Domain Storytelling

Stefan Hofer holds a PhD in computer science, and maintains domainstorytelling.org, the home of the Domain Storytelling community. Since 2005, he has worked for WPS-Workplace Solutions, helping teams develop software that does the right job the right way. Henning Schwentner, programmer, coach, and consultant for WPS-Workplace Solutions, helps teams structure existing software and build new systems with more sustainable architectures. He wrote LeasingNinja.io and translated Domain-Driven Design Distilled into German.

• List of Domain Stories xvSeries Editor Foreword xviiForeword xxiPreface xxiiiAcknowledgments xxxiAbout the Authors xxxiii Part I: Domain Storytelling Explained 1Chapter 1: Introduction 3 What Is Domain Storytelling? 3 Your First Domain Story 5 Chapter 2: The Pictographic Language 15 Actors 16 Work Objects 16 Activities 18 Sequence Numbers 18 Annotations 19 Modeling Canvas 20 Groups 22 Colors 24 No Conditionals 25 Putting It All Together 26 A Grammar for Domain Stories 27 Good Language Style 31 Chapter 3: Scenario-Based Modeling 37 What Are Scenarios? 37 Scenarios in Domain Storytelling 39 Concrete Examples as Scenarios 43 Keeping an Overview 43 Chapter 4: Scope 45 Granularity 45 Point in Time (As-Is vs. To-Be) 48 Domain Purity (Pure vs. Digitalized) 49 Combining the Scope Factors: A Typical Journey 51 Chapter 5: Modeling Tools 55 Modeling on Paper or Boards 55 Modeling with Software Tools 60 Choosing a Tool 63 Chapter 6: The Workshop Format 67 Before the Workshop 68 The Workshop 72 After the Workshop 79 To-Be Workshops 80 Remote Workshops 82 The Moderator 83 The Modeler as Separate Role 85 Moderated Mode vs. Co-Op Mode 85 Chapter 7: Relationship to Other Modeling Methods 87 Domain-Driven Design 87 EventStorming 89 User Story Mapping 91 Example Mapping 93 Storystorming 95 Use Cases 98 UML 99 BPMN 100 Summary 101 Part II: Using and Adapting Domain Storytelling for Different Purposes 103Chapter 8: Case Study--Alphorn Auto Leasing Inc. 105 Explore Alphorn--The Domain as a Whole 106 Drill Down into Risk Assessment--Understanding an Important Subdomain 108 Clear Up Risk Assessment--Avoid Technical Jargon 109 Optimize Risk Assessment--The To-Be Process 111 Introduce New Software--Combine Business Processes with IT Support 111 Summary 112 Chapter 9: Learning Domain Language 115 Speaking and Listening to Understand Each Other 117 Organizations Speak Many Domain Languages 122 Using Natural Languages 124 Lost in Translation 126 What to Read Next? 126 Chapter 10: Finding Boundaries 129 The Joy of Multiple Models 131 A Heuristic for Finding Subdomains 132 From Subdomains to Bounded Contexts 138 From Context Boundaries to Team Boundaries 141 What to Read Next? 142 Chapter 11: Working with Requirements 145 Software Development as a Series of Conversations 148 From Domain Stories to Requirements 149 Adapt the Recipe 158 Limitations 158 What to Read Next? 159 Chapter 12: Modeling in Code 161 From Domain Stories to Domain Model 163 Implementing the Domain Model 170 What to Read Next? 179 Chapter 13: Supporting Organizational Change 181 Changing People's Workflows 183 Digitalizing Work 188 What to Read Next? 191 Chapter 14: Deciding Make or Buy and Choosing Off-the-Shelf Software 193 Understand the Processes of Off-the-Shelf Solutions 196 What to Read Next? 201 Chapter 15: Finding Shadow IT 203 Not Only Software Developers Develop Software 205 Making Hidden Software Systems Visible 205 What to Read Next? 209 Chapter 16: Conclusion 211 The Future of Domain Storytelling 211 The Essence of Domain Storytelling 212 Appendix: The History of Domain Storytelling 213 Glossary 219Bibliography 221Index 229

"This book provides a wonderful introduction to an approachable, structured, narrative-based technique for collaborative domain modeling. And for those wanting to go deeper, Stefan and Henning will help you not only to avoid common facilitation pitfalls, but also to integrate the domain knowledge into your everyday development work." --Paul Rayner, author of The EventStorming Handbook "This book is destined to be the definitive resource on Domain Storytelling for many years." --Mike Cohn, co-founder of the Agile Alliance "Until now, when people talk about visualization, they usually mean 'words in boxes on a whiteboard.' Representing the user's needs and journeys has been somewhat awkward, with either long form descriptions or series of wireframes. What Stefan and Henning have achieved is a method that shows what's really happening. A Domain Storytelling model shows who's doing what with whom, in what order, and for what purpose, in a clear, truly visual way. It's easy enough to learn how to build these models, but more importantly, an uninitiated reader can understand and critique the models at first sight. That makes Domain Storytelling a powerful communication tool that I believe will become widely used in software product companies and beyond." --Mathias Verraes, curator of Domain-Driven Design Europe "This is a great addition to any Domain-Driven Design practitioner's bookshelf." --Julie Lerman, software coach, The Data Farm "All organizations are being disrupted through the rapid advance of change, and my job is to teach people how to apply the Kanban method in their business life. In that context we use Domain Storytelling while exploring and extracting value streams in organizations in a very successful way. With their book, Stefan Hofer and Henning Schwentner explain how collaboration can and does lead the way to transforming our ways of working." --Altuğ Bilgin Altıntaş, business agility engineer, accredited Kanban trainer & coach, author of Kanban Metodu ile Çeviklik, co-organizer of FlowConf "This book is a rare achievement, combining a pragmatic guide to a powerful domain modeling technique and a wealth of distilled insights from key aspects of Domain-Driven Design, without being a tome. The authors present a convincing case that conversational stories told and visualized in a natural language pave the fastest path to quality business software. Be prepared for fingers itching to start your own Domain Storytelling while reading the well-curated case studies." --Xin Yao, chief software architect at Danske Bank "Practicing Domain Storytelling is a journey towards deep and true understanding of the problem domain you are working on. While discovering subtle inner workings of the business, be prepared for some unexpected solutions to reveal themselves along the way. This book will put you in a position to embark on that journey on your own and will guide you along the way." --Mufrid Krilic, DDD and Domain Storytelling practitioner "Domain Storytelling served as a key bridge between our business, products, and technology stacks, and between our past to our future. Using the practice, everyone who participated—from P&L and Operations team leaders to individual engineers and product leads—levelled-up their understanding of where we intended (and needed) to take the business, aligned with each other, and understood how crossfunctional product and engineering teams would function within the relevant bounded contexts that collectively represented our future business model. And many (even most!) found it a fun and liberating process. "Domain Storytelling is a practical methodology rooted in the language and context of customers and business, so accessible and valuable to cross-functions (not just engineering) within your business. I recommend the book and, more importantly, the methodology!" --Jim Banister, chief product officer, Raisin DS GmbH "As a product manager I really love visualization. Domain Storytelling was one of the techniques I met at the very beginning of my Domain-Driven Design journey (in 2017). I was impressed, amazed, and at the same time surprised in a very positive way that this is exactly what is needed by someone who facilitates the communication between development teams and business. It is very easy to learn and focuses on the pictographic language that makes it possible for literally everyone to understand and take advantage of. I would recommend using it immediately; don't think too much, just start and go with the flow! Believe me it will be worth it. :)" --Zsófia Herendi, product manager