Are Product Descriptions in PRINCE2 actually reusable?

Question

From the Quality chapter in PRINCE2 manual:

The time needed to create good Product Descriptions will depend on factors such as how important, complex and unique the product is, how many stakeholders will review and approve the product, and whether the organization has a library of standard Product Descriptions for reuse.

Since the Products and their quality requirements and are more or less unique:

1. Have you ever managed to reuse a Product Description?
2. If so, are there any downsides (copy+paste mistakes, lack of creativity)?

Answer 1

Yes I have reused Product Descriptions. The key point is that the reuse of anything from one project to the next requires you to review and tailor what has gone before to suit your needs today. At a high enough level these will tend to be identical from one project to the next (e.g. documentation to support vendor selection, documentation to support project planning, etc). The further you drill down into the details the more unique the product description will be, so if you go down far enough the reuse of old Product Descriptions loses value.

Where you find the main downside is people not thinking when reusing materials. As noted in the reference you cite, the key for this is the complexity/criticality of your project and the product in question. This will tell you how far you drill down into the details. If the team isn't thinking (for whatever reason) you will either have insufficient detail to be able to get the product you need, or you will have wasted your time and/or caused confusion by providing too much detail.