Agile-Lean International 2020 conference

The way agile software teams gain knowledge about what to build is either by the product owner or business analyst serving as a proxy to domain knowledge. Domain knowledge usually ends up as second-hand news in either functional design documents or as user stories in some scrum tools like Jira. Second-hand knowledge is a problem because ‘It is not the domain expert’s knowledge that goes into production; it is the developer’s assumption of that knowledge that goes into production’. Because by sharing knowledge by doing the ‘telephone game’, where each time knowledge is transferred, assumptions create lies within those requirements.

Sharing knowledge is way more effective if we actively collaborate to gain new insights about the problem at hand. There are a lot of tools available to achieve it, but they have a steep learning curve, resulting in most disciplines having their own tool to model in. To solve it, we need visual collaborative modelling to learn between multiple disciplines. EventStorming is a technique that can facilitate visual collaborative modelling between the different disciplines. It is easily learned and empowers continuous knowledge sharing without the need to know a tool.

In this session, you will experience how easy it is to learn EventStorming and at the same time gain a lot of new insights about a new domain. We will facilitate a Big Picture EventStorming session where we will create groups of 20-30+ people sharing knowledge at the same time about a domain. EventStorming gives you the power to create a shared mindset and merge on your models without needing tools. You will experience how EventStorming can reduce requirements engineering from days to hours, increasing feedback, and ending up delivering the expected features.
The way agile software teams gain knowledge about what to build is either by the product owner or business analyst serving as a proxy to domain knowledge. Domain knowledge usually ends up as second-hand news in either functional design documents or as user stories in some scrum tools like Jira. Second-hand knowledge is a significant risk when building software. Each time information is transferred just like doing the telephone game, the story is changed, and people make assumptions. Because as Alberto Brandolini said: ‘It is not the domain expert’s knowledge that goes into production; it is the developer’s assumption of that knowledge that goes into production’.

Even when these stories are shared first hand, they usually are discussed sitting around a table looking at a screen showing the user stories. Addressing complex problems without visualisation is impossible for most humans to solve. Doing so resolve in making a lot of assumptions again, which will stop us from building the right thing.

Join us in this session where I will explain how visual collaborative modelling can help you write better software. Through proper preparation and facilitation, we can co-create solutions. Co-creating solutions by visual collaborative modelling make sure we have buy-in from the entire team. You will end up knowing how to start your visual collaborative modelling journey with tools like EventStorming and Example Mapping.