On: Design docs at Google (2020)

[eschneider]

Hmm...most of the time when I do a design that's for something at all substantial, I'll usually go through a few ideas that seem reasonable at least through the "napkin stage" before dumping them in favor of what eventually becomes the "real design". I'd just save those napkins, list them in the alternatives section, and explain why they were abandoned. Easy.

[jppittma → eschneider]

That’s the idea. I try set it up so the time I spend on the idea in the doc is proportional to its viability.