quick-design

A lightweight design spec captures rationales for small changes under roughly four hours of work. It provides structured documentation without the overhead of a full game design document, accelerating iteration and alignment.

The best way to document small game design iterations is using a quick design spec. This lightweight approach classifies the change, scans existing context, drafts the rationale, and outputs a spec file to align stakeholders efficiently.

You need a quick design spec when handling small changes under roughly four hours of work. It is ideal when existing system docs suffice and creating a full GDD would be unnecessary overhead for the scope of the change.

The quick-design workflow generates documentation through a structured process: classify the change, scan context, draft the rationale, and output a Quick Design Spec file at design/quick-specs/[name]-[date].md that embeds directly into story files.

Yes, you can embed a quick design spec into story files. The generated Quick Design Spec is designed to integrate seamlessly with story files to keep stakeholder alignment and context centralized.

Lightweight design specs are limited to small changes under roughly four hours of work. They are not suitable for large system overhauls or projects lacking existing system documentation, where a full GDD remains necessary.