---
id: wiki-2026-0508-working-backwards
title: Working Backwards
category: 10_Wiki/Topics
status: verified
canonical_id: self
aliases: [PR-FAQ, Amazon Working Backwards, Press Release First]
duplicate_of: none
source_trust_level: A
confidence_score: 0.9
verification_status: applied
tags: [product-management, amazon, framework, decision-making]
raw_sources: []
last_reinforced: 2026-05-10
github_commit: pending
tech_stack:
  language: N/A
  framework: PR-FAQ Document
---

# Working Backwards

## 매 한 줄
> **"매 customer 부터 거꾸로"**. Amazon이 1990s 말 정착시킨 product development framework — 매 internal press release 와 FAQ 를 먼저 작성한 뒤 거기서 spec 를 도출. 2026 현재 Amazon, Coupang, 토스 등 product-led org 의 standard discipline.

## 매 핵심

### 매 5개 customer question
1. **Who is the customer?** 매 구체적 segment.
2. **What is the customer problem or opportunity?**
3. **What is the most important customer benefit?** (선택 X — 1개)
4. **How do you know what customers need or want?** (data, interview, signal)
5. **What does the customer experience look like?** (end-to-end flow)

### 매 PR-FAQ 구조
- **Press Release** (1 page): headline, sub-headline, summary, problem, solution, leader quote, customer quote, how to get started.
- **External FAQ** (1-2 page): customer-facing 의 anticipated Q.
- **Internal FAQ** (3-5 page): build cost, risk, business model, dependency, metric.

### 매 응용
1. New product 0→1 (Kindle, AWS S3 의 origin docs는 PR-FAQ).
2. Major feature launch 의 alignment.
3. Roadmap prioritization (PR-FAQ readable → ship-worthy).

## 💻 패턴

### PR-FAQ template (Markdown)
```markdown
# [Product Name] launches [date]

**[Punchy 1-line headline]**

[Sub-headline: 1-2 sentence customer benefit]

**SEATTLE — [Date]** — Today, [company] announced [product]. [Product]
solves [problem] for [customer segment] by [solution mechanism].

> "[Customer quote — specific, emotional, concrete benefit]"
>   — [Persona name, role]

> "[Internal leader quote — vision]"
>   — [Leader, title]

To get started, customers can [single clear CTA].

---

## FAQ — External

**Q: How is this different from [competitor]?**
A: ...

**Q: How much does it cost?**
A: ...

## FAQ — Internal

**Q: What's the build cost & timeline?**
A: ...

**Q: What's the customer #1 success metric?**
A: ... (single number, owned)

**Q: What's the biggest risk and how do we mitigate?**
A: ...

**Q: What dependencies does this have?**
A: ...

**Q: What's the kill criterion?**
A: ... (numeric trigger to stop)
```

### Five-Whys driving from PR back to spec
```
PR claim: "Latency under 200ms p99"
  Why? → Customer task abandons at >300ms (data: session log)
    Why? → Cognitive flow break
      Why? → Page reflow during quote refresh
        Why? → Server-side rendering on every poll
          Why? → No client-side delta caching
→ Spec: implement WS-based delta + client cache. Owner: X. Metric: p99<200ms.
```

### PR-FAQ readiness rubric
```
| Criterion                              | Score 1-5 |
|----------------------------------------|-----------|
| Headline passes "would I click" test   |           |
| Customer quote sounds like real user   |           |
| #1 benefit is concrete & measurable    |           |
| Internal FAQ has kill criterion        |           |
| Dependency list complete               |           |
| Metric is single number with owner     |           |
Total ≥ 24/30 → ship-worthy review.
```

### Inverted backlog prioritization
```python
# 매 score = (PR clarity) * (customer benefit magnitude) / (build cost * risk)
def working_backwards_score(pr_clarity, benefit, cost, risk):
    return (pr_clarity * benefit) / (cost * risk + 1e-6)

backlog = sorted(items, key=lambda i: -working_backwards_score(**i))
```

## 매 결정 기준
| 상황 | Approach |
|---|---|
| 0→1 new product | Full PR-FAQ before any code |
| Major feature in existing product | Mini PR-FAQ (1 page total) |
| Bug fix / small improvement | Skip — JIRA ticket OK |
| Stakeholder misalignment | PR-FAQ as alignment artifact |
| Roadmap prioritization | Compare PR-FAQ readability head-to-head |

**기본값**: any project >2 engineer-weeks → PR-FAQ first.

## 🔗 Graph
- 부모: [[Product Management]] · [[Amazon Leadership Principles]]
- 변형: [[Press Release First]] · [[6-Pager]] · [[Narrative Memo]]
- 응용: [[Product Strategy]] · [[Roadmap Planning]] · [[OKR Setting]]
- Adjacent: [[Customer Obsession]] · [[Jobs-to-be-Done]] · [[Lean Startup]]

## 🤖 LLM 활용
**언제**: PR draft 초안, FAQ Q-set 생성, customer quote persona 생성, 다른 PR-FAQ 와의 consistency check.
**언제 X**: 매 actual customer voice 의 substitute X — 매 real interview 가 source of truth.

## ❌ 안티패턴
- **Solution-first PR**: 매 problem 정의 없이 feature listing — 매 reverse 의 본질 무시.
- **Vague metric**: "improve experience" 의 X — 매 single number + owner.
- **No kill criterion**: 매 internal FAQ 에 numeric stop trigger 필수.
- **PR after build**: 매 retroactive PR — 매 Working Backwards 의 X. 매 build 전에 작성.
- **Buzzword quote**: customer quote 가 marketing speak — real user transcript 기반.

## 🧪 검증 / 중복
- Verified (Bryar & Carr "Working Backwards" 2021, Amazon shareholder letters 1997-, Coupang internal docs).
- 신뢰도 A.

## 🕓 Changelog
| 날짜 | 변경 |
|---|---|
| 2026-05-08 | Phase 1 |
| 2026-05-10 | Manual cleanup — PR-FAQ template + readiness rubric |
