Decisions
In reverse chronological order. Each decision includes background, alternatives, final choice, and reasoning.
Status labels: Active / Deprecated / Superseded
2025-04-07 · Establish experimental living document on brand website
Status: Active
Background: Need to determine the medium and format for public records.
Alternatives:
- Standalone site (e.g. handbook.even-plan.cn)
- Third-party platform (WeChat official account, public Notion page)
- Dedicated tab within the brand website
Choice: 3
Reasoning: The living document is part of the brand, not a separate product. Keeping it on the brand site preserves a cohesive experience. Visitors can enter experimental while browsing products without navigating to another site.
Decision maker: wangyuqi
2025-04-07 · Publish brand operations publicly
Status: Active
Background: Fashion brands typically only show products and image externally. Operations, decision logic, and team structure are not visible.
Alternatives:
- Show products only
- Share design philosophy and production process, keep operations private
- Make operations, decision process, and failure records publicly visible; financial data visible to team only
Choice: 3
Reasoning: Consumers and collaborators can judge the brand’s operational state through the records themselves, rather than relying on the brand’s own description. This approach has no precedent in the fashion industry.
Decision maker: wangyuqi
2025-04-07 · Documentation principle: conclusions not written in documents do not exist
Status: Active
Background: In remote teams, information easily scatters across instant messages, voice calls, and meetings, becoming untraceable after the fact.
Alternatives:
- Encourage but do not enforce documentation
- All conclusions must be written into documents; documentation serves as the sole basis for execution
- Assign a dedicated person for meeting notes and information consolidation
Choice: 2
Reasoning: When disagreements arise, a clear standard of reference is needed. Documents are that standard. Verbal commitments and agreements in instant messages hold no authority in subsequent execution if they are not written back into documents.
Decision maker: wangyuqi
2025-04-06 · Async communication as the default
Status: Active
Background: A remote team needs to determine the default communication mode.
Alternatives:
- Primarily instant messaging and meetings
- Async by default, sync for urgent matters
- Fully async, no meetings
Choice: 2
Reasoning: Collaborators have their own work rhythms and time zones. Async communication ensures equal participation for everyone, preventing information gaps caused by response speed. Meetings are reserved for creative discussion, urgent decisions, and relationship building.
Decision maker: wangyuqi
2025-04-06 · Adopt remote-first work model
Status: Active
Background: Target collaborators are distributed across different cities.
Alternatives:
- Require collaborators to be on-site or attend regularly
- Primarily remote with periodic in-person sessions
- Fully remote, in-person only when necessary
Choice: 3
Reasoning: The people the brand needs are not in the same city. Fashion-related steps involving physical items (sampling, shoots, quality checks) are handled in person as needed; all other work is not limited by geography.
Decision maker: wangyuqi