Decision Records

Definition

Decision records are simple documents that explain why you made important choices in your design or development process. They capture the context, the options you considered, and the reasoning behind your final decision.

Think of them as a journal for your team's decision-making process. Instead of wondering "Why did we choose this approach?" months later, you have a clear record of what you were thinking and why you made that choice.

Decision records are especially valuable for teams where decisions have long-term consequences and multiple people need to understand the reasoning behind choices. They help you avoid repeating mistakes, maintain consistency, and onboard new team members who need to understand past decisions.

Types of Decision Records

You can create decision records for different types of decisions:

Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) document technical choices like:

Which technology stack to use
How to structure your database
What hosting platform to choose
How different systems should communicate
Security and authentication approaches

Design Decision Records (DDRs) capture design choices like:

Which interface patterns to use
How to apply your brand consistently
How to organize information and content
Accessibility and inclusive design choices
Performance optimization strategies

Product Decision Records (PDRs) document product choices like:

Which features to build and prioritize
How to apply user research findings
Strategic business decisions
Partnership and integration choices
Release planning and timeline decisions

The type doesn't matter as much as the quality of the documentation. The goal is to capture the thinking behind important decisions, regardless of whether they're technical, design, or product-related.

What Goes Into a Decision Record

A good decision record includes these key sections:

Context and background explains the situation:

What problem or opportunity prompted this decision?
What's the current state and what constraints are you working with?
Who is affected by this decision?
When was this decision made and why does timing matter?
What other decisions or factors influenced this choice?

Options considered documents your alternatives:

What different approaches did you consider?
What are the pros and cons of each option?
How complex would each approach be to implement?
What risks are associated with each option?
What resources (time, people, budget) would each require?

Decision and rationale explains your choice:

Which specific solution did you select?
Why did you choose this option over the others?
How will you measure if this decision was correct?
What steps will you take to implement this decision?
How could you reverse this decision if needed?

Consequences and impact looks at the results:

What positive outcomes do you expect from this decision?
What potential drawbacks or limitations should you be aware of?
How will this affect future decisions?
What changes will this require from your team?
How will this impact your users?

Why Decision Records Matter

Decision records provide several important benefits. They preserve knowledge by creating a historical record of why decisions were made, which is especially valuable when team members leave or when you need to understand past choices.

They improve decision quality by forcing you to think systematically about options, consider different perspectives, and identify potential risks before you commit to a path, and enhance team collaboration by making the decision-making process transparent and ensuring everyone understands the reasoning behind important choices.

They help with consistency by providing a reference for similar decisions in the future and helping you maintain coherent approaches across projects, speed up onboarding by giving new team members a clear understanding of existing choices and the reasoning behind them, enable learning by helping you identify patterns in successful and failed decisions so you can make better choices in the future, and create accountability by clearly documenting who made decisions and why, making it easier to take responsibility for outcomes.

How to Get Started

Here's how to implement decision records in your team:

Decide what to document. Not every decision needs a record. Focus on decisions that:

Affect multiple people or projects
Are difficult to reverse
Require significant resources
Have long-term strategic importance
Set precedents for future decisions

Create a simple template. Start with a basic format that includes:

The problem or opportunity
Options you considered
Your decision and reasoning
Expected outcomes and risks
Who was involved and when

Choose your tools. You don't need fancy software. Start with:

A shared document (Google Docs, Notion, or similar)
A simple wiki or knowledge base
Integration with your existing project management tools

Establish a process. Decide:

Who creates decision records
Who reviews and approves them
Where they're stored and how they're organized
How often you'll review and update them

Start small. Don't try to document every decision from day one. Pick a few important recent decisions and create records for those, then gradually expand the practice.

Best Practices

Here are some tips for creating effective decision records:

Keep them clear and concise. Write for someone who wasn't involved in the decision. Use simple language and avoid jargon.

Be comprehensive but focused. Include all the important context and reasoning, but don't include every detail of every discussion.

Stay objective. Focus on facts and reasoning rather than opinions or politics.

Make them actionable. Include specific next steps and who's responsible for what.

Use consistent terminology. This makes it easier to search and find related decisions later.

Involve the right people. Make sure all relevant stakeholders are included in the decision-making process.

Set success criteria. Define how you'll measure whether the decision was correct.

Plan for review. Schedule follow-up evaluations to see how the decision worked out.

Common Challenges

Getting people to actually create records. Many teams struggle with the perceived overhead of documentation. Start small and focus on the most important decisions.

Maintaining quality. It's easy to create incomplete or unclear records. Use templates and provide training to help people write better records.

Keeping records up to date. Decision records can become outdated quickly. Establish a regular review process to keep them current.

Finding the right balance. You don't want to document every tiny decision, but you also don't want to miss important ones. Focus on decisions that have significant impact or are hard to reverse.

Getting Started

If you want to start using decision records, begin with these fundamentals:

Pick one recent important decision and create a record for it. This will help you understand the process and see the value.

Create a simple template that works for your team and the types of decisions you make.

Start with a small group of people who are interested in trying this approach.

Focus on decisions that matter rather than trying to document everything.

Review and iterate on your process based on what you learn.

Remember, the goal isn't to create perfect documentation. It's to capture enough information to help your team understand past decisions and make better ones in the future.