What is the best way to document lessons learned from system architecture projects?

1 Define the scope

Before you start documenting the lessons learned from your system architecture project, you need to define the scope of your documentation. This means identifying the purpose, audience, and format of your documentation. For example, you might want to document the lessons learned for your own reference, for your team or organization, or for a wider community of system architects. You might also want to document the lessons learned for a specific phase, component, or aspect of your system architecture project, or for the whole project lifecycle. Depending on your scope, you will need to choose a suitable format for your documentation, such as a report, a presentation, a blog post, or a wiki page.

2 Collect the data

The next step is to collect the data that will inform your documentation of the lessons learned. This involves gathering feedback, opinions, and evidence from various sources, such as your own observations, your team members, your clients, your users, your testers, and your reviewers. You can use different methods to collect the data, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, workshops, or retrospectives. The key is to ask open-ended questions that elicit honest and constructive responses, and to record and organize the data in a clear and consistent way.

3 Analyze the data

Once you have collected the data, you need to analyze it to identify the main themes, patterns, and insights that emerge from it. This involves sorting, filtering, and grouping the data according to different criteria, such as positive or negative outcomes, technical or non-technical issues, internal or external factors, or best practices or improvement areas. You can use different tools to analyze the data, such as spreadsheets, charts, diagrams, or matrices. The goal is to extract the most relevant and meaningful information that will help you document the lessons learned.

4 Document the lessons learned

The next step is to document the lessons learned based on the data analysis, which involves writing, editing, and formatting your documentation according to your scope and format. To do this effectively, you should use clear and concise language that is appropriate for your audience and purpose. Additionally, provide context and background information to explain the situation, problem, or opportunity that led to the lesson learned. Describe the actions, decisions, or solutions taken in response to the situation and explain the results, impacts, or consequences of these. Highlight key takeaways, recommendations, or suggestions that can be applied or adapted to similar or future situations. Use examples, evidence, or references to support your claims and arguments. Visual aids such as images, graphs, tables, or code snippets can also help make your documentation more engaging and readable.

5 Review and validate the lessons learned

The final step is to review and validate the lessons learned before you publish or share your documentation. This involves checking, verifying, and improving the quality, accuracy, and relevance of your documentation. To do this, you can proofread and edit your documentation for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style errors. If applicable, you can also test and debug code snippets to make sure they work as intended and follow the best practices and standards of your system architecture. Additionally, you can ask for feedback from peers, mentors, or experts in your domain and incorporate their inputs into your documentation. Lastly, you can compare and contrast your documentation with other sources of information such as literature, case studies, or benchmarks and update accordingly.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?