> Worst case scenario is when by improving the problem definition a simple solution appears that doesn't require a complex design. The author having invested a lot of time in a complex design (that historically and many committees still look for to promote off of) will push back against anything that is simple. The difficult trick is helping the engineers to improve their problem definition early in the writing process.
The worst case is really when even more time has been spent coding, testing, releasing, and integrating the overly complex design, and then it's extra work on top to get rid of it.
> Anywhere else I would have been grabbed after lunch and would have worked on defining the problem for a few hours with the team at the whiteboard.
I do that at Google regularly, often in parallel with writing the doc. Nothing beats talking with an experienced engineer directly.
The worst case is really when even more time has been spent coding, testing, releasing, and integrating the overly complex design, and then it's extra work on top to get rid of it.
> Anywhere else I would have been grabbed after lunch and would have worked on defining the problem for a few hours with the team at the whiteboard.
I do that at Google regularly, often in parallel with writing the doc. Nothing beats talking with an experienced engineer directly.