[DevDojo] Introduction to Design Doc

In this course, we will explain the basic concepts of using Design Doc for product development and introduce the template that is currently in use at Mercari. We will also cover how to write a good design doc and deal with it in Mercari.

Transcript

1. 1 Design Doc Ashish Kumar Mercari Acquisition & Activation Team / Software Engineer
2. Design Doc - What? A technical spec about a feature or a system which includes the rationale for each decision made. The purpose of design doc is to aid in the critical analysis of a problem and the proposed solution while also communicating priority, effort and impact with different stakeholders
3. Design Doc - Why? • One reference for everything related to that project • Speed up implementation by having a clear reference and direction • Improve quality by getting feedback from various stakeholders • Find flaws/issues before they happen • Improve code review quality • Get alignment with architecture and other technical detail • Help to onboard new members
4. Design Doc - When? Spec Discussion Design doc Development PM plans/create a new idea Design and functionalities are fixed Start development after getting approval for design doc
5. Design Doc - Process Design Discussion Review Code Before writing code,and/or while prototyping By people having an insight for the domain Incorporate insight and idea Similar to “develop/review code” but It costs much less if written before actual code
6. Design Doc - Lifespan • Draft version and iteration ◦ Shared initial draft with teammates ◦ Update until find a stable version • Review ◦ Shared with wider audience • Implementation and Iteration ◦ Start implementation when reviews are done or almost done ◦ Update if anything minor changes while implementation ◦ For major changes create another version • Maintenance and Learning
7. Design Doc - How? • Follow the templates to start ◦ Some teams have their own template • Put it in Team Drive • Get feedbacks by review
8. Design Doc - Teams • Each team may have a different process ◦ Design Docs may be required before implementation of some features ◦ Other engineers or the tech lead may need to approve ◦ Templates might be different ◦ Some teams may not have a design doc flow • Individual ◦ Even if your team does not require it, you might write design docs for your own learning
9. 9 Thank you!