Writing a one-page PRD
Problem, evidence, non-goals, success measure, open questions. Anything longer is a document nobody finishes.
The purpose of a PRD is a shared decision, not a complete description. Length is negatively correlated with people reading it, and an unread spec is worse than no spec because it creates false confidence.
Six blocks fit on a page: the problem in one paragraph with who has it, the evidence, what success looks like as a number, explicit non-goals, the shape of the solution, and the open questions with owners and dates.
Non-goals are the highest-value block and the most commonly skipped. They are how you prevent scope arriving through the back door in week three, and how a reviewer knows what you already considered and rejected.
The shape of it
- 01
Problem
Who, in what situation, blocked by what.
- 02
Evidence
Data or research. "A stakeholder asked" is also evidence — say so.
- 03
Success measure
One number, with a baseline and a date.
- 04
Non-goals
What this explicitly does not do, and why.
- 05
Open questions
Each with an owner and a date.
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