About this template
How to use this template in Slack (step-by-step)
Bring clarity, collaboration and momentum to your next product launch with the Slack product brief template. This template helps teams document, discuss and refine product ideas – all in one shared space.
Whether you’re a product manager defining scope, a designer iterating on user needs or an engineer planning milestones, using a template can give every stakeholder visibility into what’s being built and why. And because it lives in Slack, your team can co-create, provide feedback and stay aligned on the product strategy and execution plan without losing context.
Whether you’re new to using channels for product management or optimising your product-launch processes, these steps can help bring your product brief to life in Slack for transparent, real-time collaboration.
- Create a dedicated product channel. This lets you centralise discussions and updates. It provides a single source of truth for your product documentation, organograms, RACIs, feedback tracker and decisions.
- Update the template fields. Input the product description, problem statement, key features, milestones and success criteria to outline your product’s purpose, goals and roadmap. Include details like target users, competitive insights and timelines.
- Share the brief with your team. Get feedback by tagging key stakeholders in design, engineering and marketing plus other collaborators. Asking for input that happens in real time whenever people can get it done keeps everyone informed and up to date, even across different time zones.
- Link related docs and resources. This could include design files, research and project roadmaps, whether from Google Drive, Jira, Figma or Confluence. Slack integration with these essential platforms reduces the need to switch between tools and enables more connected work.
- Set reminders for milestone check-ins. Slack reminders or Workflow Builder can help you schedule progress updates and retrospectives. With AI in Slack, you can even automatically summarise discussions or extract next steps to keep the team aligned.
What is a product brief template?
A product brief is a concise document that captures the vision, goals and key details of a new product initiative. It serves as the basis for product development, ensuring that everyone – from engineering to marketing – understands the what, why and how of the project.
The Slack product brief template offers a repeatable and structured format for efficiently creating these briefs. Rather than starting from scratch each time, teams can easily insert details about the product’s problem statement, target audience, success metrics and more.
In Slack, this template becomes a living document – collaborative, searchable and easily updated as plans evolve. It helps product teams move from ideation to execution with shared clarity and speed.
Benefits of using a product brief template
Using a product brief template offers benefits like alignment, visibility, efficiency and speed. Because product launches are large, cross-functional efforts for a business, there’s potential for details to be overlooked. But product briefs serve as a reliable source of truth, allowing multiple teams and stakeholders to see exactly where they fit into the process or view status updates whenever needed. These templates:
- Create alignment across functions. Everyone from product to marketing can access the same information, eliminating misunderstandings and misalignment.
- Reduce ambiguity and rework. By clarifying scope and goals early, teams reduce time spent repeating information to stakeholders, redoing work or adjusting expectations.
- Speed up decision-making and approvals. Feedback loops speed up when comments, question and approvals are made directly in Slack.
- Provide a single source of truth. With all updates, files and threads linked to the brief, Slack becomes the shared hub for product knowledge.
These benefits extend even further with Agentforce in Slack, an AI assistant that enables faster decision-making. Agentforce can surface key insights related to the process, such as customer feedback, summarise product channel discussions or answer team questions about project status, all without leaving Slack.
What to include in a product brief template
A strong product brief strikes a balance between clarity and strategy. Use this structure to ensure that your team captures what matters most:
- Product overview. A concise summary of what’s being built and why it matters.
- Problem statement. The user pain point or business challenge this product addresses.
- Target audience. Key user segments or personas who’ll benefit most from this product or feature.
- Key features and requirements. The core functionality that sets your solution apart in the market.
- Success metrics and KPIs. How you’ll measure impact, such as adoption, Net Promoter Score (NPS) or revenue goals.
- Market context and competitors. An overview of the industry, business and category landscape and how your product differs.
- Timeline and milestones. Critical development stages and launch targets.
- Stakeholders and owners. Responsible parties for delivery, review and approval.
- Risks and assumptions. Known dependencies, potential blockers or open questions.
When stored in Slack, each of these sections can exist in its own thread, making it simple to follow discussions, decisions and updates over time. Attach related assets, such as wireframes, product requirements documents or go-to-market decks, using integrations with your team’s preferred tools. The goal of the product brief isn’t to replace these tools but to centralise and display them in relevant contexts throughout the product development process.
Learn more about how teams manage cross-functional projects in Slack for product development.
Best practices for writing and maintaining product briefs
Product briefs are most effective when cross-functional teams are aligned on how to use and collaborate on them. Without guidelines governing their maintenance, they won’t be the streamlining, efficiency-driving tool that they’re intended to be. Follow these best practices to keep product briefs clear, relevant and informative.
Identify roles and responsibilities
Refer to your RACIs and organograms to define roles and responsibilities across teams and stakeholders. For example, specify which teams will be responsible for updating the brief and how leaders will be consulted or informed after actions are taken. Recognise that different stakeholders have different preferences for involvement, and identifying these early can lay the foundation for more effective collaboration.
Start with clarity, not perfection
The goal is to align quickly – not to finalise every detail. A rough first draft gives everyone something to react to, encouraging early feedback and shared ownership.
Treat the brief as a living document
As priorities shift or the scope evolves, update the brief directly in Slack. Using canvases, pinned messages or @ tags helps ensure that everyone sees the latest version.
Balance technical and business context
Product briefs should make sense to designers, engineers and executives alike. Clarify trade-offs, dependencies and impacts in language that resonates across roles and levels.
Align early and revisit often
Schedule milestone reviews using Slack reminders or Workflow Builder so the brief stays relevant and top of mind across teams. Use AI in Slack to summarise discussions or highlight decisions since the last check-in.
Keep visibility high
Pin the brief to your product channel, share summaries in channels for leadership and other teams, and use threads to capture questions and feedback in context. Transparency among the product team, Chief Product Officer and C-suite leaders helps prevent high-level misalignment before key launches.
For more best practices, explore the Slack guide to product team collaboration.
The long-term value of a purpose-built product brief
A clear, accessible product brief is the backbone of successful product development. With Slack, your product brief becomes more than a static document – it’s a dynamic hub where teams can brainstorm and execute together.
From ideation to launch, Slack connects every step of your workflow through channels, AI-powered insights and integrations with your favourite tools, including other Slack templates like the project tracker template or the project management template.
