diff --git a/docs/contributing.md b/docs/contributing.md
index 45dff3055..aaa2b294a 100644
--- a/docs/contributing.md
+++ b/docs/contributing.md
@@ -124,10 +124,27 @@ which there is no final removal date yet.
 
 ## Contributing large patches
 
-Before sending a PR for a large change which designs/redesigns or reworks an
-existing component, we require an architecture review from  multiple
-stakeholders, which we do with [Design Docs](design_docs.md), see the
-[process here](design_docs.md#process).
+We welcome contributions from anyone.
+
+If you wish to contribute a new large feature, you are encouraged to discuss
+it in Discord or a GitHub Discussion first before diving in. Before spending
+too much time on a particular design, you should see if the community and the
+maintainers have any feedback on your idea and general approach. It also is a
+better experience for you as an author if you contributed smaller patches
+first, so you understand how the project and the community around it works.
+
+If you open a pull request without discussion first, you may find that the
+community already has discussed this and found a better approach, or that it
+already was deemed not to be a fit for the project.
+
+Since many ideas have come up before, but they haven't been implemented because
+they might be deceptively nuanced, or there may be strong opinions around them,
+bringing it up to the community first helps discover past discussions, so your
+design can be informed by them.
+
+Once you have vetted your idea with the community, please write a
+[Design Doc](design_docs.md) which requires an architecture review from
+multiple stakeholders, see the [process here](design_docs.md#process).
 
 ## Contributing to the documentation
 
diff --git a/docs/design_docs.md b/docs/design_docs.md
index 5d51aa6ca..7e42af19a 100644
--- a/docs/design_docs.md
+++ b/docs/design_docs.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Jujutsu Design Docs
 
-Jujutsu uses Design Docs to drive technical decisions on large projects and it
+Jujutsu uses [Design Docs] to drive technical decisions on large projects and it
 is the place to discuss your proposed design or new component. It is a very
 thorough process, in which the design doc must be approved before PRs for the
 feature will be accepted. It shares some similarities with [Rust RFCs] but
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ concerns of all stakeholders.
 So if you want to start building a native backend or the server component for
 Jujutsu, you'll need to go through this process.
 
+[Design Docs]: https://blog.ceejbot.com/posts/design-docs/
+
 ## Process
 
 1. Add a new markdown document to `docs/design`, named after your improvement