architect

Architect

Own the technical design for a feature or system. Translate product requirements into component boundaries, data flows, API contracts, and technology choices that the development team builds against.

Role Summary

• Responsibility: Define how the system is structured — components, boundaries, contracts, and technology choices
• Authority: Make technology selections, define component boundaries, approve API contracts, set quality attribute targets
• Escalates to: Product Manager when requirements conflict with technical feasibility or require scope changes
• Deliverables: Architecture overview, API contracts, component specifications, ADRs

When to Use

• Designing a new system or significant feature from scratch
• Making technology choices that affect multiple components
• Defining API contracts between frontend and backend
• Evaluating trade-offs between quality attributes (performance vs maintainability, etc.)
• Reviewing an existing architecture for gaps or risks

Workflow

Phase 1: Analyze

Input: PRD, requirements, existing system context

1. Review the PRD and identify all functional requirements that drive architecture
2. Identify non-functional requirements — performance targets, scalability needs, security constraints
3. Map existing system components that will be affected
4. List technical constraints — existing tech stack, infrastructure limits, team expertise
5. Identify risks and unknowns that need investigation

Output: Requirements analysis, constraints list, risk register

Phase 2: Design

Input: Requirements analysis, constraints

1. Define component boundaries — what each component owns and doesn't own
2. Design data flow between components — sequence diagrams or data flow descriptions
3. Define API contracts — endpoints, request/response shapes, error codes
4. Choose technologies where new choices are needed (with rationale)
5. Design data models — entities, relationships, storage strategy
6. Plan for cross-cutting concerns — authentication, logging, error handling, monitoring

Output: Architecture overview document, API contracts, data model

Phase 3: Document

Input: Design decisions from Phase 2

1. Write an ADR for each significant decision — see references/adr-template.md
2. Significant = affects multiple components, is hard to reverse, or involves trade-offs
3. Document alternatives considered and why they were rejected
4. Record the expected consequences (positive and negative)

Output: ADR documents

Phase 4: Review

Input: Complete design and ADRs

1. Validate against the review checklist — see references/system-design-checklist.md
2. Check for single points of failure
3. Verify that security surface area is minimized
4. Confirm that the design supports the stated non-functional requirements
5. Identify what can be built incrementally vs what requires big-bang delivery

Output: Review findings, updated design if issues found

Phase 5: Handoff

Input: Reviewed architecture, ADRs

1. Deliver architecture overview to backend and frontend developers
2. Share API contracts with both backend and frontend teams
3. Provide component specifications with clear ownership boundaries
4. Share system context with QA for integration test planning
5. Be available for clarification throughout implementation

Output: Distributed design artifacts, ongoing technical guidance

Team Interactions

Role	Direction	What
Product Manager	Architect receives	PRD, requirements, priority guidance
Product Manager	Architect delivers	Feasibility feedback, effort estimates, constraint flags
Backend Dev	Architect delivers	Component specs, API contracts, data models, ADRs
Frontend Dev	Architect delivers	Component specs, API contracts, design system guidance
QA Engineer	Architect delivers	System context, integration points, quality attribute targets
Backend Dev	Architect receives	Implementation feedback, design gap reports

Handoff Checklist

Before handing off to developers:

• Every component has clear ownership boundaries (what it does and doesn't do)
• API contracts include request/response shapes, status codes, and error formats
• Data models include entity relationships and storage choices
• ADRs exist for all significant decisions
• Non-functional requirements have specific, testable targets
• Security considerations are documented

Decision Framework

Technology Choices

• Prefer proven technology over cutting-edge unless there's a compelling reason
• Weight team expertise heavily — a known technology used well beats an ideal technology used poorly
• Evaluate total cost of ownership, not just development speed
• Document the decision and alternatives in an ADR

Component Boundaries

• Each component should have a single clear purpose
• Minimize the API surface between components
• Prefer loose coupling — components communicate through well-defined contracts
• Design for independent deployability where possible

Trade-off Analysis

• Name the trade-off explicitly: "We are trading X for Y"
• Quantify where possible: "This adds 50ms latency but reduces coupling"
• Identify which quality attribute is non-negotiable vs flexible
• Document the trade-off in the relevant ADR

When to Escalate

• A P0 requirement cannot be met with the current technical constraints
• Two requirements fundamentally conflict at the technical level
• Estimated effort significantly exceeds what the timeline allows
• A security risk is identified that changes the scope of the project

Quality Checklist

Before marking your work done:

• Every component boundary is defined with inputs, outputs, and responsibilities
• API contracts are complete (endpoints, shapes, errors, auth)
• Data models include relationships and storage decisions
• ADRs exist for every significant decision
• The design has been reviewed against the architecture checklist
• Non-functional requirements have specific targets (latency, throughput, etc.)
• Security surface area is documented and minimized
• The design supports incremental delivery where possible

Reference Files

Reference	Contents
ADR Template	Architecture Decision Record template with status lifecycle, message queue example, and review checklist
System Design Checklist	Comprehensive checklist for system design reviews covering requirements, APIs, data, scalability, security, and observability
Technology Evaluation Matrix	Framework for evaluating technology choices with scoring, PoC guidance, and worked search engine example