Design Decisions Documentation

Design decisions documentation captures the rationale behind visual and interaction design choices in design systems. Recording design decisions documentation helps teams understand why components look and behave as they do, enabling consistent future decisions.

What Is Design Decisions Documentation

Design decisions documentation records the reasoning behind design choices including visual styling, interaction patterns, and user experience decisions. Unlike technical ADRs focused on architecture, design documentation addresses questions like why particular colors, spacing, or behaviors were chosen.

Design decisions often seem obvious in the moment but become mysterious over time. Documentation preserves context that enables understanding why things work the way they do and guides future decisions in similar situations.

How Design Decisions Documentation Works

Decision capture records design choices as they are made. Capture should include what was decided, what alternatives were considered, and why the chosen approach was selected. Capture during the design process ensures accuracy while context remains fresh.

Rationale articulation explains the thinking behind decisions. Rationale might reference user research, accessibility requirements, brand guidelines, or design principles. Explicit rationale helps others understand and apply similar reasoning.

Organization structures documentation for discoverability. Organization might be by component, by design principle, or by decision type. Effective organization helps people find relevant decisions when they need guidance.

Maintenance keeps documentation current as designs evolve. Updated decisions should reference why changes occurred. Historical records help understand how designs evolved over time.

Key Considerations

• Documentation should focus on significant decisions with lasting impact
• Rationale is more valuable than just recording what was decided
• Accessibility matters for documentation to be used
• Integration with design tools reduces documentation friction
• Regular review maintains documentation relevance

Common Questions

What design decisions should be documented?

Document decisions that establish patterns, resolve significant tradeoffs, or answer questions that frequently arise. Foundational decisions about color systems, typography scales, and spacing grids typically warrant documentation. Per-component decisions about unique behaviors or visual treatments also merit recording.

How do design decisions relate to design system guidelines?

Guidelines prescribe how to design; decision documentation explains why guidelines exist. Guidelines say what to do; decisions explain the reasoning. Both serve important purposes. Decisions provide context that helps people apply guidelines thoughtfully rather than mechanically.

Where should design decisions be documented?

Location depends on audience and workflow. Design documentation systems, component documentation, or dedicated decision repositories all work. The key is accessibility to those who need the information. Documentation that nobody can find provides no value.

Summary

Design decisions documentation preserves rationale behind visual and interaction choices. Success requires capturing significant decisions with their reasoning, organizing documentation for discoverability, and maintaining currency as designs evolve. Organizations should document design decisions to enable consistent, principled future design work.