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Reverse-PRD: Critique an App You Use Daily

In short

Every feature you use daily started as someone's decision. Writing the PRD you think they wrote, then critiquing it, trains product judgment faster than almost anything.

Work backwards from a shipped feature to reconstruct the PRD you think was behind it, then critique the choices — a strong exercise for building product judgment fast.

The purple blob holds a screwdriver beside an opened radio with parts laid out.

Think of it like this

Opening up an old radio

You unscrew an old radio and lay every part on the table. For each one you ask: what does this do, why is it here, could it be simpler? By the end you understand the designer's thinking, and you can spot the part you'd have done differently.

Watch it happen

Working backwards from a shipped feature

Feature

Problem

Goal

PRD

Critique

1/5Pick one specific feature, like the "split bill" button in a payments app.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Infer the why

Guess the problem and goal behind each choice, and back it with evidence.

Use a real PRD shape

Problem, users, requirements, metrics, non-goals. It shows you know the format.

Fair critique

Praise what works, then suggest focused improvements with reasons.

Fast and repeatable

You can do one in an evening, so build several and get faster each time.

See it in code

Walk through the code

text

1Feature: Split bill (payments app)2 3Problem: Friends struggle to collect money after group meals.4Users: Students and young professionals who eat out together.5Goal (guess): More transactions per active user.6Metric (guess): Split requests created per week.7 8Must have: pick friends, equal or custom split, reminders.9Out of scope: splitting across currencies.10 11Critique: Reminders feel pushy. Test a softer default.