Visualizing Sociotechnical Architectures with Context Map

When designing a system, we usually make sure to document the technical integration towards other systems. We thereby make call- or consume-relationships explicit. This approach ignores an important aspect, which often is hidden implicitly: the other teams who are owning these systems and their domain models. However, we must consider the impact of teams, organizational aspects and political dynamics.

Context Maps, are a part of strategic Domain-driven Design and aim at delivering a holistic overview over such sociotechnical architectures. They make the implicitly hidden organizational dynamics explicitly visible. This talk introduces you to the motivation and the benefit for Context Maps. It also digs deep into the patterns which explain various relationship-types between systems, teams and the associated domain models. The talk concludes with a consistent visual representation of Context Maps in practice.