Explain Technical Debt
Explain Technical Debt
ClaudeChatGPTGemini
Health
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📋 180 copies
Trigger Phrase
Explain this tech debt
Prompt
104 wordsExplain the following piece of technical debt to a non-technical stakeholder in a way that makes the business case for fixing it.
Technical debt item: [DESCRIBE THE DEBT]
Structure your explanation as:
1. The analogy (compare it to something physical — a house, a car, a filing system)
2. What it costs us right now (in time, risk, or capability)
3. What it will cost us in 6 months if we don't fix it
4. What fixing it unlocks (frame as opportunity, not just risk reduction)
5. Rough effort: S / M / L / XL (with a one-sentence justification)
Avoid jargon. If you must use a technical term, define it in brackets immediately.
Technical debt item: [DESCRIBE THE DEBT]
Structure your explanation as:
1. The analogy (compare it to something physical — a house, a car, a filing system)
2. What it costs us right now (in time, risk, or capability)
3. What it will cost us in 6 months if we don't fix it
4. What fixing it unlocks (frame as opportunity, not just risk reduction)
5. Rough effort: S / M / L / XL (with a one-sentence justification)
Avoid jargon. If you must use a technical term, define it in brackets immediately.
Install Instructions
Paste this prompt then describe your specific debt item. The more concrete your description, the better the analogy.
Test It
Test command:
Test with: 'we have no automated tests and all testing is manual'
Expected output:
Should produce a clear analogy and quantified business impact
Pass criteria:
- Uses a physical analogy. Frames fixing it as an opportunity. No unexplained jargon.
⚠️ Guardrails
- Don't use the output directly with stakeholders without reviewing it for accuracy first.