I’ve been observing a notable change at my workplace and I’m curious if others are experiencing it as well. It appears that product managers are leaning towards bypassing the usual practice of drafting detailed product requirement documents or issuing task tickets in project management systems. Instead, they’re delivering interactive prototypes or mockups and expecting the development team to decipher the implementation details from those.
This seems like a significant change from the traditional approach. In the past, we received thorough specifications that covered everything that needed to be developed, including edge cases and acceptance criteria. Now it feels more like “here’s a Figma prototype, make it happen.”
I want to know how other developers feel about this method. Is it making your work easier or more complex? Are you spending additional time figuring out what the PM really wants? Or do you believe that working from prototypes allows for more creativity in how features are executed? I would appreciate hearing various viewpoints on whether this trend is beneficial or if we are losing critical elements in the process.
Honestly depends on your PM’s skill level. Some hand you wireframes that are basically trash, while others include proper annotations and user flows. The biggest problem I’ve seen? Devs treating prototypes like they’re perfect without questioning weird interactions or impossible states. Good prototypes speed things up, but bad ones just mean more meetings to figure out what’s actually needed.
Indeed, this trend is becoming more widespread in many organizations, although it isn’t completely eliminating the need for detailed specifications. The effectiveness of prototypes largely hinges on the product team’s experience and the specific nature of the project. For straightforward UI elements, prototypes can be quite beneficial, providing clear visual guidance. However, they often fall short when it comes to intricate logic, complex integrations, or error handling aspects that won’t be evident in a mockup. A significant downside is that prototypes can create an illusion of completeness, obscuring critical gaps such as edge cases, performance requirements, or technical limitations. I’ve found it essential to engage proactively by asking detailed questions about the aspects that prototypes fail to address. Some product managers appreciate this input as it highlights overlooked areas, while others may perceive it as a challenge to their process.
This shift’s definitely picked up speed the last couple years, especially with remote work making visuals way more important. Prototypes work great for frontend stuff, but they miss backend complexity completely. The biggest problem? Stakeholders see a polished Figma design and think the dev work matches what they’re looking at. That simple dropdown might need entire API endpoints, data validation, and database changes that aren’t obvious from the mockup. I’ve started asking for quick technical chats after getting prototypes to nail down assumptions about data sources, business rules, and integrations. This combo approach beats pure documentation or pure prototypes on their own. The visual clarity helps, but someone still has to figure out the technical architecture that actually makes it work.