Key takeaways:
- Product managers use the PRFAQ Framework to think critically about their product vision and strategy, articulate the story clearly, and inspire their team to act.
- Product managers write their PRFAQ to create a better vision and strategy and use it as the basis for the roadmap, OKRs, and user stories.
- The PRFAQ is the best tool to develop a better vision and strategy for their product strategy, leading to fewer mistakes, pivots, and team misalignment.
A PRFAQ is a great instrument for product managers and leaders who are in charge of one or more product lines or a set of features. It works wonders by bringing the team together and make them feel included in the vision, mission, and strategy development of an idea. It’s the perfect tool to use when creating or improving a product, and it becomes the ground truth for OKRs, quarterly plans, and user stories.
Leading product decisions is hard, regardless if they are called product managers or not. People define PMs as the glue that holds teams together. Others define them as the grease that reduces friction across teams. Whatever is your favorite metaphor, leading product requires accounting for the needs of the customer, the business, the teams building it, and countless internal stakeholders. It’s a complex balancing act. Platform product managers are pulled in all directions by other teams. Their own team is making trade-offs between new features, Keep-the-Lights On (KTLO) work, and managing technical debt. Experience product managers must discover the customer needs, and deal with the requests from sales, business developments, and executives telling them what to build.
Product managers prematurely jump into writing product requirement documents, and OKRs without doing the pre-work for the opportunity discovery (customer, problem, solution). Designers and engineers jump into execution (wireframes, proof-of-concepts, prototypes) without challenging PMs or their managers to understand the desired outcomes and impact of an initiative. They build without a clear vision behind it.
The PRFAQ Framework is the secret weapon of great product managers and those leading products.
They use the framework to explore new customer problems, product enhancements, or new offerings. Writing a PRFAQ involves seeking the truth, making the result more accurate than slides or design concepts. PRFAQs put the customer value and the business viability front-and-center. It makes it harder to arrive at a proposal that doesn’t address both needs. Review meetings of the PRFAQ aren’t about persuasion (or manipulation), but about inclusion and discovery. Multiple layers and functions in the organization will be involved, organically leading to better proposals with buy-ins already baked into the process.
PRFAQs lead to better product initiatives. Teams will feel included and bought into the vision, mission, and strategy. They were part of creating it. Instead of pushing for new products or features, product managers facilitate and steer the initiatives so they take their best shape before starting executing it. Starting with a PRFAQ increases the chances of success by reducing surprises during product development, launch, and operation. It helps everyone align behind a clear purpose and desired outcome.
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Who’s this for?
Anyone leading product decisions, including Startup CEOs, CTOs, CPOs, Chief Design Officers, VPs of Product/Engineering/Design, Directors of Product/Engineering/Design, Product Managers, UX Leads/Designers, and Engineering Managers.
What makes a PRFAQ great for product leaders?
Product managers will spend less time in (fruitless) meetings, garnering support, writing unstructured proposals, and more time helping their organization do their best for their customers and the business.
Who are the collaborators for the PRFAQ?
Those leading products will work with their design and engineering team. They will also engage other tech teams, executives, marketing, customer success, sales & business development, finance & operations, legal & compliance, domain experts, and other stakeholders. Customer discovery plays a key role in developing the document as well.
Who do they share the PRFAQ?
They share the PRFAQ with the team, building the product, with the internal stakeholders, and the executive team. Redacted versions of the PRFAQ, without sensitive financial, intellectual property details, and privacy data, may be shared with the rest of the company.
When is it not appropriate to use a PRFAQ?
PRFAQs are not a substitute for product requirements documents (PRDs), user stories, roadmaps, plans, and other artifacts necessary to build a product. A PRFAQ is also not adequate for minor features or non-strategic work (e.g., KTLO). The determining factor is whether the work demands extensive resources or has strategic implications.
