adr / madr

Markdown Architectural Decision Records

Home Page:https://adr.github.io/madr/

Geek Repo:Geek Repo

Github PK Tool:Github PK Tool

Use same format for positives and negatives for both "Outcome" and "Options"

zeljkot opened this issue · comments

"Outcome" has "Positive Consequences" and "Negative Consequences" sections. "Options" just have a single list with "Good" and "Bad" prefixes.

  • Good, because "Options" are denser.
  • Bad, because the design is not consistent.
  • Bad, because, if you first document options and then decide, one cannot just copy/paste, but rather one must change the design.

Let's have a try for a longer list of "Options".

Markdown

<!-- This is an optional element. Feel free to remove. -->
## Pros and Cons of the Options

### {title of option 1}

<!-- This is an optional element. Feel free to remove. -->
{example | description | pointer to more information | …}

#### Pros

* {argument a}
* {argument b}

#### Neutral

* {argument c}

#### Cons

* {argument d}

Example

(based on https://github.com/adr/madr/blob/main/docs/decisions/0015-include-consulting-informed-of-raci.md)

Pros and Cons of the Options

Include "Consulted" and "Informed" of RACI

Pros

  • These two roles of RACI are well understood.
  • We make these fields optional, thus it keeps MADR still lightweight.

Cons

  • It adds two additional fields

Include all fields of RACI

This would add "Responsible", "Accountable", "Consulted", and "Informed"

Pros

  • Complete RACI would be included

Cons

  • Get confused about who is "accountable" and who is "responsible".
  • If decisions are mostly taken by consensus in small committees, then there might not be an "accountable" person.

Thoughts

I think, this is really lengthy. Not sure if MADR can still be called "lightweight" then.

Maybe, it is a tooling issue?

  • In case MADR stays as is, a tool could allow with drag'n'drop to put arguments of options to consequences and reformat them accordingly
  • In case MADR is modified, a tool could render MADR in a "leightweight" form

Other options

Using "Positive, because" and "Negative, because"

  • Bad, because this does not list real consequences, but is just a synonym for "good" and "bad"

Remove "Positive Consequences" and "Negative Consequences"

They don't seem to be used much in the wild, thus why not just removing them and leaving it open to everyone?

This can also be addressed by changing the template like:

<!-- This is an optional element. Feel free to remove. -->
-### Positive Consequences
-
-* {e.g., improvement of one or more desired qualities, …}
-* …
-
-<!-- This is an optional element. Feel free to remove. -->
-### Negative Consequences
+### Consequences

-* {e.g., compromising one or more desired qualities, …}
+* Good, because {e.g., one or more desired qualities, …}
+* Neutral, because {e.g., one or more desired qualities, …}
* …