Business to Requirements
Transform vague business ideas into actionable technical specifications through structured elicitation and documentation.
Workflow Decision Tree
Determine the starting point:
- •
Idea → PRD: User has a feature/product idea
- •Elicit requirements through questions
- •Output: Complete PRD document
- •
Problem → Solution Requirements: User describes a business problem
- •Understand the problem deeply first
- •Derive solution requirements
- •Output: Requirements with rationale
- •
Conversation → Spec: User wants to discuss and refine
- •Iterative Q&A to clarify
- •Build spec incrementally
- •Output: Formalized specification
Core Process
Step 1: Understand Context
Ask targeted questions to understand:
- •Problem: What problem are we solving? Who has this problem?
- •Users: Who are the primary/secondary users?
- •Success: How will we measure success?
- •Constraints: Timeline, budget, technical limitations?
See requirements_elicitation.md for comprehensive question templates.
Step 2: Clarify Ambiguity
Surface and resolve:
- •Vague requirements → Specific, measurable criteria
- •Implicit assumptions → Explicit decisions
- •Conflicting needs → Prioritized trade-offs
- •Edge cases → Defined behaviors
Step 3: Structure Requirements
Organize into:
- •User Stories: As a [user], I want [goal], so that [benefit]
- •Functional Requirements: What the system must do (P0/P1/P2)
- •Non-Functional Requirements: Performance, security, scalability
- •Acceptance Criteria: Given/When/Then or checklist format
See user_stories.md for format and examples.
Step 4: Document
Output in requested format:
- •PRD: Full product requirements document
- •User Stories: Story-focused format
- •Technical Spec: Implementation-focused
See prd_guide.md for PRD structure and examples.
Quick Reference
User Story Format
As a [persona], I want [goal], So that [benefit]. Acceptance Criteria: - Given [context], when [action], then [outcome]
Priority Levels
| Level | Meaning | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| P0 | Must Have | Launch blocked without this |
| P1 | Should Have | Important, target v1.1 |
| P2 | Nice to Have | Backlog for future |
Requirement Quality Checklist
- • Specific (not vague)
- • Measurable (has success criteria)
- • Achievable (technically feasible)
- • Relevant (ties to business goal)
- • Testable (has acceptance criteria)
Example Interaction
User: I want to add notifications to our app
Response approach:
- •Clarify: What triggers notifications? Push/email/in-app?
- •Users: Who receives them? Can users configure preferences?
- •Content: What information in each notification?
- •Timing: Real-time or batched? Quiet hours?
- •Edge cases: What if user has notifications disabled?
Then structure findings into user stories with acceptance criteria.
References
- •PRD Guide - PRD structure, writing guidelines, examples
- •User Stories Guide - Format, INVEST criteria, domain examples
- •Requirements Elicitation - Discovery questions, clarification patterns, edge cases