...]

Step 6: Define Success Metrics

Metric	Current	Target	Timeframe	How to Measure
[Primary metric — e.g., conversion rate]	[X]%	[Y]%	[90 days]	[Analytics tool]
[Secondary metric — e.g., time-on-task]	[X min]	[Y min]	[90 days]	[Analytics tool]
[Business metric — e.g., revenue impact]	$[X]	$[Y]	[6 months]	[Revenue dashboard]
[User satisfaction — e.g., NPS]	[X]	[Y]	[90 days]	[Survey tool]

Metric rules:

• 1 primary metric (the North Star for this product/feature)
• 2-3 secondary metrics (supporting indicators)
• 1 guardrail metric (something that must NOT get worse — e.g., page load time)
• All metrics must have current baselines and targets with timeframes

Step 7: Outline Timeline & Dependencies

Phase breakdown:

Phase	Scope	Duration	Dependencies
Phase 1: Foundation	Must-have features only	[X weeks]	[None / design complete / API ready]
Phase 2: Enhancement	Should-have features	[X weeks]	Phase 1 complete
Phase 3: Polish	Could-have features + optimization	[X weeks]	Phase 2 complete

Key dependencies:

• [Dependency 1: Design mockups for [flow] — needed by [date]]
• [Dependency 2: API endpoint from [team] — needed by [date]]
• [Dependency 3: Third-party integration approval — needed by [date]]

Risks:

Risk	Probability	Impact	Mitigation
[Risk 1]	High/Med/Low	High/Med/Low	[Mitigation strategy]
[Risk 2]	High/Med/Low	High/Med/Low	[Mitigation strategy]

Output Format

# PRD: [Product Name]

**Author:** [Name]
**Date:** [Date]
**Version:** [1.0]
**Status:** [Draft / In Review / Approved]

## 1. Problem Statement
[From Step 2]

## 2. User Personas
[From Step 3]

## 3. Requirements
### 3.1 Functional Requirements
[MoSCoW table from Step 4]
### 3.2 Non-Functional Requirements
[NFR table from Step 4]

## 4. User Flows
[From Step 5]

## 5. Success Metrics
[From Step 6]

## 6. Timeline & Dependencies
[From Step 7]

## 7. Open Questions
[Anything unresolved that needs stakeholder input]

## 8. Appendix
[Wireframes, research data, competitive context]

Completion

PRD Writer — Complete!

Product: [Name]
Problem: [One-line summary]
Personas: [Count]
Must-have requirements: [Count]
Total requirements: [Count]
Phases: [Count]
Estimated timeline: [X weeks]

Next steps:
1. Review with engineering for feasibility and estimates
2. Review with design for user flow validation
3. Get stakeholder sign-off on MoSCoW priorities
4. Break Phase 1 "Must" requirements into user stories (use User Story Generator)
5. Schedule kickoff meeting

Level History

• Lv.1 — Base: Problem statement template with evidence/impact/opportunity, persona template (goals, pains, behaviors, quote), MoSCoW functional requirements table, non-functional requirements (10 categories), user flow template with error states and edge cases, success metrics with baselines/targets/timeframes, phased timeline with dependencies and risk matrix. (Origin: MemStack Pro v3.2, Mar 2026)