Record boundaries and sources of truth
Identify which system owns customer records, product entitlements, content, analytics, and publisher identity. Draw a boundary between a data import and a live integration. Name the interfaces and identifiers connecting those systems. A family of products can share a narrative without sharing a database, account system, or production dependency.
- ✓ Document ownership of records and the direction of each data flow.
- ✓ Keep proposed connections separate from implemented interfaces.
Explain decisions with alternatives and consequences
For each important choice, record the problem, constraints, options, selected approach, and consequences. Include why a simpler option was insufficient and what would trigger reconsideration. Decision records should be brief enough to maintain but concrete enough to prevent accidental reversal. Avoid presenting an architectural preference as a universal rule for every business.
- ✓ Capture operating cost, failure behavior, and security considerations.
- ✓ Link to the implementation and its validation evidence where available.
Make documentation part of delivery
Update the record when permissions, data models, deployment methods, or vendors change. Include recovery instructions and an accountable owner. For HGM, these notes connect Search Intel OS concepts with actual Graph Series and network implementations. Case-study claims belong in separate evidence records, while this collection owns the reasoning and operational constraints.
- ✓ Review diagrams against the deployed system.
- ✓ Keep unresolved questions visible rather than inventing certainty.