The Anatomy of a Good Decision Record

What Makes a Decision Record Actually Useful?

We've seen thousands of decision records. Some get referenced for years. Others are forgotten within weeks.

The difference isn't length or detail—it's structure and intent.

The Required Fields

A decision record must have three things to be valid:

1. Title — What was decided
2. Decision — The actual choice made
3. Owner — One person who made the call

Everything else is context. But these three are non-negotiable. They enforce seriousness.

The Five Essential Elements

1. A Searchable Title

Bad: "Q3 Planning Decision"
Good: "Adopt TypeScript for all new backend services"

Your title should answer "what was decided" in one line. Think of it as a headline. Make it something people will actually search for.

2. Context That Explains "Why Now"

What situation triggered this decision? What would happen if you did nothing?

Example: "Our JavaScript codebase has grown to 50k lines with increasing type-related bugs. Two production incidents in the past month were caused by type mismatches."

This is the section that prevents the "Why did we decide this?" questions. Be specific about the reality at the time.

3. Explicit Constraints

What limited your options? Budget, time, team skills, technical dependencies?

Example: "We can't migrate existing code immediately—only new services. Team has mixed TypeScript experience. Must maintain backward compatibility with existing services."

Constraints change. Recording them prevents "that constraint doesn't apply anymore, right?" debates.

4. Alternatives You Considered

This is the most underrated section. It prevents future "why didn't we just..." arguments.

Example: "We considered (1) strict ESLint rules, (2) Flow instead of TypeScript, (3) full rewrite in TypeScript. Rejected because..."

By recording what you didn't choose and why, you save your team from relitigating the same options.

5. The Owner

One person. Not "the team." Not "engineering." A name.

This isn't about blame—it's about clarity. When questions arise, there's someone who can provide context.

The decision owner owns the record. This mirrors how decisions already work: whoever makes the call records it.

What to Leave Out

Explicitly avoid:

• ❌ Comments and discussion threads
• ❌ Votes and reactions
• ❌ Attachments and linked documents
• ❌ Notifications

You're building trust, not collaboration. These features create noise, not clarity.

The Test

Before you save a decision record, ask:

"Will this make sense to a new team member in 6 months?"

If yes, you're done. If no, add more context.

That's the only test that matters.