All of your product requirements on one page to accomplish more.
Create a winning product requirements document using Lenny’s three-step framework to solving problems.
Starting with crystalizing the problem, this template walks you through how to align your team and stakeholders around solving core problems.
This template is brought to you by Lenny Rachitsky. Learn more about how to use this template on Lenny’s original blog post.
In the template, use the designated sections to answer these questions about your project:
Description: What is it?
Problem: What problem is this solving?
Why: How do we know this is a real problem and worth solving?
Success: How do we know if we’ve solved this problem?
Audience: Who are we building for?
What: What does this look like in the product?
Share the draft with the entire team that’ll be involved in this project.
Ask for feedback (in comments, in email, or in person). Integrate the feedback, re-share, and repeat.
As you work through the project, keep referring back to the problem to ensure that the team is still aligned and moving toward solving the original problem. Incorporate the following habits:
In every design review, make sure the designers start by reviewing the problem statement. If it’s not clear, ask “What problem are we trying to solve?”
In every progress update to stakeholders, review the problem statement to make sure everyone continues to be aligned on the outcome.
Before finalizing designs make sure to ask yourself: “Am I feeling confident this is going to solve the problem we set out to solve?”
These steps were summarized from Lenny’s original blog post A Three-Step Framework For Solving Problems 👌
Lead a project kickoff and align teams on project expectations with this template.