dev-standards

Waddup fam, I'm @kristinaquinones, and I created this repo to hold general, project-agnostic development standards and other reusable workflow/project components.

Overview

This repository serves as a centralized collection of standards, best practices, and reusable project components that can be applied across multiple software projects and organizations. The standards are organized by discipline so they are easier to navigate, adapt, and maintain.

Usage

These standards are designed to be:

• Project-agnostic: Applicable to any project or organization regardless of tech stack or industry
• Reusable: Copy and adapt sections as needed for your specific project
• Comprehensive: Cover development, product, marketing, design, and measurement
• Maintainable: Organized into discrete files for easy updates and navigation

To use these standards in your project:

1. Start with Philosophy & Principles to understand the core values represented in this repo
2. Review the relevant standards index in the appropriate *-docs/ directory (each contains a README.md)
3. Navigate to relevant sections in the corresponding directories
4. Copy and customize sections as needed for your project
5. Keep project-specific standards in sync with universal standards

Changelog management

This repository uses Keep a Changelog for repository-level change tracking.

• Record notable repository changes in CHANGELOG.md
• Add new work to ## [Unreleased]
• Promote Unreleased entries into a dated release section when preparing a release
• Keep version history only in the root CHANGELOG.md
• Do not add version history sections to individual documentation files or section README files
• Exclude minor editorial-only changes unless they materially change guidance, workflow, or repository usage

Update CHANGELOG.md when changes affect:

• repository structure or file organization
• contributor workflow or review expectations
• repository-wide tooling/configuration
• notable standards, templates, or contributor-facing documentation

Contents

Core philosophy

Before diving into specific standards, start with the Philosophy & Principles document. This outlines the core values that are reflected in this guide.

Development standards

Comprehensive development standards for software engineering:

dev-docs/

View all topics

• Philosophy & Principles
• Code Organization
• Coding Style & Standards
• Testing & Quality
• Documentation
• Git & Version Control
• Pull Requests & Code Review
• Configuration & Secrets
• CI/CD & Build Pipeline
• Performance & Scalability
• Accessibility & Inclusivity
• Security
• Architecture Decisions
• Onboarding & Knowledge Transfer

Product management standards

Product management standards and best practices:

product-docs/

View all topics

• Philosophy & Principles
• Product Strategy & Vision
• User Research & Discovery
• Roadmap Planning
• Product & Design Process (unified feature definition and design process)
• User Stories
• Prioritization Frameworks
• Stakeholder Management
• Metrics & Success Criteria
• Release Planning
• Templates (Product & Design Brief, User Stories)

GTM & marketing standards

Go-to-market and marketing standards and best practices:

gtm-mktg-docs/

View all topics

• Marketing Spec (Problem & Opportunity Spec)
• Marketing PRD
• Positioning & Messaging
• Channel Strategy
• GTM Launch Planning
• Templates (Marketing Spec, Marketing PRD, Positioning, Campaign Brief, Messaging Hierarchy, Content Brief)

Design standards

Design standards and best practices:

design-docs/

View all topics

• Information Architecture
• Interaction Design
• Usability Evaluation
• Templates (Design System, Handoff, Usability Testing)

Note: For the unified product and design process, see Product & Design Process.

Measurement & analytics standards

Measurement and analytics standards and best practices:

measurement-docs/

View all topics

• Analytics Strategy
• A/B Testing & Experimentation
• Data Analysis & Interpretation
• Data Governance

---

Repository structure

dev-standards/
├── README.md                    # This file
├── CHANGELOG.md                 # Version history and notable repository changes
├── CONTRIBUTING.md              # Contributing process
├── LICENSE                      # GPL v3 license
├── CLAUDE.md                    # Source of truth for documentation standards
├── AGENTS.md                    # Stub pointing to CLAUDE.md
├── .cursorrules                 # Stub pointing to CLAUDE.md
├── .markdownlint.json           # Markdown lint configuration
├── .markdown-link-check.json    # Link check configuration
├── .github/                     # Repository automation and funding config
│
├── philosophy-principles.md     # Core philosophy and principles
│
├── dev-docs/                    # Development standards
│   ├── README.md                # Development standards index
│   ├── code-organization.md
│   ├── coding-style-standards.md
│   ├── testing-quality.md
│   ├── documentation.md
│   ├── git-version-control.md
│   ├── pull-requests-code-review.md
│   ├── configuration-secrets.md
│   ├── cicd-build-pipeline.md
│   ├── performance-scalability.md
│   ├── accessibility-inclusivity.md
│   ├── security.md
│   ├── architecture-decisions.md
│   └── onboarding-knowledge-transfer.md
│
├── product-docs/                # Product management standards
│   ├── README.md                # Product standards index
│   ├── product-strategy-vision.md
│   ├── user-research-discovery.md
│   ├── roadmap-planning.md
│   ├── product-design-process.md
│   ├── user-stories.md
│   ├── prioritization-frameworks.md
│   ├── stakeholder-management.md
│   ├── metrics-success-criteria.md
│   ├── release-planning.md
│   └── templates/               # Product templates
│       ├── README.md
│       ├── product-design-brief-template.md
│       └── user-story-template.md
│
├── gtm-mktg-docs/               # GTM & Marketing standards
│   ├── README.md                # GTM & Marketing standards index
│   ├── marketing-spec.md        # Problem & opportunity spec (write first)
│   ├── marketing-prd.md
│   ├── positioning-messaging.md
│   ├── channel-strategy.md
│   ├── gtm-launch-planning.md
│   └── templates/               # GTM & Marketing templates
│       ├── README.md
│       ├── marketing-spec-template.md
│       ├── marketing-prd-template.md
│       ├── campaign-brief-template.md
│       ├── positioning-statement-template.md
│       ├── messaging-hierarchy-template.md
│       └── content-brief-template.md
│
├── design-docs/                 # Design standards
│   ├── README.md                # Design standards index
│   ├── information-architecture.md
│   ├── interaction-design.md
│   ├── usability-evaluation.md
│   └── templates/               # Design templates
│       ├── README.md
│       ├── design-system-documentation-template.md
│       ├── design-handoff-template.md
│       └── usability-testing-plan-template.md
│
└── measurement-docs/            # Measurement & Analytics standards
    ├── README.md                # Measurement standards index
    ├── analytics-strategy.md
    ├── ab-testing-experimentation.md
    ├── data-analysis-interpretation.md
    └── data-governance.md

---

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the complete contributing process and frequently asked questions.

The documentation standards themselves (formatting, style, content rules, changelog policy) live in CLAUDE.md, the single source of truth. AGENTS.md and .cursorrules are short stubs that point to it.

Version history

See CHANGELOG.md for the full version history and release notes.

License

This repository is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE for details.

Happy building!