Template
HCD decision and evidence record
Preserve why a consequential decision was made, what evidence informed it, who had authority, which concerns remain, and when the organization should reconsider it.
Purpose
When to use this template
Use it when a decision materially affects people, accessibility, policy, delivery, operations, cost, or organizational learning; when the rationale may later be questioned; or when future teams need to know what changed and why.
Keep it proportional. Routine reversible choices need less detail than high-risk, difficult-to-reverse decisions. Link to governed evidence rather than copying sensitive source material into the record.
Structure
Record six connected parts
Record control
- Decision title and stable ID
- Status: proposed, decided, superseded, or archived
- Accountable decision owner
- Contributors and reviewers
- Decision date, effective date, and next review
- Related effort, intake, research, requirement, and delivery records
Decision context
- Decision that must be made
- People, services, systems, and outcomes affected
- Constraints and decision deadline
- What happens if no decision is made
Evidence considered
- Source or stable reference
- Supported finding
- Confidence and representativeness
- Limitations, contradictions, and evidence gaps
- Date collected or last verified
Options and implications
- Options considered, including maintaining the current state
- User, mission, operational, technical, cost, and timing implications
- Accessibility, privacy, safety, ethical, policy, and security implications
- Dependencies, reversibility, and material risks
Decision and rationale
- Selected option
- Rationale tied to evidence and stated outcomes
- Assumptions and uncertainty
- Dissenting views and unresolved concerns
- Authority used and required approvals
Action and review
- Actions, owners, dates, and acceptance evidence
- Communication and documentation updates
- Measures that will indicate the decision is working
- Review triggers, including new evidence or changed conditions
- Superseding decision and change history
Reusable artifact
Copy the Markdown template
Paste this structure into a governed knowledge, documentation, or work-management system and adapt its metadata to local policy.
# HCD decision and evidence record
## Record control
- Decision title:
- Stable ID:
- Status: Proposed
- Accountable owner:
- Contributors and reviewers:
- Decision date:
- Effective date:
- Next review:
- Related records:
## Decision context
- Decision to make:
- People, services, systems, and outcomes affected:
- Constraints and decision deadline:
- Consequence of no decision:
## Evidence considered
For each material source:
- Source or stable reference:
- Supported finding:
- Confidence and representativeness:
- Limitations, contradictions, and evidence gaps:
- Collected or last verified:
## Options and implications
For each option, including the current state:
- Option:
- User and mission implications:
- Operational, technical, cost, and timing implications:
- Accessibility, privacy, safety, ethics, policy, and security:
- Dependencies, reversibility, and risks:
## Decision and rationale
- Selected option:
- Evidence-based rationale:
- Assumptions and uncertainty:
- Dissenting views and unresolved concerns:
- Decision authority and approvals:
## Action and review
- Actions, owners, dates, and acceptance evidence:
- Communication and documentation updates:
- Measures of effectiveness:
- Review triggers:
- Superseding decision and change history:
Review
Quality checks before closing the record
- Is the decision stated separately from its rationale?
- Can material claims be traced to an appropriate source?
- Are confidence, limitations, contradiction, and dissent visible?
- Were accessibility and affected people considered explicitly?
- Is authority clear, including approvals or escalation?
- Do actions have owners and observable acceptance evidence?
- Will changed conditions or new evidence trigger review?
- Can a future reader identify which decision superseded this one?