Free editable template
Write the customer outcome first, as an honest imaginary launch, then stress-test it with the questions customers, leaders and other teams will actually ask.
A PR/FAQ is a working-backwards decision artifact, not a public press release. This template keeps what you know, what you believe, what you are imagining and what still needs a decision visibly separate, so a polished narrative never quietly becomes a commitment.
Draft autosaves in this browser's local storage.
Every company, person, quote, metric, price and claim in these examples is synthetic and invented to demonstrate the method. None is evidence about a real product, customer or market.
Internal decision artifact, hypothetical future-state narrative. Not a launch announcement, press release, changelog entry or approved product commitment.Write the future press release as an honest imaginary launch, then stress-test it with the external and internal FAQ. Facts, assumptions, the imagined future state and unresolved questions stay separate.
Keep the document status honest. This is a document state, not a product launch state.
Write the imagined launch honestly. Do not invent numbers, quotes, prices or dates, and keep the tense hypothetical.
A descriptive scan of the press release for language that reads as fact but is still an assumption. It is not a score.
No unsupported claim language detected. This does not prove the claims are true, only that no obvious superlative, guarantee, quantified benefit or shipped-tense phrasing was found.
Say how well each decision-driving claim is supported. Status is never auto-promoted when you add text.
Customer problem claim
Supporting: 0 · Contradicting: 0 · Assumptions: 0
Customer outcome claim
Supporting: 0 · Contradicting: 0 · Assumptions: 0
Differentiation claim
Supporting: 0 · Contradicting: 0 · Assumptions: 0
What do we actually know? Record the source, the claim it supports, and any evidence that weakens it.
The questions a customer or journalist would ask. Unresolved is a valid state.
Where the rigor lives: evidence, alternatives, economics, dependencies, risks, legal and rollout.
What customers do today, a different direction, doing nothing, or build/buy/partner.
Optional for narrow directions; important when the future state is broad.
What the narrative believes but has not yet evidenced.
Potential negative outcomes, kept separate from assumptions. Unknown risk areas are valid.
No invented targets. Baseline and target may stay unknown.
A strong PR/FAQ can end with unresolved questions. Keep them visible.
What reviewers asked, what is unresolved and when this was last revised. Consensus is not customer validation.
End in a real next decision. Nothing is auto-selected or auto-decided.
The 10× asset: what we know, what we believe, what we imagine, what still needs a decision, and the next step. Each handoff preserves open questions.
# Working-Backwards Decision Contract, Untitled initiative Internal decision artifact, hypothetical future-state narrative. Not a launch announcement, press release, changelog entry or approved product commitment. ## What we know (evidence) - No evidence recorded yet. ## What we believe (assumptions) - No assumption recorded. ## What we are imagining (future-state narrative) - Headline: not written - Customer outcome: not written - Differentiation claim: not recorded - Future-state claim scan: no unsupported claim language detected. ## What still needs a decision (open questions) - No open question recorded. ## Decision - Decision question: not recorded - Options on the table: not recorded - Owner / role: not recorded - Evidence required: not recorded - Revisit condition: not recorded - State: Not decided yet - Proposed step: Investigate the evidence
Lifecycle boundary
This PR/FAQ is upstream and hypothetical. Do not route the press release into public marketing copy as verified claims, and do not create a changelog entry until the change is genuinely released. Landing Page Copy, the PRD, the Launch Plan and the Changelog each apply their own contracts.
A grouped, scoreless review of gaps and future-state fiction. No overall score, and no completion percentage.
Customer / problem · 3 finding(s)
No first target customer is named
The narrative does not name a specific customer segment and context.
A PR/FAQ whose customer is unspecified cannot be tested or reviewed honestly.
Suggested fix: Name the specific segment, the context that triggers the problem and why this group is first.
No customer problem is described
The press release does not state what the customer struggles with today.
Working backwards only works when the problem leads and the solution follows.
Suggested fix: Describe the problem from the customer's point of view, without leading with the feature.
What customers do today is not recorded
No current workaround or alternative is described.
Every customer already has a way of coping; that alternative is the real competition.
Suggested fix: Describe the current workaround and why it falls short before claiming differentiation.
Future state · 4 finding(s)
No future customer outcome is described
The narrative does not state what becomes true for the customer.
The future customer outcome is the destination the team is working backwards from.
Suggested fix: Describe what becomes easier, faster, safer or more valuable for the customer.
No differentiation is stated
The narrative does not explain why this is meaningfully better, cheaper or faster than the current option.
If the idea solves the same problem the same way as the current workaround, it is not a new bet.
Suggested fix: State how this is different from what customers use today and what evidence supports that difference.
No non-goals recorded (optional here)
The direction is narrow enough that non-goals are optional.
Non-goals matter most when scope is broad; forcing them everywhere adds noise.
Suggested fix: Add non-goals only if the boundary is genuinely unclear.
No success signal is defined
The narrative has no metric or observable signal for the future customer outcome.
Without a signal, the team cannot later tell whether the imagined future state became real.
Suggested fix: Record the intended outcome and a metric or observable signal. Leave baseline and target unknown if they are unknown.
FAQ / decision · 4 finding(s)
No customer / external FAQ
The narrative does not answer the questions a customer would ask.
The external FAQ tests whether the future experience is clear to the customer.
Suggested fix: Add the customer questions that could block adoption, such as price, differentiation and getting started.
No internal / stakeholder FAQ
The narrative does not confront the hard business, technical, legal or operational questions.
The internal FAQ is where the rigor lives; without it the press release is only sales copy.
Suggested fix: Answer questions about evidence, alternatives, economics, dependencies, risks, metrics and legal/security.
No risk is recorded
The narrative does not record what could make it unsafe or unsuccessful.
A future-state narrative without risks reads as certainty the team does not have.
Suggested fix: Record the product, adoption, operational, legal, security or support risks that genuinely apply.
No alternative direction was considered
The narrative does not show that a materially different approach was evaluated.
A first solution is not automatically the best one; alternatives expose that assumption.
Suggested fix: Record at least one credible alternative direction and why it might or might not win.
Trust / future-state fiction · 0 finding(s)
No issue detected in this group.
Next step · 2 finding(s)
No next decision is defined
The artifact does not end in a real decision question.
A PR/FAQ that ends in vague alignment rather than a decision does not earn its cost.
Suggested fix: Record the decision question, options, owner, evidence required and revisit condition.
Target customer is unresolved
The segment is missing or too broad, so the future state cannot be scoped.
Customer selection is an upstream decision, not something a PR/FAQ should invent.
Suggested fix: Route to an ICP / segment decision before finalising the narrative.
Markdown for a human-readable artifact, JSON for lossless reuse. Local autosave is this browser only, not encrypted collaboration or a secure document vault.
The PR/FAQ (press release + FAQ) and Working Backwards method are widely associated with Amazon, where teams wrote a future press release and FAQ before building. CraftUp is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Amazon.com, Inc. or Working Backwards LLC. This template is an original adaptation of the publicly described method, not an official Amazon template.
# PR/FAQ, Untitled initiative > Internal decision artifact, hypothetical future-state narrative. Not a launch announcement, press release, changelog entry or approved product commitment. - Document status: Draft - Last meaningful update: - ## Future press release (hypothetical) ### - - ### Customer and context - ### Problem - - Problem claim status: Not yet stated ### Proposed direction - ### Customer value - - Outcome claim status: Not yet stated ### Differentiation - - Differentiation claim status: Not yet stated ### Quote - Status: No quote ### Availability - - Date: Unknown / TBD ### Getting started - ## Customer / external FAQ - No customer FAQ recorded. (This is not proof none is needed.) ## Internal / stakeholder FAQ - No internal FAQ recorded. (The internal FAQ is where the rigor lives.) ## Evidence ### Supporting evidence - No supporting evidence recorded. ### Counter-evidence / limitations - No counter-evidence recorded. (This is not proof that none exists.) ## Claim & evidence map ### Customer problem claim: not stated - Status: Not yet stated - Supporting: none recorded - Contradicting: none recorded ### Customer outcome claim: not stated - Status: Not yet stated - Supporting: none recorded - Contradicting: none recorded ### Differentiation claim: not stated - Status: Not yet stated - Supporting: none recorded - Contradicting: none recorded ## Alternatives considered - No alternative recorded. ## Non-goals - No non-goal recorded (may be optional). ## Assumptions - No assumption recorded. ## Risks - No risk recorded. ## Metric / success contract - No metric recorded. ## Open questions - No open question recorded. ## Review - Reviewers: - - Revision date: - - No reviewer question recorded. ## Decision contract - Decision question: - - Options: - - Owner: - - Evidence required: - - Revisit condition: - - State: Not decided yet · proposed step: Investigate the evidence ## PRD handoff, if applicable # PRD handoff, Untitled initiative This handoff carries what is known and what is not. It does not create requirements and it does not resolve open questions. Detailed behaviour, acceptance criteria and edge cases belong in the PRD. ## Confirmed context - Target customer: not recorded - Problem: not recorded - Problem claim status: Not yet stated - Customer outcome: not recorded - Outcome claim status: Not yet stated ## Selected direction - Direction / solution: not recorded - Differentiation: not recorded - Success signal: not recorded. ## Key FAQ decisions - No FAQ question is marked answered yet. ## Unresolved questions to keep open - No structured open question recorded. ## Assumptions to carry (still unresolved) - No unresolved assumption recorded. ## Do not promote into requirements - The hypothetical press release is not a specification. - The differentiation claim is not yet supported by evidence.
What this template protects
What Working Backwards actually asks
Methodology
In the publicly described Working Backwards process, a team writes the documents it would need at launch first, a press release and an FAQ, and then works backwards toward implementation. The press release states what the product does, who it is for and why it matters. The FAQ adds the rigor: customer-facing questions first, then the internal questions about evidence, economics, alternatives, dependencies, risk and feasibility.
Different teams adapt the details. Some treat the quote as essential, some drop it; some start with the headline, others with the problem paragraph. Treat the structure below as a strong default rather than a rule, and keep the one invariant that matters: the imagined future state must be labelled as imagined.
Headline, sub-headline, the specific customer and context, the problem, the proposed direction, the customer value, differentiation, an optional clearly-labelled quote, availability only if known, and the first step to get started.
Customer questions cover audience, problem, how it works, differentiation, price and failure. Internal questions cover evidence, alternatives, market, business model, unit economics, dependencies, risks, metrics, operations, legal/security and rollout.
Marketing voice, a vague customer, a solution disguised as a problem, a fabricated quote, invented numbers, dodging the cost question, treating the first draft as final, and presenting the narrative as if it were already shipped.
Traceable evidence, visible counter-evidence, assumptions separated from risks, alternatives that include doing nothing, unresolved questions that survive the export, and a next decision with an owner and a revisit condition.
Artifact decision model
A PR/FAQ is not a stage every team must complete. It earns its cost when a customer-first narrative would expose weak assumptions before the team commits to detailed definition or delivery.
| Artifact | Use it when | Primary output |
|---|---|---|
| Product Strategy | You need to decide where to play and how to win across the product, not one proposed future state. | Diagnosis, strategic choices, target segment, bets, non-goals, success signals. |
| PR/FAQ | A proposed direction needs a customer-first future-state narrative and an honest stress test before definition. | Hypothetical press release, customer and internal FAQ, evidence, assumptions, risks, open questions, next decision. |
| Product Brief | The direction survives and needs lightweight alignment on problem, evidence, outcome and boundaries. | Claim and evidence map, outcome, candidate direction, boundaries, assumptions, next decision. |
| PRD | A selected initiative needs deeper product definition, behavior, dependencies and acceptance detail. | Goals, requirements, scope, dependencies, behavior, rollout, risks, success criteria. |
| Landing Page Copy | Verified, publishable messaging is needed and every claim can be proved to a real audience. | Message architecture, sections and copy with its own claim-and-proof contract. |
| Launch Plan | A built or near-built change needs rollout, readiness, communication, risk and measurement coordination. | Audience cohorts, rollout stages, dependencies, signals, communication and post-launch decisions. |
| Changelog Entry | A change is genuinely released and needs honest release communication. | Release communication with availability, required actions, limitations and claim verification. |
PR/FAQ owns one proposed product/customer future state and its FAQ stress test. It does not own company strategy, detailed requirements, publishable marketing copy, launch coordination or shipped-change communication. Terminology varies by organization, there is no single universal PR/FAQ schema.
Boundaries
The PR/FAQ comes earlier. Detailed behavior, requirements and acceptance criteria belong in the PRD Generator.
A hypothetical press release is not cleared for publishing. Publishable messaging belongs in the Landing Page Copy Generator, which verifies each claim.
Nothing here is shipped. Released-change communication belongs in the Changelog Entry Generator once the change genuinely ships.
Worked example
The loadable example in the workspace describes a synthetic recruiting scheduling assistant. It shows the whole contract in one place:
Internal decision artifact, hypothetical future-state narrative. Not a launch announcement, press release, changelog entry or approved product commitment.
Next step
Build the judgment
Strengthen discovery, problem framing, prioritization and evidence judgment rather than relying on a document to make the decision for you.
A PR/FAQ is a working-backwards product artifact: a short hypothetical press release written as if the product already launched, followed by the questions customers and internal stakeholders would ask. Teams write it before building so the imagined customer experience has to hold up to scrutiny. It is a decision artifact, not a real press release.
No. A PR/FAQ borrows the shape of a press release to force customer-first clarity, but it is an internal, hypothetical draft written before the product exists. A press release announces something real. This template labels every artifact as a hypothetical future-state narrative and keeps it separate from launch communication.
A PR/FAQ tests whether a future customer outcome is worth building and how the idea stands up to hard questions. A PRD specifies how a selected initiative will be built: behavior, requirements, scope, dependencies and acceptance detail. The PR/FAQ comes first; if it survives, the unresolved questions and confirmed context can hand off to a Product Brief or PRD.
A product brief is a lightweight alignment artifact across problem, evidence, outcome, direction and boundaries. A PR/FAQ is specifically a customer-first future-state narrative plus an FAQ stress test. When a direction survives the PR/FAQ, the Product Brief owns the concise alignment version; the PR/FAQ owns the working-backwards narrative and the harder FAQ.
No. The term PR/FAQ and the Working Backwards method are strongly associated with Amazon, but the method is publicly described and widely adapted. This is an original CraftUp template, not an official Amazon template, and CraftUp is not affiliated with Amazon or Working Backwards LLC. Use the structure if it helps your decision and change it where your context differs.
Short enough to be read and challenged in one sitting. The press release is usually about a page; the FAQ carries the deeper evidence, alternatives, economics, dependencies, risks and open questions. Length is not the quality test, a longer document that hides unresolved questions is worse than a short one that names them.
A quote is optional. If you use one, either record a real, sourced customer statement or label it unmistakably as a hypothetical drafting device. Never present an invented quote as something a real customer said. This template makes the quote status explicit and warns when text is unclassified.
When the decision is small, reversible and low-risk, a full PR/FAQ is more process than the decision needs. Use the smallest artifact that reduces real uncertainty. A small copy change, for example, may need a one-line decision rather than a six-page narrative.
The PR/FAQ (press release + FAQ) and Working Backwards method are widely associated with Amazon, where teams wrote a future press release and FAQ before building. CraftUp is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Amazon.com, Inc. or Working Backwards LLC. This template is an original adaptation of the publicly described method, not an official Amazon template.
No protected Amazon or Working Backwards example or template text is reproduced here. The template, engine, examples and guidance on this page are original CraftUp content.