Virtual Domain-Driven Design

How Autonomy Saved One of Spotify’s Most Loved Features From Being Killed "I would have killed that if it was just me, 100%,” said Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek about Discover Weekly, a feature that would become one of Spotify’s most loved product features, almost a…

It's tough when a beloved product feature faces the chopping block. Our past talk explored how Spotify used autonomy to save a key feature from being cut.

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When the Loudest Voice Architects Your Future What happens when a team makes architectural decisions with no one to facilitate them? Gien Verschatse on burnout, bad choices, and lessons learned.

It's hard when architectural decisions are driven by the loudest voice, not careful analysis. Gien Verschatse shared how this leads to burnout & ignored consequences.
Read, watch, or listen: buff.ly/p65Td6F

TDD as a design tool with Dave Farley There has been a lot of fuzz around the topic of test-driven development; some find it useful; some don't see any value in it. You also have different flavours like Detroit being inside-out, or…

Many use TDD, but overlook its deep potential as a design tool. @davefarley77.bsky.social talk explored how TDD *is* design. Watch or listen:

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Power dynamics don't disappear in design sessions. They just go underground — and they kill collaboration. Evelyn talks about what to do when hierarchy gets in the way of good design. buff.ly/vkfW1Vb

The Innovation of Cumulative Cultures and Developer Problem-Solving Did you know that crows are better than toddlers at generating novel solutions? It's true! In the earliest days of childhood, around the globe scientists have documented that human cognition…

Struggling to foster innovation in your dev team? The 'Cumulative Cultures and Developer Problem-Solving' talk by @grimalkina.bsky.social explored how shared knowledge builds better solutions.

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An aggregate in DDD is similar to a "God class" in OOD - a method to (attempt to) impose immutable rules on an ever changing domain.

Stories on Facilitating Software Architecture & Design Technology Podcast · Updated Biweekly · We’ve consistently observed a common pattern: regardless of the architectural approach—from traditional enterprise to more hands-on, emergent methods—teams…

Did you know that you can listen to our new stories of facilitating software architecture & design series on your favourite podcasts. Check it out:

Apple Podcast: buff.ly/Xx3UNG8
Spotify: buff.ly/TFhS5ep
Amazon: buff.ly/nK7R7PE
Pocket Cast: buff.ly/0vprKnL
and many more...

It's like 10,000 streams when what you need is a queue - Chris Simon 🎶🎵 A new dev team adopted E-D-A Got head of line blocking, on their very first day Isn't it ironic, don't you think 🎶🎵 The last few years have seen widespread adoption of Event-Driven…

Choosing between event streams & queues for EDA often leads to head-of-line blocking & complexity. @chrissimon.au will clarify options to build resilient systems.
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When Hierarchy Kills the Workshop: Facilitating Under Fire What happens when a CTO slow claps during a vulnerable moment in your workshop? Evelyn van Kelle shares how hierarchy kills collaboration and what facilitators can do about it.

It's hard to facilitate when a 'slow clap' from a senior leader stifles all collaboration. @evelynvankelle.bsky.social shared this challenging story.
Read, watch, or listen: buff.ly/vkfW1Vb

An Introduction to Domain Storytelling Domain Storytelling (http://domainstorytelling.org) is a collaborative modelling method. It brings together domain experts and development teams and helps them to understand a domain, find bounded…

Mapping out complex business processes for shared understanding can be a real challenge. Our hands-on 'Introduction to Domain Storytelling' with Stefan Hofer session demonstrated a practical visual approach to align domain experts and dev.
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In last week's story, @settling-mud.bsky.social told us a very relatable story when everyone seemed to agree, but nobody acted. What would you do? Watch, Read or listen to it here: buff.ly/JX3e6Y4

[DDDDD-20] Natural Boundaries - how to read the signs and benefit from the problems Finding the right boundaries of contexts is hard - implementing them can be even harder if the organisation does not change. But how can one change the organisation, how can one be sure that it…

Identifying natural boundaries in your domain can be a real struggle, often leading to bigger problems. Our panel discussion from DDDD-20 explored how to read the signs and benefit from these challenges.

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It's hard when workshop agreement never turns into real action. @settling-mud.bsky.social shares how "success theatre" and unspoken doubts undermine commitment, even with good intentions. She found a path to genuine engagement.
Read, watch, or listen: buff.ly/JX3e6Y4

Outcome Mapping for Flow engineering with Steve Pereira Begin with the end in mind - Stephen Covey 70% of transformation efforts fail, and they fail because they lack clarity. 8 people will have 8 understandings of problems and solutions. By breaking down…

Getting work to flow smoothly through complex systems is a constant struggle. Steve Pereira's hands-on session explored Outcome Mapping to improve flow, offering practical ways to visualize and optimize.
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Beija Nigl on what happens when workshop goals don't align—and how it led to creating the Collab Prep Canvas. Check out her latest story here: buff.ly/YVpf1Kg

We've corrected the Humanitix event and updated the VirtualDDD website, but if you've already saved it: please check your calendar and adjust if needed.

If you're joining us next week, double-check here: buff.ly/6j9r21z

We set the event for 19:00 UTC among organizers and guests from three different time zones, but accidentally created the Humanitix listing at 19:00 CET instead.

One hour difference. A simple error, but it affects everyone who has already added it to their calendar through Humanitix.
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Critically Engaging with Models a conversation with Rebecca In this session, we are joined by Rebecca Wirfs-Brock, who will first present a short talk on their essay Critically Engaging With Models followed by a group discussion. It would be great if you…

Managing community events across time zones is never easy, time zones 1 - 0 organisers.

Last week, we made a scheduling mistake for our upcoming session "Critically Engaging with Models" with @rebeccawb.bsky.social. buff.ly/6tJcZMh
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What writing a book taught us about collaborative modeling Writing a book about a modeling method (in our case: Domain Storytelling) necessarily makes you reflect on your own modeling practices. We had to frame things that we intuitively did in workshops.…

Getting everyone aligned on a shared model is a consistent challenge. Our past talk with Stefan and @hschwentner.bsky.social and explored what writing a book taught us about making collaborative modeling more effective.
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Misaligned Expectations: When Goals Don't Align What happens when the sponsor's goal contradicts the team's just 48 hours before kickoff? Beija Nigl joins us to discuss navigating misaligned expectations in legacy modernization.

It's hard when stakeholders' goals for a workshop don't align, and you only discover it two days before! Beija Nigl shared how she navigated this misaligned expectation.
Read, watch, or listen: buff.ly/YVpf1Kg

From The Problem To Software - a Walkthrough with Krisztina Hirth It is not the domain experts knowledge that goes in production, it is the assumption of the developers that goes into production This famous quote from Alberto Brandolini is unfortunately true but it...

Missed Krisztina Hirth's session on bringing domain knowledge into software? She shares practical techniques for real DDD. Rewatch it on our website: buff.ly/MZ8Cn4i Or listen as a podcast.

Legacy System Modernization: Why Empathy Beats Technical Skills Is your legacy system modernization hitting a wall? Michael Plöd shares why respecting the "rockstar" developer's legacy is the key to turning resistance into architectural success.

It is easy to criticise legacy code, @bitboss.bsky.social offers a pragmatic reality check. Architecture modernisation requires empathy for the context in which the original system was built. Without understanding the "why" behind the legacy, resistance to change will remain high.

Virtual Lean Coffee Fishbowl: UX, DDD and BDD It all started with a tweet by John Cutler <>. And it seemed that a lot of people from these communities learned a lot from each other. And we would love to learn more about different areas of overlap....

Looking back at our Virtual Lean Coffee Fishbowl on UX, DDD, and BDD. Explore the alignment and shared goals between these communities. Rewatch the full session on our website or listen as a podcast:

Our new story on Facilitating Architecture & Design explores with @bitboss.bsky.social on "Modernizing with Respect." Discover how empathy for those behind legacy systems turns resistance into collaboration. Essential for anyone leading change. Read more: buff.ly/PuRqzMn #DDD #Architecture

We've scheduled a session! @rebeccawb.bsky.social & @mathiasverraes.bsky.social will discuss 'Critically Engaging with Models'. Learn to evaluate models and their limitations. Pre-reading their essay advised. Jan 28, 8 PM CET. buff.ly/LXXZsu2

What is an aggregate with Thomas Ploch Within the community there is been an ongoing discussion about the aggregate pattern. From Eric Evans perspective it is: An architectural pattern that enforces the consistency of a set of interrelated...

Happy New Year! Rewatch our #VDDD session with Thomas Ploch on "What is an Aggregate?". It sparked a great dialogue on this core DDD pattern. Clear up perceptions & learn how to teach it. Watch on our site: buff.ly/Zwatr5x Or listen as a podcast.

When you step into a leadership role, even unintentional misuse of power and authority can cause someone significant embarrassment and shame. Listen to @paulrayner.bsky.social talking about his experience when that happened and how he dealt with it. buff.ly/rM5OnmB

Case-study context mapping with Michael Plöd Of course, we could spend two hours talking and discussing the theory around Context Maps and the related patterns but this time around we will apply them together in practice. This VDDD meetup episode...

Missed @bitboss.bsky.social hands-on context mapping session? We applied Context Maps in practice with a case study – no slides, just valuable insights. Rewatch this VDDD meetup now:

New story on Facilitating Software Architecture & Design! @paulrayner.bsky.social shares a crucial lesson on the hidden weight of rank & unintended impact during team improvement sessions. Understand power dynamics. Read more: buff.ly/rM5OnmB

Systems Thinking Intro with Lorraine Steyn Systems thinking is the macro behaviour that we must understand in analyzing our world. A system always produces what it is designed to do, even if that isn't at all what we meant it to do! Systems ar...

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