For architecture debates ( yes there were some :) ) the resources used would vary depending on the level of the issue at hand.
For inter-service communication we had a standardized API interface that would need to be exposed and most of the discussions would circle around how does the service solve a problem and what API does it expose to the outside world.
For general system workflow issues we would resort to diagrams or good old fashioned whiteboarding whose artifacts would also get converted into diagrams.
A general rule-of-thumb that I pushed was that every single service would be documented starting with the design process and ending with support info.
For architecture debates ( yes there were some :) ) the resources used would vary depending on the level of the issue at hand.
For inter-service communication we had a standardized API interface that would need to be exposed and most of the discussions would circle around how does the service solve a problem and what API does it expose to the outside world.
For general system workflow issues we would resort to diagrams or good old fashioned whiteboarding whose artifacts would also get converted into diagrams.
A general rule-of-thumb that I pushed was that every single service would be documented starting with the design process and ending with support info.
Hope that makes any sense :)