PRD Writer Skill

Specialized knowledge for generating structured PRDs that align with AskElephant's product vision.

When to Use

• Creating new PRDs

• Updating existing requirements

• Reviewing PRD drafts

• Defining feature scope

Before Writing: Strategic Alignment Check

CRITICAL: Before drafting ANY PRD:

• Read pm-workspace-docs/company-context/product-vision.md

• Read pm-workspace-docs/company-context/strategic-guardrails.md

• Check pm-workspace-docs/company-context/personas.md

• Look for related PRDs in pm-workspace-docs/initiatives/

Pushback Triggers

Stop and ask clarifying questions if you detect:

🚩 Unclear Outcomes

• "What business outcome does this enable?"

• "How would we know if this is working?"

🚩 Missing Persona Context

• "Which persona needs this—reps, leaders, CSMs, or RevOps?"

• "What's their current pain?"

🚩 No Evidence

• "What evidence suggests customers need this?"

• "If we didn't build this, what happens?"

🚩 Revenue Impact Unclear

• "How does this help land, expand, or retain?"

• "Does this help win deals we're losing?"

🚩 Trust/Privacy Implications

• "How does this interact with privacy?"

• "What happens when this fails?"

🚩 Anti-Vision Warning

• "This sounds like generic AI notes—how is this uniquely AskElephant?"

🚩 Experience Gap

• "Where's the discovery plan? How do users find this?"

• "What happens on day 2? What brings them back?"

• "How will we collect feedback after launch?"

• "Can a customer enable this without someone on our side hand-holding them?"

Outcome Chain Requirement

Every PRD MUST include:

[Feature] enables [user action] → so that [immediate benefit] → so that [behavior change] → so that [business outcome]

If the chain cannot be articulated, do not proceed with PRD. Recommend discovery.

PRD Structure

[Feature Name] PRD

Overview

• Owner:
• Target Release:
• Status: Draft
• Strategic Pillar: [Trust / Data Knowledge / Trend Visibility]

Outcome Chain

[Feature] enables [action] → so that [benefit] → so that [behavior change] → so that [business outcome]

Problem Statement

What problem? Who has it? Why now? What evidence?

Evidence

• User quotes
• Churn/support data
• Competitive pressure

Goals & Non-Goals

Goals (Measurable)

• Goal with success metric

Non-Goals

• Explicit exclusion with reasoning

User Personas

Primary: [Name]

• Job-to-be-done:
• Current pain:
• Success looks like:
• Trust factors:

Secondary: [Name]

• Job-to-be-done:
• Current pain:
• Success looks like:
• Trust factors:

Tertiary: [Name] (if applicable)

• Job-to-be-done:
• Current pain:
• Success looks like:
• Trust factors:

User Stories (Per Persona - REQUIRED)

CRITICAL: Create explicit user stories for EACH persona defined above. These feed into FigJam diagram generation.

Primary Persona Stories

• As a [Primary Persona], I want [action] so that [benefit]
• As a [Primary Persona], I want [action] so that [benefit]

Secondary Persona Stories

• As a [Secondary Persona], I want [action] so that [benefit]

Tertiary Persona Stories (if applicable)

• As a [Tertiary Persona], I want [action] so that [benefit]

Shared Customer Journey

REQUIRED: Define the shared journey that applies across personas.

Current State (Pain Points)

1. Step 1 → Pain point
2. Step 2 → Pain point
3. Step 3 → Pain point

Future State (With Feature)

1. Step 1 → Improvement
2. Step 2 → Improvement
3. Step 3 → Improvement

Transformation Moment

What is the key "aha moment" when users realize the value?

End-to-End Experience Design (REQUIRED)

CRITICAL: Every feature must describe the full user journey, not just the feature itself. (Rob Henderson framework)

1. Discovery -- How does the customer know this exists?

<!-- How will users find this feature? In-app announcement, email, onboarding, organic discovery? -->

2. Activation -- How do they enable/configure without hand-holding?

<!-- What does the zero-config or first-time setup look like? Can they do it alone? -->

3. Usage -- What does the first interaction look like?

<!-- Walk through the first time a user actually uses this. Be specific. -->

4. Ongoing Value -- What value do they get on day 2, week 2, month 2?

<!-- What brings them back? What compounds over time? -->

5. Feedback Loop -- How do we know if this is working for them?

<!-- In-app survey, NPS, usage analytics, support ticket patterns? Be specific. -->

Requirements

Must Have (MVP)

Should Have

Could Have

User Flows

Flow: [Name]

Trigger: Steps: 1 → 2 → 3 Outcome: Error states: Trust recovery:

Trust & Privacy Considerations

Success Metrics

• North star:
• Leading indicators:
• Guardrails:

Strategic Alignment

• Outcome chain complete
• Persona validated
• Trust implications assessed
• Not in anti-vision territory
• End-to-end experience: All 5 steps addressed (Discovery, Activation, Usage, Ongoing Value, Feedback)
• Feedback method defined for post-launch learning
• Ownership assigned (PM, Eng Lead, Design Lead)

Launch Materials Needed

• Revenue team training deck
• Help center article
• Changelog entry
• In-app announcement / tooltip
• Slack #product-updates post
• Customer communication (if applicable)

Open Questions

Save Location

pm-workspace-docs/initiatives/[kebab-case-name]/prd.md

When to Refuse

If initiative fails strategic guardrails:

• List gaps/concerns clearly

• Recommend specific discovery work

• Suggest questions to answer first

• Offer to help with discovery instead

When to Refuse: Experience Gaps

If the PRD cannot articulate all 5 experience steps, do NOT proceed. Instead:

• Flag which steps are missing

• Recommend specific discovery work for each gap

• Suggest: "Before writing the PRD, we need to answer: How will users discover this? What does day 2 look like?"

This aligns with Rob Henderson's feedback: "I can't name a certain thing we've ever launched that actually has all five of these things." Every PRD must change that.

FigJam Customer Story Generation (REQUIRED)

After completing the PRD, generate a FigJam diagram that visualizes the customer story.

When to Generate

• After PRD is complete with user stories and shared journey

• Before prototype begins (can be done during /pm command)

FigJam Content Requirements

The diagram should include:

• Current State (Pain) - The painful user journey with key quotes

• User Stories by Persona - Each persona's primary user story

• Future State (Solution) - The improved journey with the feature

• Outcome Chain - Business impact flow

MCP Tool Call

Use the Figma MCP generate_diagram tool:

Server: figma Tool: generate_diagram Arguments:

• name: "[Initiative Name] - Customer Story"
• mermaidSyntax: [Generated flowchart - see template below]
• userIntent: "Visualize the customer problem and user stories for [initiative]"

Mermaid Template

flowchart LR subgraph Current["CURRENT STATE"] direction TB C1["Step 1: Pain point"] --> C2["Step 2: Pain point"] C2 --> C3["Step 3: Pain point"] Pain1(["Key quote from research"]) Pain2(["Quantified impact"]) end subgraph Stories["USER STORIES"] direction TB P1["Primary: As a [persona]..."] P2["Secondary: As a [persona]..."] P3["Shared: Transformation moment"] end subgraph Future["FUTURE STATE"] direction TB F1["Step 1: Improvement"] --> F2["Step 2: Improvement"] F2 --> F3["Step 3: Outcome"] Win1(["Success metric target"]) end Current -->|"Transformation"| Stories Stories -->|"Enables"| Future style Current fill:#ffcccc style Stories fill:#fff3cd style Future fill:#d4edda

Save FigJam URL

After generating, save the FigJam URL to _meta.json :

{ "figjam_url": "https://www.figma.com/...", "figjam_generated": "2026-01-28" }

This URL will be included in prototype notifications sent via Slack.