Lightweight RFC Process

Apache Geode's lightweight RFC process demonstrates how to implement design documentation without bureaucratic overhead, specifically tailored for open-source and distributed development teams. The framework emphasizes minimal required sections, rapid review cycles, and clear decision criteria to prevent analysis paralysis while ensuring critical design decisions are captured. Key principles include writing RFCs for significant changes that affect APIs, architecture, or user experience, using simple templates that focus on problem statement, proposed solution, and alternatives considered, and establishing time-boxed review periods to maintain momentum. Engineering leaders will learn how to balance the need for technical documentation with development velocity, creating processes that scale from small features to major architectural changes. The approach encourages early feedback, iterative refinement, and asynchronous collaboration, making it particularly effective for distributed teams. By keeping the process lightweight, teams avoid the common pitfall of RFC processes becoming bottlenecks while still capturing essential design rationale and enabling knowledge sharing across the organization.