Elephants, goldfish and design docs as the real artifact

What I took from it

• Elephant: one long, context-rich AI session where you argue the problem through and write the design doc. No code yet.
• Goldfish: a fresh session with no memory. Give it only the doc.
• The test: if the goldfish can understand the system and build the feature from the doc alone, the doc is good enough.
• Why it matters: a cheap, objective check that a document actually transfers understanding.
• Try it on: handover notes. If a fresh session can’t act on them, a new person can’t either.
• Caveat: the productivity claims are the author’s estimates. Take the method, not the numbers.