principle-redesign-from-first-principles

Redesign From First Principles

When integrating a change, don't bolt it onto the existing design. Redesign as if the requirement had been a foundational assumption from the start.

• Read all affected files and understand the current design
• Ask: "if we were writing this from scratch with this new requirement, what would we build?"
• Propagate the change through every reference: types, docs, examples, rationale sections
• Think about the whole redesign, then deliver it incrementally

This is the method for preserving option value when integrating changes into an existing design.