--- title: Is the PRD dead? How to choose the right level of... description: The traditional PRD is increasingly misaligned with modern, AI-assisted development cycles. Rather than abandoning documentation entirely, product managers... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/is-the-prd-dead-how-to-choose-the-right-level-of-documentation-xqjtnbt9e twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Is the PRD dead? How to choose the right level of documentation | daily.dev og:description: The traditional PRD is increasingly misaligned with modern, AI-assisted development cycles. Rather than abandoning documentation entirely, product managers... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/is-the-prd-dead-how-to-choose-the-right-level-of-documentation-xqjtnbt9e og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/XQjTNBt9E.png og:image:alt: Is the PRD dead? How to choose the right level of documentation og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Is the PRD dead? How to choose the right level of documentation **[LogRocket](https://daily.dev/sources/logrocket)** · 7 min read · 9 upvotes · 2 comments ## Summary The traditional PRD is increasingly misaligned with modern, AI-assisted development cycles. Rather than abandoning documentation entirely, product managers should right-size it based on risk, team needs, and development stage. Lightweight alternatives include product briefs (concise problem/solution summaries), decision logs (records of key choices and rationale), RFCs (collaborative proposal documents), tickets (execution-level tasks), prototypes, and AI specs. Each serves a different purpose and works best in combination. A key guiding question is 'what's the blast radius if something goes wrong?' — higher-risk work warrants more documentation. The post also provides a modern PRD template focused on problems, goals, and decisions rather than exhaustive specifications, and recommends auditing current documentation practices to cut what nobody reads and strengthen what teams actually use. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What can I use instead of a traditional PRD for AI-assisted product development? Several lightweight alternatives can replace or supplement a traditional PRD: product briefs (concise problem/solution summaries), decision logs (running records of key decisions and rationale), RFCs (collaborative proposals open for team feedback), tickets (execution-focused tasks), prototypes (early design validation), and AI specs (a hybrid of narrative and prototype for AI-driven work). Most teams combine several rather than relying on just one. _Product managers weighing lightweight documentation options can find real team practices and debates on daily.dev._ ### What is an AI spec in product management? An AI spec is a lightweight documentation framework designed for teams building with AI prototypes, described by product leader Omar Mousa as 'part narrative, part prototype, but fully aligned.' It replaces parts of the traditional PRD by combining a written explanation of intent with an actual working prototype, keeping stakeholders aligned without requiring exhaustive upfront requirements. _Teams adapting documentation for AI-driven workflows can track emerging practices like this on daily.dev._ ### Why aren't tickets enough to replace a product requirements document? Tickets describe what needs to be done but not why it matters, and they don't capture how decisions were made, so they can't stand alone as a PRD replacement. They work best for breaking down and tracking execution, but are most effective when paired with a higher-level strategy document such as a product brief that supplies the missing rationale. _Anyone debating how much documentation their team really needs can follow this ongoing conversation on daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@bits\_and\_bytes** · 0 upvotes > honestly say no body prefers , but everyone says we have to follow it **@idoshamun** · 0 upvotes > > Why traditional PRDs stopped working for modern product teams > > > AI but not for the reason you think. It's not due to AI assisted development, it's because PMs have started using AI to write PRDs which is a complete slop ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Build Alignment Using a Product Requirements Document](https://daily.dev/posts/build-alignment-using-a-product-requirements-document-zgdmx0lm9) · Atomic Spin · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Making Technical Decisions Stick](https://daily.dev/posts/making-technical-decisions-stick-qciqhloej) · Josh Hornby · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#agile](https://daily.dev/tags/agile), [#product-management](https://daily.dev/tags/product-management) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/is-the-prd-dead-how-to-choose-the-right-level-of-documentation-xqjtnbt9e) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Is the PRD dead? 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It’s not due to AI assisted development, it’s because PMs have started using AI to write PRDs which is a complete slop","datePublished":"2026-07-08T07:04:11.178Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/XQjTNBt9E#c-DSNV4kn6A","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Ido Shamun","url":"https://daily.dev/idoshamun","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s---xy_OAwk--/f_auto,q_auto/v1703781380/avatars/avatar_28849d86070e4c099c877ab6837c61f0"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/is-the-prd-dead-how-to-choose-the-right-level-of-documentation-xqjtnbt9e#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What can I use instead of a traditional PRD for AI-assisted product development?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Several lightweight alternatives can replace or supplement a traditional PRD: product briefs (concise problem/solution summaries), decision logs (running records of key decisions and rationale), RFCs (collaborative proposals open for team feedback), tickets (execution-focused tasks), prototypes (early design validation), and AI specs (a hybrid of narrative and prototype for AI-driven work). 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