Re:Design Docs at Google
by asdfman123 on Wednesday May 08, 2024 @05:35PM
(#40302923)
Right.
> The decision whether to write a design doc comes down to the core trade-off of deciding whether the benefits in organizational consensus around design, documentation, senior review, etc. outweigh the extra work of creating the doc
I'd argue that extra work of creating the doc is an upside because it clarifies your thought process, and design-by-committee is a massive downside.
In fact, I happen to be writing this during a design-doc meeting. I am getting absolutely nothing from it. I was writing code all morning and the background noise now prevents me from continuing productive work.
> The decision whether to write a design doc comes down to the core trade-off of deciding whether the benefits in organizational consensus around design, documentation, senior review, etc. outweigh the extra work of creating the doc
I'd argue that extra work of creating the doc is an upside because it clarifies your thought process, and design-by-committee is a massive downside.
In fact, I happen to be writing this during a design-doc meeting. I am getting absolutely nothing from it. I was writing code all morning and the background noise now prevents me from continuing productive work.