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Your First Project

This guide walks you through creating a project in ProdE and taking it from an idea to a shipped feature. By the end, you'll understand how the pieces fit together and which parts matter for your role.

Start by Creating a Project​

Head to the Projects page and click Create Project. You'll need to pick:

  • A name — something descriptive like "User Authentication Revamp" or "Reporting Dashboard"
  • A type — Simple or Full

Pick Full if your initiative needs proper planning — PRD, requirements, design, engineering, and tracking. This is the right choice for most product work.

Pick Simple if you just need a lightweight space to organize documents and notes — think quick spikes, explorations, or internal tools that don't need a formal process.

You can always upgrade a Simple project to Full later, but you can't go back.

Your project starts as private — only you can see it. You can share it with specific teammates or make it public to the whole team whenever you're ready.

What Happens Next Depends on Your Role​

A Full project moves through six stages. Each stage has a primary owner, but the whole team has visibility throughout.

PRD  →  Product Spec  →  UI/UX  →  Engineering  →  Development  →  QA
 PM        PM           Designer    Tech Lead       Developers      QA

You don't need to follow every stage rigidly — but the structure keeps everyone aligned and ensures nothing falls through the cracks.

Here's where to go based on your role:

You are a...Start with
PMGuide: From Idea to Spec — write your PRD, break it into requirements, resolve blockers
DesignerGuide: Designing the Experience — create mockups and flows grounded in requirements
Engineer / Tech LeadGuide: Building and Shipping — plan architecture, develop, and test
Anyone tracking progressGuide: Tracking Delivery — understand pipeline metrics, bugs, and overall readiness

The AI is Your Collaborator​

At every stage, you're chatting with an AI assistant that adapts to the current phase. During PRD writing, it asks probing questions about your users and goals. During engineering, it researches your actual codebase to ground plans in reality.

The AI won't jump ahead — it stays focused on what matters right now. And it adjusts its guidance based on your role (PM, developer, designer, etc.).

Quick Reference​

If you're looking for detailed reference on specific concepts rather than a walkthrough, see:

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