Solution Design Document Template
Draw the solution, mark what is new, changed and unchanged, and keep requirements, options, risks and costs one click behind the diagram.
Free forever on the Personal plan
Solution designs: an example
The design at a glance
Users, components and integrations on one diagram the client can read.
New, changed, unchanged
Colour shows what the project builds, what it touches and what it leaves alone.
The document behind it
Requirements, options, risks and costs open from the diagram itself.
The basics
What is a solution design document?
A solution design document (SDD) describes how a proposed solution will meet its requirements: who uses it, its components and how they connect, how it works with existing systems, the options considered, the risks and costs, and targets such as availability and recovery. It is what a client or design authority reviews and signs off.
Most solution designs are long documents with the architecture diagram pasted in as an image, which falls out of date as soon as the design changes. Reviewers end up debating a picture that no longer matches the text.
In Blueprintr the diagram is the front page of the design: every component and every section opens a stratum, the text stays beside the picture, and each published version is kept.
Why Blueprintr
Solution designs reviewers can follow
The design on one diagram, every section one click behind it.
Components, colours and a key
Draw users, services and existing systems with Lucide, Azure and AWS icons, and colour them new, changed or unchanged with a key on the canvas.
VellumEvery section behind the diagram
Put requirement tables, option matrices, the risk log and costs in strata, and give each component its own record.
StratumPresent it at design review
On Premium, walk reviewers through the design with Podium, each slide a framed part of the live diagram.
PodiumQuestions in one place
Reviewers raise questions in the blueprint's Discussion tab, in threads, and you are notified of each new topic.
A snapshot of every version
Every publish keeps a snapshot. On the Team plan you can compare the text of two versions, strata included, and restore one.
Sent as one link
Share the design privately with named reviewers, or send an unlisted link, with a password on Premium and above.
Blueprints
How to
How to write a solution design in Blueprintr
Create a blueprint
Sign up free and create a blueprint, or start from the solution design document template in the Compendium.
Draw the solution
Add the users, the new components and the existing systems, and colour each one new, changed or unchanged.
Write each section
Add strata for the requirements, options, risks and costs, and one for each component.
Review it with the client
Share the blueprint with reviewers and answer their questions in the Discussion tab.
Publish each version
Publish when a version is ready for sign-off; the snapshot records what was agreed.
Start from a template
Solution design document
A system-context diagram up front, then tabs for context, requirements, logical architecture, deployment, data, security, operations, the RAID log and decisions.
FAQ
Questions about solution designs
Is this solution design template free?
Yes. The Vellum editor, strata and the Compendium's solution design document template are available on the free Personal plan. Podium presentations need Premium, and version comparison is part of Team.
What should a solution design document include?
The users and how they use the solution, each component, changes to existing systems, the requirements that shape the architecture, options and the choice made, risks, costs, and recovery and availability targets.
What is the difference between a solution design and a high-level design?
A high-level design describes the overall architecture of a system or estate. A solution design is narrower: how one proposed solution meets a set of requirements, with its options, risks and costs, ready for sign-off.
Can the client comment on the design?
Yes, in the blueprint's Discussion tab. Reviewers start topics and reply in threads, and you are notified of each new topic. Comments are not pinned to individual shapes.
Can I keep earlier versions of the design?
Yes. Every publish keeps a snapshot of the blueprint, strata included. On the Team plan you can browse earlier versions, compare their text and restore one.
Can I export the design as a document?
You can export the diagram as PDF, PNG or SVG, and the blueprint as a zip with every section as markdown. There is no Word export.