Product Requirements Documents are one of the key tools that product managers use to communicate what they are building and why: to themselves and stakeholders.
Having a great PRD template can save a lot of time and friction. Getting hold of some of the best PRD examples out there can save you a bunch of time choosing which template and style is best for you.
Everyone writes their PRDs a little differently, with slightly different purposes in mind. To help you pick the right one for your purpose we’ve pulled together a selection of the best PRD examples / PRD templates we could find.
We’ll walk you through each of these PRD examples one by one and talk about what makes each of the PRD templates good in different ways.
PRD Examples list
Here’s the full list of the best PRD templates we could find. Each of these PRD examples have slightly different components and formats, and serve different needs.
- Figma
- Lenny Rachitsky (Airbnb)
- Linear
- Kevin Yien (Square)
- Asana
- Intercom
- Product Hunt
- Adam Waxman’s (SeatGeek)
- Steve Morin’s (Asana)
- Adam Thomas
- Amazon
- Hustle Badger
If you want more information on what a product requirements document is, how to write one and the principles behind it, then check out our full guide to PRDs here
1. Figma’s PRD template
Get Figma’s PRD template: [Coda]
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Figma’s Product Requirements Document | PRD template Figma’s PRD example is a clean, comprehensive option, which elegantly incorporates features from Coda to supercharge it, such as Figma designs, tables and checklists.
This is a great place to start if your team is already using Coda, as you’ll easily be able to link to team members and other documentation from the completed PRD. Having everything from design and product in one place has a lot of value.
If the rest of your team is not currently using Coda but you like this template, you might be better off replicating it in another tool. It’s difficult to get team members to adopt something new, as well as an additional cost.
What makes Figma’s PRD template great
It focuses especially on executing a successful product launch plan and includes an extensive checklist.
It’s a great example for when you’re working on a business critical project where delivery has to be successful, as it helps pull together commercial and product early to ensure launch goes well.
How much product managers are involved in feature marketing will depend on the company. But if a feature isn’t launched well then it won’t have the chance live up to its full potential, so you should be supporting robust launch plans in your product development process.
2. Lenny Rachitsky’s PRD template
Get Lenny’s PRD template: [Google Doc]
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Lenny Rachitsky’s Product Requirements Document | PRD template What makes Lenny’s PRD template great
This is a super simple example to get you started on any project from Lenny Rachitsky (ex Airbnb).
The simplicity of this PRD is a strength. This makes it a good template for experienced or small teams to make sure they put some structure around their thinking on what they are building. It doesn’t over-engineer or create too much admin.
Whilst this template doesn’t contain the detailed guidance notes that some of the others do, the questions cover all the major bases and are clear enough to be intuitive. It’s a great starting point which doesn’t take too much time to complete. You can also iterate over time to include context specific questions for your company.
This template also contains a specific question about intended product audience.
It is a useful detail to include. Even on a PRD template this lightweight many features will only be relevant to one customer segment, rather than the entire user base.
Being explicit about this means that you don’t forget to list out target customers’ needs, and the expected reach of the feature when you plan and prioritize it.
3. Linear’s PRD Template
Get Linear’s PRD template: [Google Doc]
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Linear’s PRD example What makes Linear’s PRD template great
This PRD template is by Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear. He outlines three principles they have for writing PRDs:
- Start with the highest level and get more granular.
- Start with the widest audience, and get narrower.
- Start with the stuff that’s least likely to change, end with the stuff that’s most likely to change as you discover and build.
The basic PRD template has three sections:
- Context
- Usage scenarios
- Milestones
Context
Context is the fundamental “why” behind building this feature. This is for everyone. It shouldn’t change over time.
Usage scenarios
These are real-life narratives about how the feature will be used. They are always anchored in real-world examples that actually happened. These shouldn’t change much, but will be refined over time as early testing happens
Milestones
These are the phases of the build. They describe what needs to be de-risked upfront, and what can be left until later. These change a lot during the course of the build. This is the living part of the doc that the team uses to align themselves and stay coordinated.
4. Kevin Yien’s (Square) PRD template
Get Kevin Yien’s PRD template: [Google Doc]
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Kevin Yien’s (Square) Product Requirements Document (PRD) template What makes Kevin Yien’s PRD template great
This example from Kevin includes a lot of guidance on how to fill it out. It’s thus a great PRD template to start with if you’re learning and looking to start compiling great PRDs.
It’s more detailed than a lot of the other PRD examples and contains notes. If you’re less experienced, you can start here and strip things out in the future. If you’re an experienced PM then you’re likely to get a fresh perspective by looking over this example, and find gaps in what you’re doing.
You don’t need to include all the sections in this template if they’re not relevant to your context, but it’s good to have a pick and mix.
Kevin Yien has also managed to pack a lot of detail into what is overall still quite a short product requirements document.
The milestones make clear the timeline for delivery clear, whilst the operational checklist gives you somewhere to note all the necessary non-product activities that are often overlooked.
Want more real examples? Check out 16x Real Product Roadmap Examples
5. Asana’s PRD template
Get Asana’s PRD template: [Google Doc]
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Asana’s Product Requirements Document | PRD template What makes Asana’s PRD example great
Asana call their equivalent of a PRD a “Spec Template”. It has a well thought through problem definition, and then is very lightweight on the definition of the solution and on release plans.
In this PRD example the focus is very much on defining the problem to be solved and giving teams context with three notable features.
Firstly, it has structured formats for problem statements and hypotheses. Whilst these are fairly similar, having a clear idea of who you are building this, why they will value it, and the impact this will have on the business is the fundamental rationale you have for building a feature.
Second, and as with many of the best PRD examples, it includes non-goals as well as goals. This helps you keep the feature scope and requirements tight, and front load any difficult discussions where stakeholders are expecting different things.
Third, it prompts you to describe the vision in a narrative style. Whilst we tend to nudge people towards more visual approaches to vision setting, being clear on what this looks like upfront is a powerful way of aligning and inspiring people.
Overall, this is a great inspiration for problem definition statements, but you will probably want to include more detail on the solution and release plans in your template as development actually starts.
6. Intercom’s PRD template
Get Intercom’s PRD template here: [PDF]
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Intercom’s Product Requirements Document | PRD template What makes Intercom’s PRD great
Intercom call their version of a PRD an “Intermission” or “Job Story”.
These are at the very lightweight end of the spectrum. They enforce smart brevity by containing specific guidance to keep the document under 1 page. This is also advice which you’ll find on several of the other PRD templates we’ve shared.
The notes that accompany this template are probably the most interesting bits, including:
- Do not add the solution here.
- An Intermission must always fit on a printed A4 page.
- Always have active and upcoming Intermissions printed in your team area or war room.
- Always use plain simple English, no technical terminology or codenames.
Together you get a window into Intercom’s culture. Components include being super focused on the problem to solve, empowering teams to come up with the solutions, and creating a sense of urgency to keep things moving.
7. Product Hunt’s PRD template
Get Product Hunt’s PRD template here: [Google Doc]
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Product Hunt’s Product Requirements Document | PRD template What makes Product Hunt’s PRD example great
At the other end of the spectrum, Product Hunt have a very comprehensive version with sections for go-to-market plans, technical architecture and mockups.
It’s worth checking this PRD example out, because if you decide you don’t need this level of detail in your PRDs (e.g. tracking codes), then you need to decide where else this information will be captured.
But just because PRDs are a single source of truth doesn’t mean everything should be captured in them.
Before you start adding millions of additional sections to your PRD template, you need to ask yourself who is the audience for the document, and what function it serves.
With every section you add, the PRD gets longer and people are less likely to read it, so you want to err on the side of keeping things lean rather than bulking them out.
Check out 4x Real Product Case Study Examples
8. Adam Waxman’s (SeatGeek) PRD template
Get Adam Waxman’s PRD template here: [Google Docs]
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Adam Waxman’s Product Requirements Document | PRD template What makes Adam Waxman’s PRD template great
This is another more detailed PRD example that has an emphasis on easing communication, featuring a decision journal, explored directions and decided direction.
These are particularly useful if you often find that stakeholders are pulling you round and round in circles demanding different things and rehashing past conversations.
In this case, having a decision journal and documenting why you took particular decisions can remind people how you got to where you are.
These sorts of problems are often helped with more explicit decision rights, which you might want to include in your PRD.
There are a number of optional sections, but if you’re taking inspiration from this template as always, double check that you need every section before including it, to avoid bloating the document, and keeping it readable.
9. Steve Morin’s (Asana) 1-pager template
Get Steve Morin’s PRD template here: [Google Docs]
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Steve Morin’s (Asana) Product Requirements Document | PRD template What makes Steve Morin’s PRD great
Another more detailed PRD example that starts at 5 pages long (!) including accompanying notes.
This product requirements document has a focus on risks, mitigations and open questions.
If nothing else, product managers need to reduce risk throughout development to ensure that any investment in technology (e.g. engineering time) is spent wisely and has the best chances of delivering results.
Being really explicit about what the risks of a particular feature are, and how you are tackling them is therefore time well spent.
10. Adam Thomas’ initiative template
Get Adam Thomas’ PRD template here: [Google Docs]
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Adam Thomas’ Product Requirements Document (PRD) template What makes Adam Thomas’ template great
This one focuses on brevity, with a timely reminder to keep PRDs to a single page if at all possible.
With only five sections it includes only the most important questions.
Adam includes some detailed notes throughout on how to complete each section, as well as at the end of the template, noting:
- Meeting notes and retrospective notes can also be added so that the PRD acts as a complete log of the project.
- You shouldn’t worry if other people take copies of your PRD and use it for their own purposes. That’s generally a good thing as it shows they are engaged.
- PRDs need to be living documents to be useful. You should use PRDs regularly to lead meetings and explain what you are doing.
It’s a good reminder that PRDs are communication tools, and the only test they should be measured against is how effectively they help you communicate with team members and stakeholders.
11. Amazon’s PRD template
Get Amazon’s PRD template here: Google Doc | Notion
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Amazon’s Product Requirements Document | PRD template What makes Amazon’s PRD great
Amazon famously uses its working backward’s process in a similar way to how many companies use PRDs.
Whilst the format is not a 1:1 match, there are similarities that make it worth reviewing. PR/FAQ documents are usually written for projects that aren’t just product focused, but are multi-disciplinary efforts to launch new products or services.
We’ve got a full write up of Amazon’s PR/FAQ process here, but in essence, the PR/FAQ model aims to work backwards from a desirable outcome and work out what is required to get there.
The press release captures the main benefits to customers and outlines the vision for this initiative, whilst the FAQs answer critical questions from both a customer and business perspective.
12. Hustle Badger PRD template
Get Hustle Badger’s PRD template here: [Google Doc | Notion | Word]
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Hustle Badger’s Product Requirements Document | PRD template We’ve aimed to create a general purpose PRD template that could be used in a wide variety of situations.
Critically in our opinion, we’ve mapped the sections of the PRD to the key decision points or product reviews that you might have throughout developing a feature. The template is designed to be filled out sequentially as you go through development, rather than all upfront before you get started. It’s delivery and alignment focused.
We’ve also included a section on Impact at the end, because this closes the loop on development.
Your PRD then tells the whole story of what you were trying to achieve, how you approached the problem and whether or not you were successful. This also acts as a reminder to check back on how past releases have performed, which can sometimes be overlooked.
As always though, you’ll be best off adapting this template to your specific circumstances to get the best results.
Summary
We hope you’ve found this round up of the best PRD examples useful. Remember that there’s no one way to write a PRD. Different companies have different uses and standards for them.
It’s great to be inspired by what we’ve got here, but really you should think about who will read your PRDs and what they want to know before selecting a template or format. That role determines what it should include, how long it should be, whether it should be static or iterated, and so on.
Once you’re clear on the role your PRD is performing, you can select an appropriate template and adapt it to your particular context and needs. PRDs are a journey, so you can keep iterating dependent on need.
See our full guide on what PRDs are and how to write them here.
Hustle Badger Resources
[Examples]
[Articles]
FAQs
What is the best PRD template?
Whilst we’ve tried to provide a solid PRD here that you can use off the shelf, every company and team situation is different. You will get the best results when you co-create your own PRD format with your team and stakeholders to suit your own needs. This will also give you better buy in from them when using the PRD going forward.
Where can I find a PRD template?
We’ve rounded up 11 of the best PRD examples on the internet here. Each of these can be used as a template. In addition you can find Hustle Badger’s free PRD template here: Google Docs | Notion | Word
Where can I find a PRD template in Google Docs?
Get the free Hustle Badger PRD template in Google Docs here. We believe in meeting people where you find them, which is usually Google Docs.
Does anyone actually have any real PRD examples?
Yes, there are plenty of great PRD examples out there. We’ve curated 12x of the best PRD examples we could find here. They include examples from Figma, Asana, Intercom, Lenny and Amazon.
What are the best PRD examples?
Like everything, the best PRD example is the one which matches your needs as a company. Some companies need more simplicity, some need more focus on stakeholder alignment, some need more problem definition and some need more help on launch planning. It’s key to understand your context and pick the best PRD template for your needs. To help you do that, we’ve put together 12x of the best PRD examples here, with examples from Figma, Amazon, Asana, Intercom and Product Hunt.
Where can I find Amazon’s PRD template?
Amazon use a process called PR / FAQs as their PRD template. It’s a process whereby they imagine the press release for the future product (the PR). They detail out the product, the pricing, the customer set, the problem solved and then iterate it until it’s compelling. The FAQs section of the Amazon PRD template covers key questions like the size of the opportunity, how it would be developed and so on. Get a full guide here on how to write an Amazon PR/FAQ.
Where can I find a PRD template in Notion?
Get the free Hustle Badger PRD template in Notion here. We compiled it after reviewing 12x of the best PRD examples from real world operators. It’s focused on stakeholder engagement and iterative delivery. You can check out our our guide to the best PRD examples here, or to learn more about the theory behind PRDs and what makes a good one, check out our full how to guide on all things product requirements documents / PRDs here.
Where can I find a PRD template in Word?
Here‘s a PRD template in Word that you can use right away. If you want to understand the theory behind a PRD and get comfortable with designing your own, you can check out a full guide to PRDs here, or learn from real world product leaders by checking out our guide to the best PRD examples here.
