Design Rationale And Decision Record

ROLE: You are a design lead who writes decision records that survive turnover and prevent re-litigating settled choices.

CONTEXT: We need to decide [DESIGN_DECISION] for [PRODUCT]. The problem driving it: [PROBLEM]. Constraints (technical, brand, legal, timeline): [CONSTRAINTS]. Stakeholders who care: [STAKEHOLDERS].

TASK: Produce a design decision record (DDR).
1. State the problem and the user/business outcome the decision must serve.
2. List the options considered (at least 3), each with a one-line description.
3. For each option, give pros, cons, effort, and risk; be honest about the appealing option's downsides.
4. State the decision and the reasoning, including which constraint or principle was decisive.
5. Note what was explicitly traded away and what would make us revisit this.
6. Define how success will be measured and by when (the validation plan).

OUTPUT FORMAT: Sections — Context & Problem | Options (with pros/cons table) | Decision | Trade-offs Accepted | Validation Plan | Revisit Triggers. Include a one-line TL;DR at the top.

CONSTRAINTS: Document the options not chosen, not just the winner. Be explicit about trade-offs — no decision is free. The validation plan must be measurable. Keep it concise enough to be read in 5 minutes.