Anatomy of Communication

In it's essence, DDD (Domain-Driven Design) is a philosophy and set of techniques for constructing a shared mental model of a system, and translating it into software. Ideally, we want conversations with other humans, and conversations with our code, to have the highest possible bandwidth. Every major problem in software development boils down to communication.

What if we enabled a dialog around the challenges, by first deconstructing the Anatomy of Communication itself using our same DDD techniques?

First, we'll start with a familiar system metaphor to give us the structure: a Network.

Imagine everyone on your team, and the software itself, are all connected by wires in a Network. Along each of these wires is a Flow of Ideas. Ideas can flow between humans, or between humans and the software. In the context of an Idea Flow Network, software is a medium for ideas.

From here, we can start to describe the dynamics of an Idea Flow Network in terms of Friction and Flow. We can invent new words, extend the models, and have dialogs about the nature of communication pain – all with our newly invented Ubiquitous Language!

In this session, we'll combine our DDD skills with cognitive science research, to bring clarity and insight to this wordless space.

About Arty Starr

Arty Starr is a recognized Flow Experience expert, researcher, speaker and thought leader, and author of Idea Flow, how to measure the friction in software development. Arty's PhD research is developing a theory of momentum in software development, and she is creator of the FLOWS platform designed to help developers thrive and find joy through more time in the flow state. The company she founded, FlowInsight, is on a mission to bring back joy to our everyday work.

Arty is also a 2D/3D animator and artist, and has spent the last couple years building 3D apps in AR. She loves to share about her experiences with these technologies.

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