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title: "Kicking the Tires on an AI Tool for Product Requirements: Does It Really Help Write PRDs Faster?" date: "2024-07-25" excerpt: "Spent some time digging into one of those new AI assistants pitched at product managers, specifically for tackling the dreaded PRD. Here's my honest take on whether it's a game-changer or just another gadget."
Kicking the Tires on an AI Tool for Product Requirements: Does It Really Help Write PRDs Faster?
Let's be honest. If you're a product manager, you probably have a love-hate relationship with the Product Requirements Document. It's foundational, it's necessary, it's... often a grind. Trying to capture every detail, ensure clarity, anticipate questions, and frankly, just get the darn thing done so you can move on to the next fire drill. We've all wished there was a magic button.
Enter the current wave of AI promising to make our lives easier. I've been curious, maybe a little skeptical, about how much of this is hype and how much is genuine help. So, I decided to spend some time with one specifically aimed at this very pain point: a tool designed to help generate those efficient, accurate PRD documents. The one I looked at, let's just call it a 'PRD Analyzer' or assistant based on its function, claims to tackle the process of getting those requirements down on paper, fast.
My first thought, predictably, was: "Okay, but how useful can it actually be? Will it just spit out generic corporate boilerplate that I still have to completely rewrite? Can AI truly grasp the nuance of a complex feature or the specific context of my product?" Because let's face it, the value of a PRD isn't just having words on a page; it's having the right words, structured logically, that truly guide the team.
What I found was... interesting. It's not a magic button, no tool ever really is. You still need to bring the product vision, the user understanding, the technical constraints. But where I saw potential for real time-saving was in the initial structuring and drafting phase. You feed it information – perhaps a brief description, key user stories, some initial thoughts on scope – and it helps lay out sections, suggest points to cover, and draft initial paragraphs. Think of it less as a writer doing the whole job, and more as a super-efficient, tireless intern who can quickly build the first draft of the framework and populate it with basic info.
Is it different from just using a template? Yes, because it's dynamic. A template is static; you fill in the blanks. This attempts to generate based on your input, which, when it works well, can speed up the process significantly compared to staring at a blank page or an empty template waiting for inspiration to strike. It feels more interactive, like collaborating on that first messy draft. The promise is to streamline PRD writing, making the task less daunting.
For product managers constantly juggling multiple priorities and asking "how to write PRD quickly" without sacrificing quality, a tool like this could be a valuable addition to the toolkit. It won't replace your strategic thinking or your deep understanding of the user. You'll still need to refine, edit, and add the critical details only you know. But for getting from zero to forty percent faster, clearing that initial hurdle of structure and basic content? It seems promising.
Ultimately, like any tool, its value depends on how you use it. If you treat it as a co-pilot for the tedious parts of documentation, freeing you up to focus on the higher-level strategic thinking and crucial details, then maybe, just maybe, these AI assistants can help improve PRD quality and genuinely boost product manager productivity. It's worth exploring if the PRD grind is eating up too much of your valuable time.