Writing to Align: Why PRDs Aren’t Dead – and How to Actually Use Them

Let’s be honest – product docs aren’t clean, elegant strategy artifacts. They’re messy. They live across Confluence, Google Docs, and Slack threads. They get names like Feature-v2-FINAL-REVIEWED-(NEW) – and somehow there are two versions of that.

PMs may not think of themselves as authors, but if you’re a product manager, you’re writing constantly: roadmaps, one-pagers, tickets, stakeholder updates. Your job is alignment, and writing is your medium.

This post breaks down the core types of documentation PMs own – mainly the one I misunderstood for quite some time: the Product Requirements Document (PRD).

🧭 Where Writing Meets Product

Let's zoom out and walk through the timeline of documentation across the product lifecycle. Different types of documentation show up at different stages – each with a specific purpose, audience, and impact.

Here’s a simplified timeline of when and why PMs write what:

If your documents don’t match the stage your product is in, you’ll lose alignment. Think of your writing as a signal to your team: Are we still exploring? Validating? Building? Iterating?

📄 What a PRD Actually Does – and Why It’s Worth Writing

The Product Requirements Document (PRD) often gets misunderstood. Some treat it like a blueprint for everything. Others avoid it because it feels too slow, too formal, too waterfall-y. But when done right, a PRD is the bridge between strategy and execution – the doc that tells everyone: This is what we’re building, and here’s why.

So, why bother writing a PRD?

Because ...

1. Ambiguity kills momentum: When teams don’t have shared context, they make different assumptions. That leads to delays, scope creep, and frustration. A PRD brings everyone back to the same page. Literally.

2. Talking doesn’t scale: You might align perfectly in a meeting – but what happens next week when someone new joins the initiative? A PRD keeps context alive.

3. Alignment isn’t just about what; it’s about why: PRDs help communicate trade-offs, constraints, and the reasoning behind decisions. It builds trust and reduces long-term effort.

What a PRD Is – and What It Isn’t

A PRD is a powerful alignment tool. But before you write one, it’s worth understanding what it’s actually (not) for:

It is:

• A source of clarity between product, design, engineering and stakeholders.

• A single place to define the problem, scope, user needs, constraints and success metrics.

• A living document during planning and a reference during development.

It’s not:

• A pitch deck (that’s for validation or buy-in).

• A spec doc or ticket (those come later).

• A UX brief or UI guide (those live with design).

• A replacement for conversations. Docs align people, but do not replace collaboration.

🧬 The Anatomy of Product Requirements Documents

Not all PRDs are created equal. It's not meant to be a static spec doc locked in time. It’s a living, evolving alignment tool. Some parts will be drafted by the PM. Others only make sense after conversations with design, engineering, or other teams. The best PRDs are written with the team, not for them.

There’s no single “correct” format – but most share the same foundation. Think of them like building blocks: you start with the core, and expand based on complexity and maturity.

Here’s what that might look like 👇

Core Building Blocks

User Stories Aren’t the Spec – They’re the Spark

One note on user stories and requirements: they aren’t deliverables — they’re the starting point.

Why does that matter? Because it gives the whole team a chance to mentally walk in the user’s shoes. Everyone can picture what needs to happen, and that shared mental model is gold.

Bonus Modules (Optional, but Powerful)

These don’t belong in every PRD, but they can help when things get complex or messy:

1. Edge Cases → Write them down before they bite you later.

2. Design Considerations → Especially if you’ve discussed non-obvious trade-offs or need to align on UX patterns.

3. Analytics Plan → What are we measuring? How will we track success? When?

4. Release / Communication Plan → Helpful when launching customer-facing features.

One More Thing: The Best PRDs Are Written in Layers

Don’t wait to finish the doc before sharing it. Share v0.3 with engineering. Ask design for thoughts before the solution is “locked.”

Use the PRD as a living artifact to spark questions, changes, and conversations. If you’re still editing when development starts, good – that means you’re adapting instead of pretending you know it all.

Now that we’ve cleared up what a PRD is, let’s talk about how to write one that actually works in reality.

✍️ How to Write a PRD That Actually Works

Let’s be real: most PRDs fail not because they’re missing a section, but because they’re written like a formality. An annoying box to check.

Here’s what helps:

1. Start Early and Share

Draft your PRD while ideas are still forming. Aim for collaboration early on.

You’re working on a new bookmark feature. Instead of waiting to “finish” the PRD, you drop a one-pager in Slack that includes early goals and open questions like “Should bookmarks be public or private?” and “What’s the MVP UI?”

Design jumps in with sketches. Engineering flags performance concerns. Suddenly, you’re aligned before the spec is frozen.

2. Think in Conversations, Not Docs

Every section in your PRD should spark discussion.

Add a user story: “As a commuting reader, I want to save articles offline so I can read them on the subway.” This sparks a 15-minute whiteboard session with the backend team on caching and local storage. The story isn’t the answer – it’s a placeholder for a great conversation.

3. Use Real Language, Not Buzzwords

PRDs that say “optimize cross-channel engagement pathways” don’t help anyone. Clarity beats cleverness.

Instead of “Enable cross-platform content distribution through frictionless user interaction,” just say: “Let users share articles from the app via WhatsApp, Twitter, or email in two taps.”

Now everyone understands the goal – even your nontechnical stakeholders.

4. Prioritize Ruthlessly

Don’t try to capture every nice-to-have. Define the must-haves, and be confident about what’s out of scope.

• Must-have: Users can add and remove bookmarks.

• Nice-to-have: Bookmarks sync across devices.

• Out of scope: Folders or tagging for bookmark organization.

5. Keep It Alive

Your PRD should evolve. Treat it like a product itself – iterated, versioned, and updated.

Mid-sprint, a user research session reveals that people don’t recognize the bookmark icon.

Instead of tossing the PRD aside, you update the doc: “Update: Testing shows icon isn’t intuitive. Exploring label + icon variant with design.”

Now the PRD reflects the real state of thinking, not a frozen artifact.

🏁 Wrapping It Up

If you told me a few years ago that one of the most impactful things I’d do as a PM was… writing documents, I probably would’ve laughed. Now I see it as one of the most strategic things I do.

I’ve come to realize that writing a good PRD isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s about building clarity and helping you and your team tackle a shared plan. Not because someone “approved the doc” – but because the conversation makes us all smarter.

My advice? Don’t overthink structure. Focus on clarity. Think in conversations. And remember: the PRD isn’t the product – it’s just one of the most underrated ways to collaboratively get there.

And sure, sometimes it’ll still end up as Feature-final-v3-FINAL_(real-final).docx. If the team is aligned, the format doesn’t matter.