Technical Proposals
A written argument circulated before the decision feels made.
5 to work through
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intermediate Multiple choice
A team wants to change how search results are ranked on a consumer travel site. The change sits behind a flag and can be reverted in minutes and the guardrail metrics already exist. Which written artefact should they produce to get a decision?
3 min answer -
intermediate
An engineer's technical proposal for a significant change is repeatedly deferred without a decision. How should the proposal be restructured?
2 min answer -
intermediate
An engineer's technical proposal is repeatedly sent back for more detail and still not approved. What is usually wrong with its structure?
1 min answer -
advanced
A team must justify adopting a workflow engine to a sceptical audience who see it as unnecessary complexity. How should the case be made?
2 min answer -
advanced
Walk me through how you would write a technical proposal for a significant platform investment so that it gets a decision in one meeting rather than a fourth round of questions.
3 min answer
3 terms in this topic
Decision-Forcing Proposal
A written proposal structured so that deferring is visibly a choice with a cost, rather than a free default.
practiceTechnical Proposal Structure
An arrangement for a written design proposal that lets reviewers engage with the decision rather than reconstructing the problem.
practiceWritten Design Document
A prose document proposing an approach, circulated for comment before implementation, which forces the clarity that diagrams and conversation allow y…
Neighbouring topics
Architecture Communication
General material on communicating architecture.
Architecture Diagrams
Choosing an audience and refusing to mix levels of abstraction.
C4 Model
Context, container, component and code as four separate diagrams.
Context Diagrams
The system as one box, with its users and external systems.
Sequence Diagrams
Ordered message exchange, and walking the failure of each arrow.
Data-Flow Diagrams
Following the data across trust boundaries rather than the calls.
Deployment Diagrams
What runs where, in which zone, behind which boundary.
Communicating Threat Models
Making risk legible to people who will fund or accept it.
Writing Decision Records
Context, alternatives and consequences, written once and never edited.
Architecture Reviews
Reviewing early enough to influence rather than to veto.
Presenting to Executives
Decision first, cost, risk, and what happens if we do nothing.
Presenting to Engineers
Mechanism, alternatives rejected, and what you are unsure about.
Explaining Trade-offs
Naming what was given up, and the condition that would change it.
Handling Disagreement
Arguing from consequences, and escalating in the room.
Negotiation
Trading on interests rather than positions, with priced options.
Documentation Practice
Keeping documents close to the code and honest about staleness.
Presentation Skills
Structure, pacing and the slide that carries the decision.
Written Communication
Writing that survives being read without you in the room.
Facilitation
Running a design session that reaches a decision.