How to Avoid Rookie Mistakes When Creating Your PRD (Product Requirements Document)

Author: Waqar B. Hashim is a veteran product development leader with over 30 years of experience bringing complex hardware-software integrated products to market, generating more than $5 billion in sales worldwide.

PRDs don’t have to be scary. Here’s how small, inexperienced teams can write them like pros—and save time, money, and sanity.

Why PRDs Can Make or Break Your Startup

You’ve probably heard it: “We’re agile—we don’t need a PRD.”

But here’s the reality: a bad or missing PRD is a silent startup killer. It’s why sprints derail, features flop, and funding evaporates faster than you expected.

The good news? You don’t need 10 years of PM experience to get this right. With a few smart moves, you can write PRDs that give your team clarity and confidence instead of chaos.

❌ Mistake #1: Turning Your PRD Into a Feature Wishlist

Your PRD is not Santa’s list of every idea you’ve ever had.

The fix: Start with the problem statement. Describe who the user is, what they need, and why it matters. Features should exist only if they solve that problem. This includes the CEOs wish list (Realistically speaking the odds that your CEO is the next Steve Jobs are quite low).

❌ Mistake #2: Writing Vague, Fluffy Requirements

Words like fast or user-friendly are dangerous. They mean different things to different people.

The fix: Replace fluff with measurable targets.

• ❌ “App should be fast.”

• ✅ “Page load time ≤ 2.5s at p95.”

Don't leave requirements to misinterpretation. Quantify every requirements. Since the PRD is a living document , once you learn that a certain requirement is unachievable due to any valid reason (not lack of effort) you can revise it.

❌ Mistake #3: Skipping Acceptance Criteria

If you don’t define “done,” don’t be surprised when QA and customers disagree.

The fix: Use Given/When/Then examples.

• Given a logged-in user, when they upload the wrong file type, then show an error in ≤1s.

PRD becomes the foundation of creating product testing and QA requirements. If you don't create a test acceptance criteria the product tester will not know how to certify the product as a 'Pass'.

❌ Mistake #4: Writing a 30-Page Monster Doc

Nobody reads 30 pages. If they do, they won’t remember it.

The fix: Keep it lean and focused:

• Problem

• Goals & Non-Goals

• Users & Use Cases

• Functional Requirements

• Acceptance Criteria

• Success Metrics

• Risks & Dependencies

Done. 5–7 pages max. is what most products will need.

However if you are building a very complex product like an electric vehicle you will have to create PRDs with systems and subsystems included and that can become a very complex document. This is also a situation where the true vaue of a well written PRD shines because the more complex the product the more clarity a well written PRD brings to the table.

❌ Mistake #5: Treating PRDs as “One and Done”

Startups pivot. If your PRD doesn’t evolve, it turns into a fossil.

The fix: Make your PRD a living doc. Update it after every sprint. When making changes, do not make changes on the published version, instead create a copy of the current document and update its version level after adding the next set of batched updates. It will avoid a tremendous amount of confusion down the road. 

❌ Mistake #6: Ignoring Performance, Security, and Scale

Non-functional requirements (NFRs) aren’t “nice-to-haves.” They’re the stuff that keeps your product alive under real-world stress.

The fix: Document NFRs upfront:

• Uptime ≥ 99.9%

• All sensitive data encrypted

• API responds ≤ 500ms

❌ Mistake #7: Pretending Risks Don’t Exist

If your PRD reads like everything will go perfectly, you’re already in trouble.

The fix: Add a simple Risks & Assumptions section. Acknowledging uncertainty builds trust and helps your team plan ahead. This information will help you build teh DFMEA (Design Failure Modes and Effects Analysis) which is used to quantify and mitigate product design risk.

❌ Mistake #8: Forgetting Stakeholder Alignment

Writing PRDs in isolation = misalignment city.

The fix: Share drafts early. Summarize differently for each role:

• Execs → business goals, ROI

• Engineers → acceptance criteria, dependencies

• Designers → user flows, edge cases

After every revison comes reconciliation to detect if the changes will create conflicts and unresolved issues in other requirements. Usually Product Managers lead in this role and bring people with conflicting requirements together to resolve the conflicts.

❌ Mistake #9: Ignoring Compliance (Until It’s Too Late)

If you’re in healthtech, fintech, or automotive, compliance isn’t optional, it’s survival.

The fix: Use compliance-ready templates. Map requirements → tests → releases. Document everything.

❌ Mistake #10: Not Tying Requirements to Metrics

Building without measuring success is like driving blindfolded.

The fix: Add metrics to every requirement:

• Activation rate +15%

• Support tickets ↓ 40%

• Time-to-first-value 5m → 2m

The Payoff: Why Getting PRDs Right Is Worth It

• Save money. Every vague requirement today is $$$ in rework tomorrow.

• Ship faster. Clear PRDs = fewer debates, fewer blockers, shorter lead times.

• Build trust. Investors, partners, and customers respect disciplined teams—even scrappy ones.

For startup teams, PRDs aren’t paperwork. They’re leverage. Get them right, and you’ll move faster with less waste. Get them wrong, and you’ll burn cash on rework instead of growth.

A good PRD won’t guarantee success. But a bad one guarantees pain. Start lean, be clear, and keep it alive. That’s how first-time founders create product requirements like pros.

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