MRD Documents in PMTK
Question: "In Blackblot PMTK there are two MRD templates; the PRM MRD and the PMTK MRD. Are these documents interchangeable and what exactly is the difference between these two?"
The PRM MRD and the PMTK MRD template documents in the Blackblot Product Manager's Toolkit® (PMTK) collection of templates represent two different approaches to writing a Market Requirements Document (MRD).
Blackblot advocates using the PRM MRD and the PRM PRD document templates, which are practical applications of the Blackblot Procedural Requirements Management Model (PRM Model), a methodology to create high-quality, usable market requirements.
Not endorsed by Blackblot yet practiced by some, is to employ an inclusive attitude in which business information, market, and product requirements are all bundled together in the same document.
This inclusive approach is embodied in the PMTK Market Requirements Document (PMTK MRD) template, which is included in PMTK for those who, for various reasons (mainly departmental constraints and business culture), need to prepare one document that substitutes for three documents: PMTK Business Case, PRM MRD, and PRM PRD.
Using the PRM MRD and the PRM PRD document templates is recommended by Blackblot, as manifested in one of Blackblot's action items in the Procedural Requirements Management™ training module, which is "Always level the documents, especially for complex systems, and be explicit about what is and what is not accurate at each level".
This means that the business information, market, and product requirements are all separately documented among the three aforementioned documents.
So, using PRM MRD or PMTK MRD is mutually exclusive.
Practitioners select which approach to write market requirements, and that choice dictates which type of Market Requirements Document (MRD) template within Blackblot Product Manager's Toolkit® (PMTK) that they use.