How to Write a Requirements Page in Confluence (Product Requirements Template)
Write a requirements page in Confluence with the built-in Product requirements template: objective, success metrics, a requirements table with user stories, and what is out of scope.
Step by step
The template
- Requirements page. A requirements page is where a business analyst writes down what the team will build, and why. Confluence has a ready-made template for it, and here we fill one in.
- Product requirements. In the template gallery, pick Product requirements. It already has the sections you need: objective, success metrics, a requirements table and what is out of scope.
- Use template. Click Use template. Then close the template panel on the right to give yourself more room to write.
Fill it in
- A clear title. Give the page a title that names the feature: Wish list requirements. Press Enter to move from the title into the page.
- Objective. Start with the objective, which says why you are building this. Here it is: Let shoppers save products for later, so more of them come back and buy.
- Success metric. Next, say how you will measure success. First write a goal: More returning shoppers. Then add a number you can check later: 1 in 10 orders starts from a wish list.
Requirements
- The requirement. Now fill in the requirements table. Use one row per requirement, written as what the system must do: Shoppers can save a product to a wish list.
- The user story. Next to it, add the user story: As a shopper, I want to save a product, so that I can buy it later.
- Out of scope. List what is out of scope so nobody argues about it later. Here it is Sharing a wish list with friends, which is saved for another release.
Publish
- Publish. When the page is ready for review, click Publish. Confluence shows where the page will live: in the project space. Click Publish again to confirm.
- Published. The page is now live in the project space, where the team can read it and comment on it.
Recap
- Why, measure, what. In short: use the Product requirements template. Write the objective, a goal you can measure, one row per requirement with its user story, and what is out of scope.
Common mistakes
- An objective that only describes the feature. "Add a wish list" says what, not why. Write the business reason instead, such as letting shoppers save products so more of them come back and buy.
- A success metric with no number. "More returning shoppers" can't be checked on its own. Add a target, like 1 in 10 orders starts from a wish list, so the team can tell after release whether it worked.
- Several requirements packed into one row. Keep one row per requirement, written as what the system must do, with its own user story next to it. Then each one can be discussed, tested and signed off on its own.
- Leaving the out of scope section empty. If you don't write it down, people will assume it's included. Name the things that are left out, like sharing a wish list with friends, and say they belong to a later release.
When a business analyst uses this
Before a scoping workshop for a new feature, a business analyst drafts the requirements page from the Product requirements template and publishes it to the project space. Stakeholders comment on each requirement row and on the out of scope list, and the agreed page becomes the version that gets signed off.
Questions people ask
How do you create a page from a template in Confluence?
Pick a template in the template gallery, such as Product requirements, and click Use template. Give the page a title, fill in the sections, then click Publish.
How do you create a page in a Confluence space?
When you click Publish, Confluence shows where the page will live, such as the project space. Click Publish again and the page goes live there for the team to read and comment on.
What should a requirements page in Confluence include?
An objective that says why you are building it, a success metric with a number, a requirements table with one row per requirement and its user story, and a list of what is out of scope.
