diataxis:explanation

Architectural documentation should capture the rationale, context, and trade-offs behind decisions to clarify the "why" rather than prescribing procedural instructions. It explains design constraints and alternatives to provide conceptual guidance for software systems.

A design rationale document explains the reasoning, assumptions, and alternatives behind architectural decisions. It includes system context and trade-off discussions to provide a coherent mental model, supporting onboarding and architecture reviews without procedural instructions.

You need to document architectural context and trade-offs when onboarding teams to a new subsystem or transferring knowledge. Producing architecture rationales provides a coherent mental model that clarifies design constraints and assumptions for review purposes.

Yes, reasoning-oriented conceptual guidance is useful for drafting architecture decision records. It clarifies context, assumptions, and alternatives, providing the design rationale and trade-off discussions needed for effective knowledge transfer across software systems.

The best way to document the "why" is to draft a concise rationale document capturing trade-offs and system context. This reasoning-oriented approach explains architectural decisions and design constraints without including procedural implementation instructions.

Your architecture overview likely fails because it lacks design rationale explaining the trade-offs and assumptions behind decisions. Providing reasoning-oriented conceptual guidance builds a coherent mental model, which is essential for effective onboarding and knowledge transfer.