In this post we will explore the traditional product requirements documentation and artifacts, specifically the Market Requirement Documents (MRDs), Business Requirement Documents (BRDs), and Product Requirements Documents (PRDs).
MRDs and PRDs play a leading role in traditional project management-oriented product development environments. This approach is commonly known as “waterfall” project management, where there is an emphasis on upfront and comprehensive requirements to drive a sequential, or linear, project management approach.
Business Requirements Documents
Business Requirement Documents (BRDs) serve as an important bridge between the product vision and the development process. This document helps to align the product with the high-level business goals and objectives that it should accomplish. Primarily these requirements should include a description of the business problem or opportunity, objectives, outcomes desired, success criteria, and any key performance indicators (KPIs) that will be used to monitor and measure the product, these may include revenue targets, market share growth, cost reduction, or any other measurable outcomes that align with the organization’s overall business strategy.
Additionally, the product’s business requirements should include a thorough risk assessment, including any necessary mitigation strategies where possible.
Finally, the author should seek feedback and approval from key stakeholders, such as senior leadership, finance, design, and development teams, before finalizing the BRD. Once approved, the Product Manager should obtain sign-off from all relevant parties to confirm their agreement with the requirements as documented.
Market Requirement Documents
Market requirement documents (MRDs) are used to capture the needs and expectations of the target market. These documents serve as the central resource for product development and should provide a clear understanding of what the product should achieve. When creating an MRD, the Product Manager should consider the following key elements:
Market Analysis: Taking findings from the efforts undertaken to analyze the market including a comprehensive analysis of the target audience, market size, competitors, potential revenue opportunities, and other market factors that require consideration.
Target Market Needs: Providing an outline of the primary problems or challenges the product aims to solve. Including a comprehensive overview of the customer’s pain points and the value proposition that the product will offer.
Feature Prioritization: Providing an outline of the features and functionality ranked according to their potential impact on the target market and business goals. In traditional “waterfall” project management and product development this information is used to guide the project plan, development process, and resource allocation.
Product Requirements Documents
Product requirements documents (PRDs) outline the specific details of how the product will fulfill the market requirements. A well-crafted PRD provides clear guidance to the project and product development teams, aligning everyone toward a common vision.
Keeping in mind that the primary target audience for the PRD is the development, design, and QA teams, the following sections should be included when creating a PRD.
Product Overview: This is used to introduce the product and its key objectives, including a summary of the market requirements, and highlighting the pain points and opportunities the product addresses. This overview should be concise, clearly stating the product’s unique value proposition and its intended benefits for its end users.
Problem Statements: Crafting effective problem statements will help establish a crystal-clear focus and direction for the product development teams throughout the development process. These statements should describe the problem in a specific manner, clearly articulating the problem from a user-centric perspective. Outlining the opportunity, assessing the quantifiable impact and benefits of the potential solutions along with a thorough feasibility assessment. Special attention should be paid to avoiding vague or ambiguous language.
Functional Requirements: These requirements include features, user interface (UI), performance, compatibility requirements, and any other technical aspects necessary for the product’s success. They often include a variety of artifacts and resources including user stories, wireframes, user interaction, and system response details, in addition to data and process flow diagrams to illustrate these requirements effectively. Input from User Experience (UX)/User Interface (UI) designers, engineers, and other stakeholders should be considered to ensure the functional specification captures all necessary aspects.
These requirements can be written with technical language as the target audience is typically the product development team.
Non-Functional Requirements: NRFs define non-functional requirements such as security, scalability, reliability, and regulatory compliance. These requirements shouldn’t be overlooked as they can be crucial for ensuring the product’s stability, performance, user experience, and compliance.
Constraints and Assumptions: This section should identify and document any constraints or limitations that could impact any aspect of the product development or launch. For example, identifying any dependencies on third-party systems, technological limitations, or other factors that may influence the implementation or delivery of the product.
Acceptance criteria: Lastly, acceptance criteria are clearly defined to specify the conditions that must be met for a feature or piece of functionality to be considered complete and acceptable by stakeholders. Acceptance criteria act as a set of objective guidelines against which the product’s performance can be measured.
Traditional Product Requirements: Conclusion
Traditional product requirements play a key role in aligning stakeholders and guiding development teams through the product creation process. MRDs, BRDs, and PRDs each serve an important purpose in capturing critical details from business objectives, market analysis, and technical specifications.
However, traditional waterfall development methods have faced criticism for being rigid and limiting responsiveness to changing customer needs. Agile frameworks address many of these concerns with an emphasis on collaboration, iterative delivery, and embracing change. While Agile methods are gaining popularity, traditional requirements artifacts can still provide value. Product teams should thoughtfully consider the right blend of upfront planning and flexibility needed for their particular product and organization.
By leveraging the strengths of both traditional and Agile practices, teams can build exceptional products that meet customer needs and deliver business value.