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A product requirements document (PRD) is a document containing all the requirements for a certain product. It is written to allow people to understand what a product should do. A PRD should, however, generally avoid anticipating or defining how the product will do it in order to later allow interface designers and engineers to use their expertise to provide the optimal solution to the requirements.[ citation needed ]
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PRDs are most frequently written for software products, but they can be used for any type of product and also for services. Typically, a PRD is created from a user's point-of-view by a user/client or a company's marketing department (in the latter case it may also be called a Marketing Requirements Document (MRD)). The requirements are then analyzed by a (potential) maker/supplier from a more technical point of view, broken down and detailed in a Functional Specification (sometimes also called Technical Requirements Document).
The form of the PRD will vary from project to project and depends, for example, on the approach to project implementation. [1] [2] The two most common approaches in software development are the cascading model and agile development methodology. [3] In a cascading development model, product requirements are defined at the very beginning of the project, in their entirety, and development does not begin until they are ready. In the case of an agile development model, requirements are formulated initially at a higher level to allow for prioritization and then elaborated in detail at the beginning of each new cycle. [4]
PRDs also help prevent critical technical issues in software development, including architecture mismatch with product requirements, overlooked technical dependencies, and underestimated implementation complexity. [5]