Co-designs

From high level Architecture to Solution Design by working collaboratively

Co-construct the design of the solutions / solution architecture in order to :

• Guarantee the quality of the deliverables

• Be more confident on the Solution we design → "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." - African proverb

• Their compliance with the expectations of the various technical stakeholders (Security, Ops, DB experts, ...)

Who ?

Required

• Tech leads / team members from the teams concerned by the High Level Architecture

• At least 1 member of the Architecture team

• 1 facilitator

Optional

Regarding the topics other people can have a real added value :

• Other teams representatives concerned by the High Level Architecture

• Enterprise Architects

• Ops

• Security

• Domain experts

• Other technical experts

What ?

For each new big feature, bring together the team that will work on the topic as well as the technical experts in order to co-construct the future solution including for example :

• Definition of the Architecture Characteristics (Non Functional Requirements)

  • Based on business needs

• Definition of the expected logs / monitoring solution

• Definition of the integrations

• Data models

• Taking into account infrastructure and security constraints

• ...

How ?

• Prepare the session :

  • Define the subject (the need)

  • Define the objective (the solution)

  • Prepare something to "break"

    • It can be draft of diagrams on a white-board for example

  • Identify who must / need to be there during the session

• A session is ready when it respects the Definition Of Ready (DOR)

  • In a DOR you could find : Business capabilities concerned, Draft of API contract, Collaboration diagram depending on the topic of the session

Outcomes

• ADR (Architecture Decision Record)

  • Explaining which decisions have been taken and why

• Diagrams drawn and agreed during the session

  • Serve as an input for the Solution Design

• Update of the Tech-radar (add something in Assess for example)

Pros

• Tackle complex problems in small sessions

  • You have all the brilliant mind in the same space to solve the problems

• Shorten feedback loops

• Increase organizational Knowledge Sharing