Review Domain Storytelling
I got to know one of the authors, Stefan Hofer, at a meetup in Hamburg. This made me realize how spatially close the current development of concepts around domain-driven design is. Despite or precisely because of the enormous methodological diversity, new things are constantly being created to close the gap between the specialist domain and development.
About the authors
Stefan Hofer and Henning Schwentner work at WPS – a company based in Hamburg with a strong connection to DDD. This is where the journey of Domain Storytelling began, initially as a WPS internal way to develop models in the team beyond UML. The authors iteratively refined the approach until the current Domain Storytelling Notation was developed.
What is the book about?
A collaborative modeling path is described to establish a connection between the specialist domain and development. The focus is on the collaborative development of processes without technical details. The authors present the necessary imagery to describe the scenarios and show how the methodology harmonizes with other modeling techniques.
What's great about it?
Thanks to continuous examples - called case studies in the book - each chapter makes it clear what the benefits and added value of domain storytelling are. In particular, the classification, differentiation, and interaction with other techniques, such as user story mapping, story storming, or event storming, classify the possibilities for the reader crystal clear.
What's annoying about it?
This was one of the few books where nothing explicitly bothered me. The illustrations are helpful, the case studies help with understanding and have enough depth to appear realistic so that I was able to draw analogies to my projects. The common thread of the chapters is coherent, which is particularly clear in the chapter summaries - they link the individual aspects and introduce the next chapter as the logical next aspect.
The best quote
“Storytelling is a fundamental form of human communication” – that sums up the origin of the approach excellently.
Why a product manager should read the book
In my opinion, the Domain Storytelling tool is a valuable addition to the methodological repertoire. It complements excellently with other techniques, such as event storming, and has enormous potential for a successful exchange between the specialist domain and development when modeling complex processes - and that is the foundation for a successful project. The readable work results are well suited for long-term documentation to instruct new team members and familiarize them with the project language.
