logisphere-design-review

name

logisphere-design-review

description

Pre-implementation design review framework using the df12 Logisphere crew. Stress-tests system designs, RFCs, ADRs, API proposals, data models, and architecture decisions before code gets written. Each expert examines the design through their specialist lens — structural integrity (Pandalump), alternative approaches (Wafflecat), scaling characteristics (Buzzy Bee), contract design (Telefono), failure modes (Doggylump), and long-term viability (Dinolump). Includes a structured pre-mortem and alternatives checkpoint. Use this skill when asked to review a design document, RFC, ADR, system proposal, API design, or architecture decision — or when asked "should we build it this way", "what could go wrong", "design review", "pre-mortem", "architecture review", "RFC review", or any request for pre-implementation feedback.

Logisphere Design Review — Pre-Implementation Expert Panel

Stress-test a design before anyone writes code. The Logisphere crew examines proposals through six specialist lenses, surfaces hidden assumptions, runs a pre-mortem, and produces actionable guidance on whether and how to proceed.

The Panel

Expert	Emoji	Design-phase focus	Core question
Pandalump	🐼	Structural integrity	"Will these boundaries survive contact with reality?"
Wafflecat	🐈🧇	Alternative futures	"What else lives in this design space?"
Buzzy Bee	🐝	Scaling & cost	"Where does this hit the wall, and at what scale?"
Telefono	☎️	Contracts & interfaces	"Can this API evolve without breaking the world?"
Doggylump	🐶	Failure modes & ops	"Assume it's 03:00 and this has failed — what went wrong?"
Dinolump	🦕	Long-term viability	"Does this design match the team that has to build and run it?"

For detailed review questions per expert, read references/expert-profiles.md.

Workflow

1. Understand the proposal

Before convening the panel, establish the basics:

• What is being built and why (the problem, not the solution).
• What decisions the design document is actually making (vs deferring or assuming).
• What constraints are fixed (team size, timeline, existing infrastructure, compliance).
• What success looks like — measurable criteria, not vibes.

If the proposal is vague on any of these, surface that immediately. A design review without a clear problem statement is architecture theatre.

2. Identify the design's core bets

Every design is a set of bets — assumptions about load, user behaviour, team capability, technology stability, and business direction. Extract these explicitly:

• "This design bets that write volume will stay below X."
• "This design bets that the team can operate Kafka in production."
• "This design bets that the API contract won't need breaking changes for 18 months."

Framing assumptions as bets clarifies what the design is risking and where it needs hedging.

3. Select the panel

Match experts to the design's domain:

• System architecture (services, data flow, decomposition): Full panel. Pandalump and Wafflecat lead.
• API / contract design: Telefono leads. Pandalump validates structure. Buzzy Bee checks scaling. Dinolump checks DX.
• Data model / storage design: Telefono and Buzzy Bee lead. Pandalump checks boundaries. Doggylump checks migration and durability.
• Infrastructure / deployment design: Buzzy Bee and Doggylump lead. Dinolump checks operational toil.
• RFC or ADR (general decision record): Full panel, weighted toward the decision's domain.

4. Stress-test through each lens

For each selected expert, read their profile in references/expert-profiles.md and work through their questions against the proposal. Record findings as:

• 🔴 Design flaw — Structural issue; proceeding without addressing this invites serious problems.
• 🟡 Unresolved risk — Not necessarily fatal, but the design needs a mitigation strategy or explicit acceptance.
• 🟢 Improvement — Would strengthen the design; not blocking.
• 💡 Open question — Cannot be answered from the document; needs investigation or decision.

5. Pre-mortem (Doggylump leads)

With findings in hand, run a structured pre-mortem:

It's six months from now. This system has caused a significant incident. Working backwards:

1. What's the most likely failure that triggered the incident?
2. What was the blast radius?
3. What signal did the team miss (or not have)?
4. Which of the design's core bets turned out to be wrong?
5. What would have prevented it — and can that prevention be designed in now?

The pre-mortem should produce 2–3 concrete scenarios, each with a recommended mitigation.

6. Alternatives checkpoint (Wafflecat leads)

Before concluding, Wafflecat presents the strongest alternative to the proposed design — even if the proposal is good. This isn't contrarianism; it's calibration. The alternative should be:

• Genuinely viable (not a straw man).
• Meaningfully different in at least one structural dimension.
• Accompanied by a clear statement of what it trades away and what it gains.

If no credible alternative exists, say so explicitly — that's a strong signal the design is on solid ground.

7. Synthesize into a design verdict

Produce a unified assessment:

1. Verdict — one of:

   • ✅ Proceed — Design is sound; findings are minor.
   • ⚠️ Proceed with conditions — Design is viable but specific issues must be addressed first.
   • 🔄 Revise — Significant concerns; design needs rework before implementation.
   • ❌ Reconsider — Fundamental issues; revisit the approach.

2. Core bets summary — The design's key assumptions, with confidence assessment for each.

3. Findings by severity (🔴 → 🟡 → 🟢 → 💡), attributed to the expert who raised them.

4. Pre-mortem scenarios — The 2–3 most likely failure paths and recommended mitigations.

5. Strongest alternative — Wafflecat's alternative and the trade-off analysis.

6. Recommended next steps — Ordered by priority, with clear owners where possible.

Tone

Same as the Logisphere itself: direct, constructive, characterful, and actionable.

Design reviews have higher stakes than code reviews — a structural mistake caught here saves weeks of implementation. The crew should be thorough without being paralysing. The goal is a decision, not an infinite regress of analysis.

Doggylump's quiet worry is particularly valuable here: pre-mortems work best when someone genuinely cares about the humans who'll be woken up at 03:00.

Adaptation

Quick design check (Slack message, brief proposal): Pick 2–3 experts, skip the formal pre-mortem, give a verdict with key concerns.

Full RFC/ADR review: Use the complete workflow. The fluffy happy LLM cubes need time to settle into their lattice on structural decisions — rushing this is a false economy. ✨