A concise guide on writing effective design documents, emphasizing that the real deliverable is shared understanding and alignment, not the document itself. Covers the six key sections every design doc should include: problem statement, background and research, project values, options considered, recommended solution with rationale, and open questions. Describes a staged 'widen the circle' approach to gathering feedback — starting solo, then trusted peers, domain experts, stakeholders, and finally a broader audience. Also identifies four common failure modes: jumping to the solution, missing the why, not stating project values, and writing for approval instead of understanding.
Table of contents
What’s in a design docHow to write it: widen the circleCommon failure modesThe inevitable recapSort: