Checklist for High-Level Design Reviews

We want education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one's own feet.
~Swami Vivekananda

Structure

Are data structures clearly partitioned?
Has the design been decomposed to the point at which the next phase of design can begin?
Has each component been completely and testably specified?
Is the modular decomposition consistent with local standards for modular strength and coupling?

Data

Are global constants and passed data parameterized?
Has all the data been properly defined?
Are data structures and element names meaningful? Do they adhere to existing naming conventions?

Correctness and Completeness

Is the high-level design complete, i.e., does it implement all of the requirements?
Has all of the infrastructure been specified (backup, recovery, checkpoints, etc.)?
Are the error messages unique and meaningful?
Have all reliability and performance requirements been designed?
Have internationalization issues been properly and adequately addressed?
Have file maintenance procedures been addressed?
Have processing priorities been addressed?
Are there credible analyses to determine that required throughput, response times, and accuracies will be achievable by this design?
Is there a memory budget to allocate estimated storage requirements for each module, table, and file?
Have all security considerations been designed?
Does the high-level design consider all existing constraints?
Does the high-level design contain unnecessary redundancy that is already implemented in another system component?
Does the high-level design provide an adequate base for the detail design?
Have maintainability issues been addressed?
Is the high-level design complete, correct, and unambiguous?
Is the high-level design feasible?
Is the high-level design verifiable?

Standards and Traceability

Have all design standards been followed?
Does the human interface follow project standards?
Can all parts of the high-level design be traced back to requirements?

Interfaces

Are all interfaces clear and well-defined?
Is minimum data passed at each interface?
Is minimum global system data added or impacted by the design?

Robustness

Have self-test, fail-safe, and degraded mode requirements been accounted for?
Has an error handling mechanism been identified?
Are unusual situations handled reasonably and nondestructively?