Today’s episode of Satisfying Software is with Diana Montalion, author of Learning Systems Thinking.

Diana has a wealth of experience of helping software teams navigate complex software systems at places like The Economist and The Wikimedia Project.

If you’re a software designer, architect, or developer interested in non-linear thinking, this conversation will introduce you to new ways to improve your craft.

The conversation covers:

• How to build trust and lead effectively when you’re not certain about the right direction
• Why being right is always temporary
• How to express intuition and uncertainty in decision-making conversations

Shownotes:

• Buy Diana's book - Learning System Thinking - https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/learning-systems-thinking/9781098151324/

• Take Diana's course -https://ddd.academy/learning-systems-thinking/
• Join us in Antwerp on June 4-6 for Domain-Driven Design Europe, EventCentric and Data Mesh Live - https://dddeurope.com/
• Join Gien's class "Leadership in Software Design" on June 2-3 in Antwerp - https://2025.dddeurope.com/program/leadership-in-software-design/

Satisfying Software is hosted by Gien Verschatse and produced by Aardling, a software designing and modelling consultancy. https://aardling.eu/

Andrew Harmel-Law is the author of "Facilitating Software Architecture: Empowering Teams to Make Architectural Decisions", a new book published by O'Reilly.

In this episode, Andrew and Gien Verschatse discuss the various decision-making models available to teams and their book's take on the most effective approach.

Listen to this conversation if you're in a software team making hard tradeoffs and looking for a framework which can help you make and be accountable for decisions.

Shownotes:

Buy Andrew's book. https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/facilitating-software-architecture/9781098151850/

Andrew will be on stage at Domain-Driven Design Europe 2025 in Antwerp on June 4-6. https://2025.dddeurope.com/program/

Gien Verschatse is running a new workshop on "Leadership in Software Design" on June 2-3. https://2025.dddeurope.com/program/leadership-in-software-design/

Jacqui Read is the author of "Communication Patterns: A Guide for Developers and Architects."

She is a well-known speaker and gave one of the most well-received talks at Domain-Driven Design Europe in 2024.

During this episode, Jacqui sits down with Gien Verschatse, senior consultant at Aardling to discuss the ideas within her book and dishes out some practical advice for engineers and architects to use in communicating with colleagues and clients.

Shownotes:

• Jacqui will be speaking at Domain-Driven Design Europe 2025 in Antwerp -

• Jacqui's website
• The book - Communication Patterns 
• ACED model 
• LinkedIn
• Bluesky 
• Mastodon
  

Satisfying Software is powered by Aardling, a software consultancy specialising in software modelling and strategy (https://aardling.eu/)

Today’s guest is Laïla Bougriâ, a well-known expert and speaker on event-driven and distributed systems. She works as a software engineer and solutions architect at Particular Software.

In this discussion with Gien Verschatse, they cover:

• Heuristics for designing an event-driven system
• When designing an event-driven system is worth while
• The subtle differences between “event-driven” and “messaging”
• Commands in disguise: Beware of the passive-aggressive events
• Tips for getting more time with business stakeholders as an engineer
• How to encourage collaborative problem solving between business and IT
• What does satisfying software mean to Laila
• 
  

Shownotes

• Laïla Bougriâ is delivering two talks at EventCentric. Take a look at the program for full details - https://eventcentric.eu/program

Satisfying Software is powered by Aardling, a software consultancy specialising in software modelling and strategy. (https://aardling.eu/)

Thomas Coopman has taught hundreds of organisations to adopt Domain-Driven Design practices.

In this conversation, we cover:

• Which language/s work best with tactical patterns
• Functional programming and DDD

• How to make time for refactoring
• Whether overmodelling a solution is a problem
• How to express your model in code
• Why it's all about solving customer problems.

Shownotes:

• Join Thomas for his in-person workshop, Implementing Tactical Patterns, on June 2-3 in Antwerp before DDD Europe. https://ddd.academy/implementing-tactical-patterns/
• Gien and Thomas' guide to video series on modelling - https://youtu.be/K2Z3yHn5KQk

Satisfying Software is powered by Aardling, a software consultancy specialising in software modelling and strategy. (https://aardling.eu/)

In this conversation with Barry O'Reilly, author of "Residues" and "The Architect's Paradox" we explore the philosophy and empirical evidence supporting this new approach to designing software.

Barry is an experienced architect, working as a consultant for large enterprises as well as at Microsoft. In 2020 he decided to embark on a PhD course in Complexity Science and Software Design. The idea was to stress-test the ideas behind Residulity Theory and have an academic grounding in his claims to support teams dealing with complex systems.

Shownotes

• Join Barry's three-day Advanced Software Architecture with Residuality workshop at DDD Europe in Antwerp on June 2-4 - https://2025.dddeurope.com/program/advanced-software-architecture-with-residuality/
• Residues - https://leanpub.com/residuality
• The Architect's Paradox - https://leanpub.com/architectsparadox