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Domain Storytelling: A Collaborative, Visual, and Agile Way to Build Domain-Driven Software, 1st edition

Published by Addison-Wesley Professional (September 7, 2021) © 2022

  • Stefan Hofer
  • Henning Schwentner

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Storytelling is at the heart of human communication--why not use it to overcome costly misunderstandings when designing software? By telling and visualising stories, domain experts and team members make business processes and domain knowledge tangible. Domain Storytelling enables everyone to understand the relevant people, activities, and work items. With this guide, the method's inventors explain how domain experts and teams can work together to capture insights with simple pictographs, show their work, solicit feedback, and get everyone on the same page.
Stefan Hofer and Henning Schwentner introduce the methods easy pictographic language, scenario-based modeling techniques, workshop format, and relationship to other modeling methods. Using step-by-step case studies, they guide you through solving many common problems:
  • Fully align all project participants and stakeholders, both technical and business-focused
  • Master a simple set of symbols and rules for modeling any process or workflow
  • Use workshop-based collaborative modeling to find better solutions faster
  • Draw clear boundaries to organise your domain, software, and teams
  • Transform domain knowledge into requirements, embedded naturally into an agile process
  • Move your models from diagrams and sticky notes to code
  • Gain better visibility into your IT landscape so you can consolidate or optimise it
This guide is for everyone who wants more effective software--from developers, architects, and team leads to the domain experts, product owners, and executives who rely on it every day.

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List of Domain Stories xv
Series Editor Foreword xvii
Foreword xxi
Preface xxiii
Acknowledgments xxxi
About the Authors xxxiii

Part I: Domain Storytelling Explained 1

Chapter 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 103

Chapter 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 219
Bibliography 221
Index 229
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.

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