Thank you for sharing that advice and the template. Too many of today's developers are being indoctrinated with dogma regarding any kind of documentation. What I like about design documents isn't that they record for all posterity some truth about a system. No, rather they illuminate the thinking that gave birth to a system. Invariably those systems will evolve, but understanding the reasons they were developed in the first place and why they were developed the way they were informs that evolution.

Forcing engineers and architects to think is increasingly difficult as companies misinterpret methodologies that "value code more than documentation".

We have so many tools for documenting systems today but too few engineers that embrace and use them on a daily basis.

Last thought - the document should serve as a catalyst for a conversation between all interested parties - product owners, developers, managers, and support staff.

Thanks again for sharing.