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“Everything in software architecture is a trade-off.” - First Law of Software Architecture
“Why is more important than how.” - Second Law of Software Architecture
– Neal Ford & Mark Richards
Exposition
The challenge at O'Reilly's Architectural Katas event was to execute on a novel idea from Diversity Cyber Council. The ask was to build a centralized coalition of nonprofits to enable under-represented groups’ progress in their careers.
What followed was an incredible synergy among team members to put together an architectural proposal for a platform.
Where did it all lead?
A final presentation to build the narrative-arc.
Anxiousness within the team during the announcement of top five teams.
A sense of hopelessness when the team’s name didn’t come up and second place was announced…
Resolution
Drum roll please… and finally, the announcement. First place to PegasuZ from Zemoso Labs.
That was our journey in a nutshell at the recent Architectural Katas event organized by O'Reilly Media. From an honorable mention in 2021 to first place in 2022 validated Zemoso’s zero-to-one product development methodologies in a forum of notable people, who were also the judges of the event, from the software industry (including Neal Ford, Jacqui Read, Lukasz Dynowski and David Bock).
For those wondering what Architectural Katas are and why I am bragging so much about this success, checkout Honorable Mention at O’Rreilly’s Architectural Katas — April 2021.
O’Rreilly gave us a real-world green field project, to create the Spotlight Platform, an initiative by Diversity Cyber Council (DCC). DCC is a non-profit serving the under-represented demographics in the tech industry by facilitating education, training, and staffing opportunities. The platform intends to:
1. Build a centralized coalition of non-profit organizations.
2. Bring visibility of non-profit offerings to underrepresented groups.
We received a set of requirements. The team derived some of them from exploring and understanding the domain. We analyzed the requirements and arrived at the non-functional requirements (NFRs).
We applied design thinking methodologies to empathize and research user personals to ensure usability of the platform. This included creating user journeys, the Google Ventures Golden Path, and screen mockups.
The team identified the aggregates (entities in the system) by performing event storming and actor-action approach. Then we grouped the aggregates based on cohesion to identify services. We then grouped the services based on synchronous connascence to identify quanta.
Side note: If you would like to build more familiarity with connascence and quanta, check out Chapter 7 of Fundamentals of Software Architecture by Mark Richards and Neal Ford. And, the repo of the proposal.
We assigned the services in each quantum responsibilities and identified the driving architectural characteristics. We then picked the top three characteristics and derived the architectural style(s) for the particular quantum using the worksheet provided by Mark Richards. Checkout this page for an example.
Then, we created a logical architecture diagram showcasing the high level functionalities of the platform, and an in-depth component architecture diagram with all the quanta put together.
We created several architectural decision records, documenting why certain decisions were made and why certain pieces of the architecture were there the way they were.
Given our experience with dealing with ambiguity in product engineering projects and successful product launch experiences, Zemoso team also proposed an MVP version of the platform to help DCC evaluate viability quickly. We also recommended some engineering practices which would help build the platform efficiently.
With that, we submitted for Round 1.
The O'Reilly judges evaluated 52 submissions. PegasuZ was one of the eight semi-finalists.
Then, the team addressed the feedback provided by the judges and further polished the above solution until it shone (literally!).
We presented the whole solution to the panel of judges in under 5 minutes, using our expertise in working with time-pressed founding teams. We used Prezi to present the solution and engage the audience better in a remote environment.
For more details on the architectural proposal, checkout this github repo.
The judges raved about the proposal made by Team PegasuZ and felt that the overall solution was pragmatic, complete, clean, and coherent. Here’s a quick look at some of the highlights from the judges:
● “Never give up” attitude of the team
● Setting the ubiquitous language right upfront
● Keep the business and end-users at the core of the solution
● Detailed market analysis early-on to fill the gaps in business requirements
● Apply design thinking to empathize with all the user personas.
● Analysis of the requirements to derive non-functional requirements
● Create and deliver the architectural quanta and the architectural style coherently
● ADRs - Build vs Buy and API standard
● Suggestions on engineering best practices like Twelve Factor app.
● The way the story was conveyed in the final presentation by following narrative-arc techniques.
Okay! We’ll stop bragging now. But we’ll leave you with what Lukasz had to say,
To learn more about your engineering best practices, follow us on Linkedin
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“Everything in software architecture is a trade-off.” - First Law of Software Architecture
“Why is more important than how.” - Second Law of Software Architecture
– Neal Ford & Mark Richards
Exposition
The challenge at O'Reilly's Architectural Katas event was to execute on a novel idea from Diversity Cyber Council. The ask was to build a centralized coalition of nonprofits to enable under-represented groups’ progress in their careers.
What followed was an incredible synergy among team members to put together an architectural proposal for a platform.
Where did it all lead?
A final presentation to build the narrative-arc.
Anxiousness within the team during the announcement of top five teams.
A sense of hopelessness when the team’s name didn’t come up and second place was announced…
Resolution
Drum roll please… and finally, the announcement. First place to PegasuZ from Zemoso Labs.
That was our journey in a nutshell at the recent Architectural Katas event organized by O'Reilly Media. From an honorable mention in 2021 to first place in 2022 validated Zemoso’s zero-to-one product development methodologies in a forum of notable people, who were also the judges of the event, from the software industry (including Neal Ford, Jacqui Read, Lukasz Dynowski and David Bock).
For those wondering what Architectural Katas are and why I am bragging so much about this success, checkout Honorable Mention at O’Rreilly’s Architectural Katas — April 2021.
O’Rreilly gave us a real-world green field project, to create the Spotlight Platform, an initiative by Diversity Cyber Council (DCC). DCC is a non-profit serving the under-represented demographics in the tech industry by facilitating education, training, and staffing opportunities. The platform intends to:
1. Build a centralized coalition of non-profit organizations.
2. Bring visibility of non-profit offerings to underrepresented groups.
We received a set of requirements. The team derived some of them from exploring and understanding the domain. We analyzed the requirements and arrived at the non-functional requirements (NFRs).
We applied design thinking methodologies to empathize and research user personals to ensure usability of the platform. This included creating user journeys, the Google Ventures Golden Path, and screen mockups.
The team identified the aggregates (entities in the system) by performing event storming and actor-action approach. Then we grouped the aggregates based on cohesion to identify services. We then grouped the services based on synchronous connascence to identify quanta.
Side note: If you would like to build more familiarity with connascence and quanta, check out Chapter 7 of Fundamentals of Software Architecture by Mark Richards and Neal Ford. And, the repo of the proposal.
We assigned the services in each quantum responsibilities and identified the driving architectural characteristics. We then picked the top three characteristics and derived the architectural style(s) for the particular quantum using the worksheet provided by Mark Richards. Checkout this page for an example.
Then, we created a logical architecture diagram showcasing the high level functionalities of the platform, and an in-depth component architecture diagram with all the quanta put together.
We created several architectural decision records, documenting why certain decisions were made and why certain pieces of the architecture were there the way they were.
Given our experience with dealing with ambiguity in product engineering projects and successful product launch experiences, Zemoso team also proposed an MVP version of the platform to help DCC evaluate viability quickly. We also recommended some engineering practices which would help build the platform efficiently.
With that, we submitted for Round 1.
The O'Reilly judges evaluated 52 submissions. PegasuZ was one of the eight semi-finalists.
Then, the team addressed the feedback provided by the judges and further polished the above solution until it shone (literally!).
We presented the whole solution to the panel of judges in under 5 minutes, using our expertise in working with time-pressed founding teams. We used Prezi to present the solution and engage the audience better in a remote environment.
For more details on the architectural proposal, checkout this github repo.
The judges raved about the proposal made by Team PegasuZ and felt that the overall solution was pragmatic, complete, clean, and coherent. Here’s a quick look at some of the highlights from the judges:
● “Never give up” attitude of the team
● Setting the ubiquitous language right upfront
● Keep the business and end-users at the core of the solution
● Detailed market analysis early-on to fill the gaps in business requirements
● Apply design thinking to empathize with all the user personas.
● Analysis of the requirements to derive non-functional requirements
● Create and deliver the architectural quanta and the architectural style coherently
● ADRs - Build vs Buy and API standard
● Suggestions on engineering best practices like Twelve Factor app.
● The way the story was conveyed in the final presentation by following narrative-arc techniques.
Okay! We’ll stop bragging now. But we’ll leave you with what Lukasz had to say,
To learn more about your engineering best practices, follow us on Linkedin
“Everything in software architecture is a trade-off.” - First Law of Software Architecture
“Why is more important than how.” - Second Law of Software Architecture
– Neal Ford & Mark Richards
Exposition
The challenge at O'Reilly's Architectural Katas event was to execute on a novel idea from Diversity Cyber Council. The ask was to build a centralized coalition of nonprofits to enable under-represented groups’ progress in their careers.
What followed was an incredible synergy among team members to put together an architectural proposal for a platform.
Where did it all lead?
A final presentation to build the narrative-arc.
Anxiousness within the team during the announcement of top five teams.
A sense of hopelessness when the team’s name didn’t come up and second place was announced…
Resolution
Drum roll please… and finally, the announcement. First place to PegasuZ from Zemoso Labs.
That was our journey in a nutshell at the recent Architectural Katas event organized by O'Reilly Media. From an honorable mention in 2021 to first place in 2022 validated Zemoso’s zero-to-one product development methodologies in a forum of notable people, who were also the judges of the event, from the software industry (including Neal Ford, Jacqui Read, Lukasz Dynowski and David Bock).
For those wondering what Architectural Katas are and why I am bragging so much about this success, checkout Honorable Mention at O’Rreilly’s Architectural Katas — April 2021.
O’Rreilly gave us a real-world green field project, to create the Spotlight Platform, an initiative by Diversity Cyber Council (DCC). DCC is a non-profit serving the under-represented demographics in the tech industry by facilitating education, training, and staffing opportunities. The platform intends to:
1. Build a centralized coalition of non-profit organizations.
2. Bring visibility of non-profit offerings to underrepresented groups.
We received a set of requirements. The team derived some of them from exploring and understanding the domain. We analyzed the requirements and arrived at the non-functional requirements (NFRs).
We applied design thinking methodologies to empathize and research user personals to ensure usability of the platform. This included creating user journeys, the Google Ventures Golden Path, and screen mockups.
The team identified the aggregates (entities in the system) by performing event storming and actor-action approach. Then we grouped the aggregates based on cohesion to identify services. We then grouped the services based on synchronous connascence to identify quanta.
Side note: If you would like to build more familiarity with connascence and quanta, check out Chapter 7 of Fundamentals of Software Architecture by Mark Richards and Neal Ford. And, the repo of the proposal.
We assigned the services in each quantum responsibilities and identified the driving architectural characteristics. We then picked the top three characteristics and derived the architectural style(s) for the particular quantum using the worksheet provided by Mark Richards. Checkout this page for an example.
Then, we created a logical architecture diagram showcasing the high level functionalities of the platform, and an in-depth component architecture diagram with all the quanta put together.
We created several architectural decision records, documenting why certain decisions were made and why certain pieces of the architecture were there the way they were.
Given our experience with dealing with ambiguity in product engineering projects and successful product launch experiences, Zemoso team also proposed an MVP version of the platform to help DCC evaluate viability quickly. We also recommended some engineering practices which would help build the platform efficiently.
With that, we submitted for Round 1.
The O'Reilly judges evaluated 52 submissions. PegasuZ was one of the eight semi-finalists.
Then, the team addressed the feedback provided by the judges and further polished the above solution until it shone (literally!).
We presented the whole solution to the panel of judges in under 5 minutes, using our expertise in working with time-pressed founding teams. We used Prezi to present the solution and engage the audience better in a remote environment.
For more details on the architectural proposal, checkout this github repo.
The judges raved about the proposal made by Team PegasuZ and felt that the overall solution was pragmatic, complete, clean, and coherent. Here’s a quick look at some of the highlights from the judges:
● “Never give up” attitude of the team
● Setting the ubiquitous language right upfront
● Keep the business and end-users at the core of the solution
● Detailed market analysis early-on to fill the gaps in business requirements
● Apply design thinking to empathize with all the user personas.
● Analysis of the requirements to derive non-functional requirements
● Create and deliver the architectural quanta and the architectural style coherently
● ADRs - Build vs Buy and API standard
● Suggestions on engineering best practices like Twelve Factor app.
● The way the story was conveyed in the final presentation by following narrative-arc techniques.
Okay! We’ll stop bragging now. But we’ll leave you with what Lukasz had to say,
To learn more about your engineering best practices, follow us on Linkedin
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