Hey there 👋🏼,

When I first started coding, I’d just jump in, all action and no roadmap. It worked… until it didn’t. As the codebase grew, I started spending more time backtracking and trying to remember why I made certain decisions. That’s when I realized: a bit of upfront design can make a world of difference.

But I’m not talking about some massive, set-in-stone design upfront. Good design is adaptable—it evolves as understanding grows and new ideas come up. My design docs don’t attempt to capture a complete system upfront. Instead, they’re like snapshots of the journey, used for tasking, planning, and as a reference to pick up where I left off. Keeping them lightweight and in Markdown right in the source helps me stay on track without losing flexibility.

Why Bother with Design Docs?

A design doc provides a baseline—a shared point of reference that evolves as the work progresses. It’s there to keep everyone aligned without being overly prescriptive. Each feature or story gets its own doc, so I can adjust as I go along, capturing just enough structure to keep moving forward.

Quick-Start Guide for Evolving Design

Here are some principles to keep things simple and focused:

1. Define the Purpose: What’s this feature or story meant to achieve?
2. List Key Features: Start simple and layer in details over time.
3. Map the Data Flow: Visuals help clarify without overwhelming.
4. Collaborate & Iterate: Share with the team to refine as the project grows.

Resources to Dive Deeper

Some helpful reads on design thinking for evolving codebases:

• “The Pragmatic Programmer” by Andy Hunt & Dave Thomas – Flexible design advice.
• “Refactoring” by Martin Fowler – Ways to keep your code adaptable as it grows.
• “Software Design X-Rays” by Adam Tornhill – Visual insights into complexity and change.

Bonus: Plan Directly in Code with TODO Comments and Imdone

As a bonus, here’s a productivity trick I swear by: planning with TODO comments right in your code. It’s a lightweight way to keep tasks visible and actionable without leaving the IDE. For managing these TODOs effectively, tools like Imdone turn your comments into cards on a Kanban board, keeping everything organized right where it lives—your code.

To make it even easier, try the Imdone Code Companion for Visual Studio Code. With a quick ctrl + i, jump straight from a TODO comment to Imdone, keeping that momentum without the usual context-switching.

Give it a go, and see how much time you save with an in-code task manager that works the way developers do! 🎉

Final Thoughts

A little planning can go a long way, especially when it’s flexible. An evolving design keeps the project manageable without getting in the way.

Until next time, keep designing, coding, and evolving! 🚀

– Jesse