Letters To The Editor: Submit A Letter
View All Letters 
| 07.19.2007Why Design Documents Matter
Kudos to Ernest Adams for writing in praise of one of those formalities we love to hate: the Design Document. Mr. Adams covered the territory well, but left out one very important reason we need design documents.
In addition to providing evidence for funding, forming a basis for contractual obligations, communicating intentions, turning generalities into particulars, and recording decisions made, design documents are the basis for internal organizational negotiations on project scope, schedule, and budget.
Not everything a designer writes into a document is either practical or optimal or final, but until it is written down the project’s managers and craftspeople have nothing tangible against which to push or build. Designers should expect some push-back from the team on every document, and that push-back, when it occurs, must occur with the best interests of the project at heart.
Ernest Adams’ article left out organizational needs for push-back and negotiation, portraying design documents as a kind of “law” handed down from designers - and in so doing I believe he undervalued design documents!
Chris
-Chris Burke
|
|
|
|
|
Letters to the Editor
