Importance to Team Members

A design document is important for a number of reasons. To a potential publisher, it details the game and gives them a vision of what you are actually hoping to accomplish. The purpose of a design document to a team is rather simple: It lays out the responsibilities of everyone involved. Depending on the team member, a design document will mean different things.

It is the document from which a producer will base his estimates, while programmers may look at the design document as a series of instructions for completing their role. Artists will use the document to help them visualize the characters they need to create. Designers often take things from the document such as the mood for a level. Audio personnel require some sort of a basis for the development of sound effects and music, and the document may be the only place they can truly acquire the appropriate knowledge.