architecture

An Architecture Decision Record (ADR) documents decision context, reasoning, and consequences in system design. It captures rationale for significant choices, ensuring future changes are faster and safer by providing a clear historical record of trade-off evaluations.

To write an ADR for selecting an architectural pattern, answer context-discovery questions to clarify constraints, evaluate candidate options using trade-off analysis templates, and document the final decision using the standardized ADR format provided.

Evaluate trade-offs by structuring option comparison with pros, cons, complexity, and validity conditions. Use the provided trade-off analysis templates to consistently assess candidate architectural patterns against your specific requirements and constraints.

Yes, this applies to SaaS and MVP architecture planning. It guides pattern selection by using decision trees and anti-pattern warnings to choose the simplest solution that fits your clarified constraints, ensuring rationale-rich outputs.

Requirements discovery transforms early ambiguity into a clear set of constraints and goals before pattern selection. It ensures your architectural decisions are driven by actual requirements rather than assumptions, leading to simpler and more valid solutions.

You should avoid microservices if requirements discovery indicates low complexity or MVP-stage constraints. The pattern-selection decision rules prioritize simpler solutions first, warning against anti-patterns like premature microservices adoption when a modular monolith suffices.