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Turn a vague feature request into clear requirements
A short requirements note from a messy request, with user stories, acceptance criteria, edge cases and the questions to ask before you build.
When to use it
Whenever a new request lands in a message or ticket
Step by step
Collect the request
Copy the original message, ticket or meeting notes, plus a one-paragraph description of the system it touches. Remove customer names and anything confidential.
Ask for structured requirements
Paste this into your AI assistant.
Prompt to copyI'm a software developer. Here's a feature request and some context about our system. Request: [paste]. System context: [stack, relevant parts, constraints]. Turn this into: 1) a one-sentence problem statement, 2) user stories in the form 'As a..., I want..., so that...', 3) acceptance criteria for each story in Given/When/Then form, 4) edge cases and failure modes to handle, 5) what's out of scope, 6) a list of open questions for the requester, ordered by how much they change the design. Don't assume answers to open questions; list them.Send the questions back
Send the open questions to the requester before you estimate or start work.
Save the agreed version
Update the note with their answers and attach it to the ticket so testers and reviewers use the same definition of done.
What you get
Story: As a store manager, I want to export last month's orders to CSV, so that I can reconcile with accounts. Given I'm on the Orders page, when I click Export... Open question 1: Should refunded orders be included?
Tips
- Ask the assistant to play the role of a sceptical tester and list ways the criteria could be misread.