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Why Your Tech Design Docs Suck (And How to Fix Them)

Tired of unreadable, bloated, or useless design docs? Here’s how to write ones that help your team ship better software.

Disclosure: I use GPT search to collection facts. The entire article is drafted by me.

I’ve been meaning to write about tech design docs for years. Let’s be honest — most guides out there miss the mark. They’re either frustratingly vague (“Just communicate better!”) or they get lost in the minutiae of outdated frameworks no one uses. After 7/8 years of shipping projects across startups, scale-ups, and even those nightmare legacy systems, I’ve learned one thing: design docs aren’t about showing off with fancy diagrams to your boss. They’re about preventing miscommunication that can cost you dearly.

This isn’t a cookie-cutter, step-by-step manual. Your product is different from mine, and your team has its quirks. Instead, let’s tackle the universal issues that turn technical design docs into nothing more than paperweights.

The 4 Deadly Sins of Tech Design Docs

(and why your team secretly despises them)

1. The “Scope Creep vs. Scope Nap” Dilemma
   Your doc…