I have spent the last weeks moving my email and documents away from Google Workspace towards Proton and a local Nextcloud instance. I am not fully migrated yet. Looking back, I realise I had become too dependent on big US tech providers. ...

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

You can read the essay we will be debating here: wirfs-brock.com/rebecca/blog... I hope you join us for a lively discussion.

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.

Next year, we’re going to Amsterdam!! 🇳🇱 The Collaborative Software Design Workshop with @kenny.weave-it.org and @gienverschatse.com will take place on June 16 - 17 in Amsterdam and registrations are now open! 🎆 www.avanscoperta.it/en/training/...

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

Rewatch Lorraine Steyn's 'Systems Thinking Intro'. Learn how systems work, their design, and feedback loops. Essential for understanding macro behaviour. Find it on our website: buff.ly/jD4kBMq Also available as a podcast.

If you feel that your goal is to be right, then you are wrong. Listen to Kristzina talk about her experience as a facilitating architect!

Curious about alternatives to Hexagonal Architecture? Revisit our session with Thomas Pierrain & @brunoboucard.bsky.social on using a Functional Core with an Imperative Shell to protect your domain. A great live-coding demonstration. Rewatch it on our website.

There is a persistent friction in design sessions where facilitators conflate equal speaking time with equal contribution. The goal of collaborative modelling isn’t to ensure everyone speaks the same amount; it is to ensure that everyone’s knowledge is effectively placed on the table. ...

New on Virtual DDD: The cost of "the simplest thing to do". A 1-day task became an 8-month fix. Krisztina Hirth's story on architectural intervention, domain events, and letting teams learn through experience. Read more: buff.ly/clfEmYA

During a training session with tech leaders today, a familiar friction point regarding architecture decision-making surfaced. Participants consistently observed that architects operating outside the teams are perceived as controlling and micromanaging. This behaviour often stems from a paradox. ...

It has been quite an odyssey, but now it is finally here: 📣 📚 Domain-Driven Transformation: Modernize Legacy Systems and Mitigate Risk 📚 📣 In this book, Carola Lilienthal and I present our approach to transform architecturally eroded systems. domain-driven-transformation.com

A much-discussed topic within DDD is the problem and solution space. In this week's throwback session, we tried rebranding it to the Purpose and Proposal space in this multi-disciplinary panel. Curious what your thoughts are!

@suksr.bsky.social correctly points out in her book that optimising for fast flow involves assessing the current flow of change to identify potential blockers. For me, the most easiest, quick and effective way to visualise this is by using EventStorming. ...

@rebeccawb.bsky.social started inspiring me to write heuristics. Happy after all those year of small probes and work on the website we found an easy way to start sharing and talking about them! Hope to see you on our discord channel and discuss and share them.

One of the hardest thing for Architects to do is to let go when starting to facilitate. Peter Hunter his tips and story shows you are not alone. Check out our latest story!

Stop guessing. Start deciding with confidence. 4 sessions on architecture decisions at Agile meets Architecture 2026: @kenny.weave-it.org & Evelyn van Kelle : Debias your design decisions @eoinwoods.bsky.social : Renovate or rebuild? The million euro question

The research is quite clear: diverse teams produce better outcomes. In the context of software architecture and sociotechnical design, this happens because a variety of perspectives introduces necessary friction. This friction tests our models against reality before we commit them to code....

We often treat architectural decisions as purely logical processes, yet the cognitive mechanisms driving them are rarely that straightforward.

Missed @matthewskelton.com on Independent Service Heuristics? He explored this 'DDD-Lite' technique for finding service boundaries and improving flow, based on ideas from Team Topologies. Rewatch the session or listen to the podcast on our website: buff.ly/PPSSHFa

We have decided to move to Humanitix and Discord for our community events. Don't forget to follow us on Humantix, go to discord or follow our BlueSky account.

2025 book of the year for technical leaders in software, and anyone who thinks product matters

What happens when an architect disagrees with a team's decision? The first instinct is often to correct them. But perhaps the first question should be inward: "Was my advice good enough?" A new story on shifting from control to influence. Read more: buff.ly/dsMhasl

The biggest threat to your software architecture isn't always essential and technical complexity. Often, it’s "implicit ranking"—the hidden hierarchy that convinces smart people to stay silent. ...

Balancing upfront vs. iterative design requires moving from "either-or" to "both-and" thinking. In this session, an expert panel explores this classic polarity using a map to discuss trade-offs. Rewatch the video or listen to the podcast on our website.

The name you give a Bounded Context isn't just a label—it's the critical foundation that frames your entire DDD modelling conversation. Day 1 of my Domain-Driven Design training was dedicated to EventStorming and distilling Bounded Contexts using Context Mapping....

We've scheduled a fireside chat on BDD Automation Patterns with @sebrose.bsky.social & Gáspár Nagy. They'll share insights gained while co-authoring "Effective BDD" and exploring pattern authoring. 25 November, 17:00 CET. buff.ly/gnTD4X8

Elena, our first guest, tells the story of gaining their autonomy: Moving from an outside architect dictating team decisions, to finally holding the reins. She highlights her approach to dealing with the challenge of receiving only opinions when she sought advice.

Next Tuesday, we will have a new Story of Facilitating Software Architecture & Design. Until then, you can check out our latest story on Governance, where @roundcrisis.com shares her story. Find us on YouTube, every major podcast platform and our own website as a blog post: buff.ly/kixklbb

A recurring question I get about the Architecture Advice Process (AAP) is who should own the ADR when autonomy clashes with delivery. #TeamTopologies #ADR #SoftwareArchitecture #collaborativesoftwaredesign Let's take the following scenario:

Our 5th episode was @roundcrisis.com sharing a story on governance and decisions being reversed by management, which can lead to burnout and distrust....

When faced with architectural indecision, what’s the right way to move forward? Dive into the full conversation on our latest episode of "Stories on Facilitating Software Architecture and Design," and hear more insights on navigating these tricky situations. Full episode: buff.ly/N5wWqny

You want teams to take architectural decisions by facilitating but you are struck with silence or indecision. That was the story @roundcrisis.com and @andrewhl.bsky.social talked about in our latest Story on Facilitating Software Architecture & Design.

Ghost decisions can cast a long shadow, influencing everything from technology choices to team structures. Listen to our latest Story on Facilitating Software Architecture and Design to learn more buff.ly/5kb55OP

We've scheduled a new session on a common challenge: seeing the whole system beyond our own part. Trond Hjorteland will introduce systems thinking to help us gain a holistic perspective on complexity. 4 November, 08:00 (GMT+13) buff.ly/LOxeRke

Did you know that can listen to your favorite sessions and stories from virtualDDD on your favorite podcast platform on the go! Whether you're commuting, working out, or just chilling at home, you can catch up on all the insightful talks and discussions.

we are moving away from Meetup! Find us on humanitix and Discord. Hope to see you there!

A question we are often asked, but recent research shows that groups of 5-7 make more effective decisions. But how can we still include as much perspectives as possible to make better decisions?

Architecture decisions can be tough, but what if you started by deciding on the process itself? One approach is to document decisions using Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) and review them weekly. This not only builds the -->

What if you could ditch the prepared slides and adapt your talk to the audience in real time? That's what I got to experiment with yesterday at the Frontify software talks meetup in St. Gallen. My talk was about technical leadership and facilitating better architectural decision-making. Instead ->

@nick-tune.me should we start calling ourselves a legacy software therapist when we do architectural modernization?

We're thinking about organising another Virtual DDD open space around November or December. If you've never joined us, check the info on our website. We are curious when would be the best day and time to plan these, so let us know in the comments, and join our Discord buff.ly/BMBViYr

The second episode of our new series on Stories on Facilitating Software Architecture and Design is out!

I'm looking forward to speaking at the Software Talks meetup at Frontify in St Gallen near Zurich this Thursday. Being back in Switzerland is always a pleasure and I will be talking about Technical Leadership for Architectural Decision Making. Too often, architectural discussions turn -->

Back in a training session today with @evelynvankelle.bsky.social, talking about the book @gienverschatse.com, she, and I co-authored. Today was all about what surfaces when we tackle software design and architecture challenges. A big part of that is resistance. If we want to make sustainable -->

@evelynvankelle.bsky.social and @kenny.weave-it.org discuss how a lot of what's going on in a team is like the unseen part of an iceberg. We only see the surface—the ideas being shared—but beneath the waterline are individual perceptions, emotions, and disagreements.

We've been putting some much-needed love into our virtual DDD community! We're evolving beyond just Domain-Driven Design to become the worldwide online community for designing software to solve complex business problems, organised in a decentralised way. -->

Bridge business needs and IT solutions! @kenny.weave-it.org & Evelyn Van Kelle share facilitation techniques for sustainable design. Watch their talk now and subscribe for more on collaborative design! youtu.be/xOHax5k_wJo #AmABerlin

Software development isn’t just about writing code; it’s about understanding the problem you're solving. A while ago @gienverschatse.com and @kenny.weave-it.org went on the Software Testing Unleashed podcast, hosted by @richard-seidl.com.