Collaborative Software Design: How to facilitate domain modeling decisions

Collaborative Software Design:
How to facilitate domain modelling decisions
@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Photo by Agnieszka Ziomek on Unsplash

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
What is happening at BigScreen?
Photo by Felix Mooneeram on Unsplash

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
business logic
(back-
end)
Ticketing
Back-
office
Big ball of mud
Used internally by BigScreen
to schedule movies, create
events, etc.
Used by BigScreen's customers to
purchase tickets.
reservation code
A wild Big ball of mud appeared!

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Sorry, we can't do that right
now.
We would like to
extend movies
Features take longer and longer, or to
expensive to implement, or not possible at all!

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
They said it wasn't
possible... AGAIN
When will we get the
new feature?
Frustrations and polarisation

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
I had to say "we can't do
that right now", AGAIN
How was the meeting?
For everyone....

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
@kenny_baas
@EvelynvanKelle
@selketjah

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
collaborative modelling
"a visualization technique to analyze complex and conflict-
laden decision-
making
processes with all relevant stakeholders and decision-
makers
to create a shared understanding."

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
THE 6 STAGES OF Collaborative modeling
Collaborative modeling session
PREP
Check-in
Check-out
retrospective
COMMUNICATING
AND
DOCUMENTATION
CONVERGING
DIVERGING
modeling with TOOLS
1
2
3
4
5
6
The 6 stages of collaborative modelling

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
What problems do you face when
doing Collaborative modelling?
Photo by Van Tay Media on Unsplash

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
What happens during modelling?
Consciousness
of the group
"Shadowland"
Unconsciousness
of the group
I feel
uncomfortable
speaking up
How is my cat
doing?
Why is nobody
LISTENING!
I feel sooo
stupid in this
room
My Idea is
better
Shouldn't we
start coding
now?
We have been
over this 4
times now...
Those are not the right
boundaries at all...
I think we should dive
deeper into the domain
When that happens, we
can get DDOS'd
What do we
need to do?
This is not a Domain
Event!

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
The influence of ranking
The impact and opportunities of
cognitive bias
Resistance and conflict resolution
Managing unsolvable problems
Making sustainable design decisions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Agenda

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
The influence of ranking
Once upon a Big Picture
Eventstorming at BigScreen....

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Ranking theory
"Shadowland"
Unconsciousness
of the group
Why are people quiet, I
give them all the space to
speak up
I feel sooo
stupid in this
room
I will just put my idea out,
so other people can shoot
on it
In my previous
job, we did it
different
can get DDOS'd
She is quiet because
she probably doesn't
understand
This is not a Domain
Event!
I just let them talk first,
before I make the
decision for them
I am new here, let
me just first listen

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Symbolic violence is the invisible forms of power that
manifest in everyday practices, language, and cultural
norms (Shadowlands), leading individuals to accept and
internalize their social status and the dominance of more
powerful groups.
Photo by Tomas Martinez on Unsplash

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Own your rank:
Recognize and take responsibility for your personal power,
privileges, and biases.
Play your rank:
Actively navigating and utilizing one's position or status,
understanding its fluidity, and influencing interpersonal dynamics
through subtle non-
verbal behaviors and interactions.
Share your rank
Using your position, power, or privilege to amplify marginalized
voices and ensure that all perspectives are considered.
Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
The impact and opportunities
of cognitive bias
Once upon an Example Mapping at BigScreen
Reserving
seats
A
B
C
A
B
C
Only 1 ticket
per seat
Only adjacent
seating per row
Max 8 seats
per customer
Given red are allocated
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
When we allocated Seats of 2
Then Green seats will be allocated
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Then No Allocations Found
The one were 9 Tickets are
Requested
Then Too Many Tickets
Requested
The one were 8 Tickets
are Requested
Then we allocate seats
A
B
C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Given Red are ReservedSeats
A
B
C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Then No adjacent Allocations Found
No Orphan
Seats
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Orphan seats
when no other
possibility
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Then either one of the Green seats can
allocated
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Then either one of the Green seats can
allocated
No adjacent
seats over
corridor
A
B
C
1
A
B
C
1
A
B
C
1
A
B
C
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
A
B
C
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Then No adjacent Allocations Found
A
B
C
1

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment
Cognitive bias

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Being aware of a cognitive bias
has little to no effect
You cannot overcome a bias, just
reduce it's impact
1.
2.

www.schwab.com
Choiceology
Wharton professor Katy Milkman shares
true stories involving high-stakes
moments, and explores the latest
research to help you make better
judgments and avoid costly mistakes.
A lot of....

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
A nudge is a subtle intervention or design choice that
influences people's decisions and behaviors in a predictable
way, without forbidding any options or significantly changing
their economic incentives.
Have you been nudged? - https://www.bbc.com/news/business-41549533

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Functional Fixedness impacts creativity. It’s about getting stuck in what we
know, and it hinders us from taking on new perspectives to solve problems.
Nudge: Model it wrong!
Bandwagon effect describes the tendency of people to adopt certain
behaviour or decisions just because others are doing it.
Nudge: Run through the session beforehand
with a few people or the whole team.
Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Resistance and conflict resolution
Once upon a Domain Storytelling
at BigScreen....

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
https://www.eventstore.com/blog/when-
to-
go-
from-
collaborative-
modelling-
to-
coding-
part-2
a conflict is a difference of opinion
between two or more people.
What is a conflict

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Influenced by Deep Democracy lvl 5 by Human Dimension - Frank Weijers
Constructive conflict is a healthy, positive disagreement between two
or more individuals or groups that leads to better decision-
making
Destructive conflict is a negative form of disagreement that hinders
decision-
making. There are two forms:
Conflict avoidance
Polarised conflicts
1.
2.
Constructive vs destructive conflict

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
What happens with conflict avoidance
Consciousness
of the group
"Shadowland"
Unconsciousness
of the group
I feel
uncomfortable
speaking up
How is my cat
doing?
Why is nobody
LISTENING!
I feel sooo
stupid in this
room
My Idea is
better
Shouldn't we
start coding
now?
We have been
over this 4
times now...
can get DDOS'd
What do we
need to do?
Edge
Behaviour

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
More time
Inefficiency
Identification
Observing resistance

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Photo by NASA on Unsplash
Climate Report:
The climate report can be seen as a way to "take the
temperature" of the group.
Do an intervention to the group (never the individual) by
sharing the patterns you observed in the group,
in a factual way!

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Role Theory
In the context of Deep Democracy and Arnold Mindell's process-
oriented psychology, a
"role" refers to a particular pattern of behaviour, feeling, or perspective that emerges within
a group or system.
Confused
Annoyed
Curious
Optimistic
Excited
Tired
Stressed
Alone
Distracted
Engaged
Engaged
Confused
Optimistic
Silent
Role is bigger than a Person
If someone is confused, mostly likely
others are as well
A person is more than the Role
Someone is not only silent, but more..!

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
We need to feel safe enough to be uncomfortable;
knowing that we can make it to the other side of the
discussion or conflict.
-- Gitte Klitgaard
Unsafe
Uncomfortable
nerve-
wracking
tense
Comfortable
Influenced by Deep Democracy lvl 5 by Human Dimension - Frank Weijers
Psychological safety

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
If someone expresses a need (not a position/solution)
make that need fluid in the group.
- Ask who else can roughly relate to being confused?
- Ask who sees it different?

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Photo by Nong on Unsplash
Start collaborative modelling with a check-
in
Make sure you ask questions to probe needs, find perspectives
and put the focus on the topic of the session.
You can use Impromptu networking liberating structure to do so,
in the end ask: "what did you here from the people you talked to?"

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Planning
and
scheduling
Movie
visitor
Publish
weekly
schedule
Search
for
movies
Pick a
movie
screening
Select
number
of tickets
Choosing
seats
Paying
for
tickets
Receive
tickets
back-
office Ticketing
Back-
end
Database
weekly
schedule
planning
page
weekly
schedule
weekly
schedule
page
Movie
screening
page
movies
pages
movies
seat
picker
payment
Tickets
page
Cinema
rooms
Ticket
reservation
Payment
Payment
provider
reservation
Ticket
pricing
plannable
movie
planned
movie
reservations
Tight
coupling
Tight
coupling
Tight
coupling
Seat
allocation is
somewhere
here
Managing unsolvable problems
Once upon an User needs mapping
at BigScreen....

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
an ongoing issue or challenge that has no clear
solution in terms of picking one of two sides.
polarity

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Positive effect from 100% side L Positive effect from 100% side R
Negative effect from 100% side R
Negative effect from 100% side L
Polarity map - Barry Johnson
Solution oriented modeling
Concealed modeling
WIDE
Actions/heuristics
Signals/observations Signals/observations
Actions/heuristics
DEEP
Verifying
assumptions
Understanding
the details
See
connections
within a
system
Designing
towards
solutions
A lot of
assumptions
Unknown
details
Stuck in
problem
space
Don't see
connections
within a
system
Good starting
point for
adding
knowledge
See
connections
between
systems
Everyone
can
contribute
breaking
down
knowledge
silos
No bigger
picture
present to add
knowledge to
No good
overview of
connections
between
systems
Active
participation is
limited to the
people with the
deeper
knowledge
no cross-
silo
knowledge
asking
clarifying
questions
no movement
of stickies
and/or people
...
Zooming out
because it is
too difficult
Participants
say they
already know
how it works
Asking "but
how is that
different
from ...?"
...
Asking "but
how would
that work
in code?"
Solve a
hotspot
Pick a domain
concept and
model it from
different
perspectives
...
Add failure
paths to
the Big
Picture
Add
another
scenario to
model
Pick a
different
actor to
model
...
Brainstorm
what is
missing
Narrow
understanding
Danger of
creating wrong
models/abstra
cting
Understanding
the whole
system
Visualizing
ambiguity

www.eventstore.com
When to go from
collaborative modelling
to coding? Part 1
Kenny Baas-Schwegler, Evelyn van Kelle
and Gien Verschatse talk about Event
Modelling and when to make the leap
from collaboration to coding in Part one.
Polarity mapping

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Making sustainable design decisions
Back-
office
Ticket purchase
Back-
office
Ticketing
User interface
Ticket purchase
Back-
office
Payments
Ticketing
User interface
Movie schedule
Movie schedule
Pricing and Payments
Seat allocation
visitor reservations
Once upon a distilling bounded context
at BigScreen....
Domain boundary Bounded context
Legend

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
If a decision is made ask to the people that weren't in favour of
that option what it takes for them to go along
Decide to add it to the decision

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Autocratic decision making
Democratic decision making
Idea
Suggestion
Proposal
Command
Lower buy-in
Higher buy-in
Decision made
Mainly about informing
Only serious objections
Intentions are clear
Insights are welcome
Fully open question
Group of people who helps generate
and analyse options
Levels of buy-
in

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Sustainable design decisions
Sociotechnical System - from https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Sociotechnical-
system-
STS-
4_fig2_306242078
Sustainable design decisions are decisions that
consider the sociotechnical impact of the
alternatives. After designing and analysing the
alternatives, you pick the one that gives you the
best sociotechnical trade-
off with the information
that is available. You create a feedback loop into
your design process to improve it along the way.
Over time, you will find yourself making decisions in
a similar way. This is when your decisions become
sustainable.

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Consciousness
of the group
"Shadowlands"
Unconsciousness
of the group
Own, play and share your rank
Use nudges to reduce the impact of bias
Create role fluidity by focussing on perceptions and needs
Explicitly manage polarities the group is dealing with
Ask people what it takes to come along with a decision
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Summary

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
Photo by kazuend on Unsplash
The outcome of our collaborative modelling
is shaped by each participant.
Remember, facilitation is a role, not a title.
Everyone has the potential to guide and influence.

View Slide

@kenny_baas
@[email protected]
kenny@weave-
it.org - weave-
it.org
Get the book here
Leave the judging to the cats!

View Slide

Collaborative Software Design: How to facilitate domain modeling decisions

Collaborative Software Design: How to facilitate domain modeling decisions

Kenny Baas-Schwegler

More Decks by Kenny Baas-Schwegler

Other Decks in Technology

Featured

Transcript