Name the Constraints
Time, scale, regulation, team knowledge, and required integrations remove options before architecture begins.
Scope
The question
Which facts make some otherwise valid solutions wrong here?
Do this
- Separate hard constraints from preferences.
- Record the source of each constraint.
- Ask what decision would change if the constraint changed.
Example
- A two-person team needs a store in six weeks and must use the company payment account. That argues for one deployable application and integration with the existing provider, not a new payments platform.
Ask next
- ?Is this constraint real or assumed?
- ?Who can change it?
- ?Which decision depends on it?