Workstreams & Requirements
Once your PRD is written, the next step is breaking it down into actionable pieces. ProdE organizes work into Workstreams (logical areas of work) and Requirements (trackable items with acceptance criteria) — giving your team a clear, structured plan to execute against.
Breaking Down Your PRD into Workstreams
During the Product Spec stage, the AI analyzes your PRD and proposes a breakdown into workstreams based on:
- Functional coherence — related features grouped together
- Shippable value — each workstream delivers meaningful outcomes
- Independence — workstreams can be developed in parallel
You review the proposed workstreams and confirm them before moving forward. Think of workstreams like epics — "User Authentication," "Reporting Dashboard," or "Payment Integration."
Some workstreams may be marked as cross-cutting, meaning they span multiple areas of the project (e.g., "Shared Infrastructure" or "Design System Updates").
Each workstream shows its progress: total requirements, confirmed count, and completion percentage.
Generating Requirements
For each workstream, the AI generates detailed Requirements — the atomic, trackable work items your team will implement. Each requirement gets a unique ID (e.g., REQ-1, REQ-2) for easy reference.
Every requirement captures:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | A concise name for the requirement |
| Description | A comprehensive explanation of what needs to be done |
| Priority | High, Medium, or Low |
| Acceptance Criteria | Specific conditions that must be met for completion |
Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance criteria are first-class items linked to each requirement. They define exactly what "done" looks like — enabling precise progress measurement and clear handoff between PM, dev, and QA.
The Requirement Lifecycle
Requirements move through a clear lifecycle as your project progresses:
Status (PM Stage)
| Status | When |
|---|---|
| Draft | Still adding details — not final yet |
| Confirmed | Details are complete and ready for implementation |
| Out of Scope | Explicitly excluded from the current project |
Design Status (UI/UX Stage)
| Status | When |
|---|---|
| Not Started | No design work has begun |
| Mockups Created | Initial mockups or wireframes are ready |
| Completed | Design is final and approved |
| Not Needed | The requirement has no UI/UX component |
Development Status (Engineering → Dev → QA)
| Status | When |
|---|---|
| Not Started | No development planning has begun |
| Planned | Engineering plan is in place |
| Developed | Feature has been implemented in code |
| Tested | Implementation has been tested and verified |
Next: Learn about Blockers & Issues for quality-gating your plan before development begins.