The architecture decision is disputed months later. What record would help?
Missing technical decision rationalePreserve the context, alternatives, constraints, chosen approach, and conditions for reconsideration. The goal is to support future judgment, not make every technical choice irreversible.
What to do now
- State the decision and constraints
- Summarize realistic alternatives
- Record rationale and consequences
- Define what new evidence would justify review
When to escalate
The current design no longer meets a critical requirement.
The technical owner and authorized release decision maker
Example
A decision record explains why shared hosting was chosen and what demand would trigger reassessment.
Mistake to avoid
Keeping only the final diagram without explaining why it was chosen.
Prevent a repeat
Review real execution evidence and maintainability alongside feature completion; do not treat an unrun test as passed.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Tasks
- Documents
- Approvals
Track delivery tasks and attach engineering evidence; keep source control, build execution and technical controls in their actual engineering systems. See the platform
Related cases
- The architecture is getting more complex than the business needs. What should we review?Unjustified technical complexity
- How do we know a technical project is ready for handover?Incomplete technical transition
- A decision was made verbally and is now disputed. What should we do?Missing decision evidence
- How do we document a decision without creating bureaucracy?Decision record proportionality