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Design Standards Document Example

PostedNovember 11, 2024
UpdatedNovember 11, 2024
ByKevin McCaffrey

Design Standards Document
Date Posted: November 6, 2024
Last Updated: November 7, 2024
Author: Paul Smith

Purpose

This document outlines the design standards for our organization to ensure consistency, quality, and alignment with strategic goals. The standards cover coding practices, architectural guidelines, security measures, and operational requirements. Our approach encourages best practices while allowing room for innovation through a structured change management process.

Design Standards Overview

1. Document and Share Best Practices

  • Objective: Promote consistency across all projects by documenting and sharing design standards.
  • Scope: Design standards include:
    • Coding Practices: Language-specific guidelines, code structure, and commenting requirements.
    • Architectural Guidelines: Microservices architecture, API design standards, and service-level agreements.
    • Security Measures: Authentication, data encryption, and secure coding practices.
    • Operational Requirements: Monitoring, logging, and automated deployments.

Consistent use of these standards reduces variability and enhances quality while aligning projects with organizational goals.

2. Keep Standards Up-to-Date

  • Review Frequency: Every quarter or as needed based on evolving technology and requirements.
  • Update Process: Conduct a standards review meeting involving architects and team leads to ensure standards remain relevant.
  • Industry Trends: Incorporate new trends and practices to maintain a competitive edge.

Regular updates ensure teams remain aligned with the latest industry standards and internal strategies.

3. Provide a Mechanism for Change Requests

  • Change Request Process:
    1. Submit Request: Team leads can submit a change request via the Change Request Log.
    2. Review: The Standards Governance Committee reviews the request.
    3. Approval/Denial: Requests are either approved, modified, or denied, with feedback provided to the requesting team.
  • Flexibility: Teams can propose changes to avoid constraints on innovation while maintaining overall quality.

This process ensures flexibility and responsiveness to project needs.

4. Enforce Standards with Room for Innovation

  • Enforcement: Teams must adhere to common guidelines, but justified adaptations are allowed.
  • Flexibility: Standards are enforced with an understanding of project-specific requirements to balance consistency and innovation.

This ensures standards drive quality and efficiency without stifling creativity.

5. Increase Awareness and Encourage Adoption

  • Training: Provide regular training sessions and documentation on the purpose and benefits of design standards.
  • Accessibility: Ensure standards are easily accessible to all team members.
  • Adoption: Highlight the benefits of consistency and alignment through success stories and case studies.

Awareness and education foster widespread adoption and proper adherence to standards.

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Architect

  • Responsibilities:
    • Develop, document, and share best practices and design standards.
    • Regularly review and update standards to keep pace with evolving technology.
    • Provide training and guidance on standards adherence.

2. Team Lead

  • Responsibilities:
    • Ensure team members are aware of and adhere to design standards.
    • Identify and request changes or exceptions if standards impact project outcomes or innovation.
    • Act as a liaison between the team and the Standards Governance Committee.

3. Standards Governance Committee

  • Responsibilities:
    • Evaluate and approve or deny requests for changes to design standards.
    • Ensure updates align with organizational goals.
    • Communicate approved updates to all relevant teams and provide documentation support.

Artifacts

  1. Design Standards Document: Detailed guidelines covering all areas of design and development best practices.
  2. Change Request Log: A record of requests for modifications or exceptions to standards, including status and outcomes.
  3. Standards Training Material: Training resources that outline the purpose, scope, and benefits of design standards.

Supporting AWS Tools

1. Documentation Tools

  • AWS WorkDocs: To store and share the most recent versions of design standards.
  • AWS Systems Manager Document: For sharing operational best practices and automated procedures.

2. Collaboration Tools

  • Amazon Chime: For meetings and discussions related to design standards and change requests.
  • AWS CodeCommit: For version-controlled documentation to track updates and collaborate effectively.

3. Change Management Tools

  • AWS Systems Manager Change Manager: To facilitate the submission, review, and approval of change requests.
  • AWS Service Catalog: To distribute standardized templates and infrastructure best practices.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How are design standards documented and shared across teams?
    • Using AWS WorkDocs and AWS CodeCommit for secure, version-controlled sharing.
  2. How are design standards kept up-to-date as the architecture evolves?
    • Through quarterly reviews and ongoing input from architects and team leads.
  3. What mechanisms are in place to request changes or exceptions to design standards?
    • A structured change request process managed via the Change Request Log and evaluated by the Standards Governance Committee.

End of Document

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