Why good systems keep their edges visible

Every operating system has edges: where one team hands work to another, where a decision becomes a record, and where an exception needs a different path. Hiding those boundaries may make a diagram look neat, but it makes delivery harder.

Design the handoff

Define the input, the owner, the evidence of completion and the route when an exception appears. The process becomes more legible without becoming bureaucratic.

signal → owner → decision → record → review

That simple chain is a useful starting point for most recurring work.