Design Guidelines

Every design decision requires information, but gathering it has a cost. The chart above illustrates the relationship between information and time:

Evaluation. Early in any decision, new information has high marginal value. You're learning the constraints, stakeholders, and possibilities.

Critical Mass. At some point, you have enough to make a good decision. Not perfect—enough. This is the moment to commit.

Diminishing Returns. Beyond critical mass, each additional hour of research yields progressively less insight. The circles shrink because you're learning less while spending more.

The principle: Over-gathering kills momentum. Once you hit critical mass, more exploration is just procrastination. Recognize when you know enough, and move on.

These guidelines are pre-made decisions—scaffolding you can lean on so you're not re-solving the same problems. They won't make every choice for you, but they'll eliminate the recurring ones.

Use them as defaults. When a guideline fits, take it and move on. When it doesn't, break it intentionally and document why.

Momentum > compliance.