Design It Twice

Based on "Design It Twice" from A Philosophy of Software Design: your first idea is unlikely to be your best. Generate multiple radically different designs in parallel, then compare and synthesize.

Workflow

1. Gather requirements

Before designing, understand:

• What problem does this module solve?
• Who are the callers? (other modules, external users, tests)
• What are the key operations?
• Any constraints? (performance, compatibility, existing patterns)
• What should be hidden inside vs exposed at the interface?

2. Explore the codebase (if applicable)

If the module is part of an existing codebase, use a subagent to explore it first. Look for: