There’s a disease in modern software development, and it’s called “Design Doc First” Culture.
If you’ve ever been in a meeting where an entire engineering team is locked in an endless debate over theoretical edge cases for a feature that doesn’t even exist yet—you’ve seen it.
Or maybe you’ve read a 20-page design doc that outlines exactly how a system should work, except nobody has actually built anything yet.
This isn’t engineering. This is technical fan fiction. And in most cases, it’s not just a waste of time—it actively makes products worse.
So why does this keep happening? And how can teams break out of this loop to build faster, smarter, and with fewer headaches?
Let’s break it down.
Why Teams Love Design Docs (And Why It’s a Trap)
First, let’s be clear: Design docs aren’t inherently bad. If you’re working on a complex system, especially one that spans multiple teams or requires long-term maintainability, documenting key decisions before coding can be useful.
But in practice? That’s not how design docs get used.
Instead of being a lightweight guide to align teams, design docs often become a bureaucratic monster that delays progress, bakes in bad assumptions, and creates rigid constraints before anyone even knows if the system works.
How “Design Doc First” Goes Off the Rails
- Imaginary Complexity Becomes Real Complexity
- When you’re writing about a system instead of building it, it’s easy to assume complexity that might not actually exist.
- This leads to over-engineered, abstract solutions that “solve” problems that were never going to happen in the first place.
- Bad Ideas Get Locked In
- Once something is written down, people stop questioning it.
- A flawed concept that might have been obvious in a prototype now gets embedded into the foundation of the project.
- Changing direction later becomes a bureaucratic nightmare.
- No One Talks to Users
- A shocking amount of software is built with zero user feedback upfront.
- Teams assume they know what users need, write a document about it, and then build something nobody actually wants.
- It Slows Everything Down
- Instead of writing and testing real code, engineers spend weeks debating hypotheticals.
- Instead of seeing what works, teams burn months on PowerPoint-driven development.
Sound familiar?
The Alternative: Prototype First, Document Later
If you actually want to build great software (instead of just talking about it), the best approach is almost always building a working proof of concept first.
Why Prototyping First Works Better
- It instantly exposes flawed assumptions.
- You won’t have to guess where the real complexity is—you’ll find out fast.
- You won’t be debating abstract problems that don’t exist.
- It forces teams to think practically.
- A prototype is a forcing function: It makes people confront the actual constraints of implementation, rather than arguing over hypotheticals.
- It’s faster.
- Even if you throw the prototype away, you’ll waste far less time than if you wrote a 20-page doc based on pure speculation.
- It’s easier to iterate.
- When you see a working prototype, it’s easier to refine it than it is to argue over bullet points in a document.
- It keeps the team focused on real user needs.
- You can put a prototype in front of actual users and get real feedback.
- This keeps the project grounded in reality instead of assumption-driven guesswork.
When “Design First” Actually Makes Sense
Are there cases where jumping straight into code is a bad idea? Absolutely.
Some systems truly do require upfront design, especially when the cost of getting it wrong is high.
Here’s when writing a design doc first is actually the right move:
- Mission-critical systems – If you’re building an airline booking system or a banking API, you can’t afford to “try things out” and fix them later.
- Complex integrations – When multiple services need to interact, understanding how data flows before building is crucial.
- Performance-sensitive applications – If you need a system to process 100,000 requests per second, “just building it” might lead to costly rewrites later.
The key difference? These systems aren’t theoretical—they’re solving known problems.
If you’re solving a problem that’s never been solved before, build first, document later.
How to Prototype the Right Way
Jumping straight into code doesn’t mean skipping all planning—it just means focusing on real constraints before committing to a rigid plan.
Here’s how to do it without creating tech debt:
✅ Good Prototyping Practices
- Build throwaway code. A prototype isn’t the final product—don’t try to make it production-ready.
- Validate key assumptions. Instead of building everything, focus on testing the riskiest unknowns.
- Keep it short. If a prototype takes more than a few weeks, it’s probably too big.
❌ Bad Prototyping Practices
- Shipping prototype code as production code.
- Skipping security and performance considerations entirely.
- Ignoring documentation completely. (Write docs once the prototype works.)
How to Convince Your Team to Prototype First
If your team is stuck in design doc bureaucracy, here’s how to shift the culture:
1️⃣ Start small.
- Instead of fighting the entire process, prototype a feature on the side and show the results.
2️⃣ Tie it to speed.
- Management loves efficiency. Show how a prototype saved time vs. the traditional approach.
3️⃣ Make it measurable.
- Track how many assumptions were proven wrong vs. what was “designed” upfront.
4️⃣ Challenge bad incentives.
- Promotions should go to people who ship great products, not those who write the longest docs.
Final Takeaway: Just Build the Damn Thing
If you find yourself trapped in a cycle of endless design docs, do yourself (and your users) a favor:
Ignore the doc. Build a prototype. Show people it works.
A bad prototype is better than a perfect document—because at least it exists in the real world.
And if your company refuses to let you build before writing a spec? Maybe it’s time to find one that does.
Great software isn’t built in Google Docs—it’s built by learning fast, iterating quickly, and testing real ideas in the real world.
The best engineering cultures embrace this. If yours doesn’t? Well, you know what to do.
💡 What do you think? Has your team ever struggled with design doc overkill? Drop a comment below—I’d love to hear your experiences.