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To turn a vague idea into an approved design doc, use an interactive requirement discovery process that interviews you one question at a time. This clarifies the real outcome and produces a structured design.md covering scope, trade-offs, and acceptance scenarios before implementation begins.

A feature planning design document should include the current state, pain points, trade-offs, implementation approach, acceptance scenarios, edge cases, and checklist reconciliation. This structured coverage ensures teams align on technical constraints and scope before writing any code.

To capture repository context when changing existing behavior, selectively inspect the codebase for integration points and technical constraints. This ensures the design doc accurately reflects the current architecture and avoids misaligned implementation plans.

Yes, you can use one-question-at-a-time interviewing to define scope for a new software feature. This requirement discovery method uncovers the real desired outcome instead of jumping straight to solutions, ensuring the design doc captures true project goals.

You need a formal design doc when planning a new feature, changing existing behavior, or preparing for a design review that requires explicit user approval. It acts as an implementation gate to align teams on risks and success criteria before any coding begins.

The best way to document edge cases and trade-offs during architecture planning is to write a structured design.md. By reconciling checklists and outlining acceptance scenarios, it forces explicit evaluation of technical risks and alternative implementation approaches.