Architecture is the art of choosing which future pain to accept.
Every design trades one kind of cost for another; make that bargain visible.
Interpretation
There is no architecture without trade-offs. Consistency costs availability, flexibility costs comprehension, and speed today can cost migration tomorrow. Mature design does not promise to remove pain. It identifies which pain the organization can afford, records why, and creates signals for revisiting the choice.
Practice
- Write a short decision record for consequential choices.
- State which quality is being sacrificed.
- Set a date or metric that triggers review.
Anti-pattern
Calling a design “future-proof” without naming its operating costs.