Use Architecture Decision Records and Structure
Pending Approval
Awaiting approval by DHCW Technical Design Authority
Status: proposed
Date: 2025-03-25
Governance: Drafted for DHCW Technical Design Authority (TDA) for approval
Situation - Context and Problem Statement
- We want to record architecture related decisions for NHS Wales organisations, made via agreed governance mechanisms.
- We need to agree the structure of the records i.e what information a record should contain.
Background - Decision Drivers
- We want the structure to support both detailed and lightweight records.
- We want to align with industry standards (not reinvent the wheel).
- We want the selected structure to be easily adopted.
Assessment - Considered Options
The structure utilised by:
- Michael Nygard's template – The first incarnation of the term "Architecture Decision Records" (ADR)
- MADR 4.0.0 – The Markdown Architectural Decision Records
- Decision record template by Jeff Tyree and Art Akerman - Used in CapitalOne (regulated industry)
- Other templates listed at https://github.com/joelparkerhenderson/architecture_decision_record
- SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) template - used by DHCW internally and in healthcare generally.
- Formless – No conventions for structure
Recommendation - Decision Outcome
Adopt an Architecture Decision Record structure with mandatory and optional fields, taking elements of MADR and aligning it with the existing SBAR structure.
- Allows for structured capturing of any decision.
- The structure is comprehensible and facilitates usage & maintenance.
- It allows varying levels of detail to suit the decision being made.
- Aligns with existing terminology and structure that teams will be familiar with.
- The structure enables flexibility in format, storage and publishing.