Write a design decision record for a key choice
Documents a design decision with context, options considered, evidence, trade-offs, and reasons, so the team stops reopening it.
The prompt
Help me write a design decision record.
Decision: [WHAT WAS DECIDED - e.g. "use a bottom sheet instead of a full page for filters on mobile"]
Context: [THE PROBLEM, CONSTRAINTS, WHY IT CAME UP]
Options considered: [LIST EACH]
Evidence: [RESEARCH, TEST RESULTS, ANALYTICS, PLATFORM GUIDELINES, ACCESSIBILITY NEEDS]
Who was involved and who approved: [ROLES]
Date and status: [proposed / accepted / superseded]
Write a record with these sections:
1. Title and status.
2. Context (3-5 sentences a new team member would understand).
3. Options considered, each with pros, cons, and cost.
4. Decision and rationale linked to user evidence or principles.
5. Trade-offs we accepted and risks to watch.
6. What would make us revisit this (a specific signal or metric).
7. Related decisions or components affected.
Keep it under 400 words, factual, and neutral. Do not invent evidence; mark gaps as [ADD EVIDENCE]. Also give me a two-sentence summary to post in our team channel.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Product & UX Design prompts
What to fill in
- THE PROBLEM, CONSTRAINTS, WHY IT CAME UP
- LIST EACH
- ROLES
- proposed / accepted / superseded
- ADD EVIDENCE
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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