SphereCast

Solving Problems with Domain-Driven Design — Scott Millett


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This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Scott Millett, IT Director at Iglu.com. Since 1998, Iglu has been disrupting the UK’s ski and cruise travel industries. In these niche industries that often lag on technology, Iglu has set up an online portal for ski and cruise trip booking. This innovative and disruptive approach to booking has garnered the agency multiple awards and has allowed Iglu to be named the UK’s number one specialist travel agency.

As a disruptor himself, Scott has become passionate about domain-driven design — to the point of writing his own book, titled Patterns, Principles, and Practices of Domain-Driven Design. At its core, this concept attempts to bridge the gap between technical and non-technical team members through tools like a shared language and vocabulary. On the podcast, Scott deep dives on domain-driven design and discusses how his work has made Iglu the success that it is today.

  

Noteworthy Quotes:

[On his interest in domain-driven design] "What drives many of us to get into IT? Really, it's all about solving problems and learning. You're always looking to learn something — that thirst for knowledge. But I found that it was difficult to understand how much of what I was learning... I realized that others were probably struggling with this vast amount of information too."

"If we think fundamentally about the purpose of domain-driven design, it was really a way to manage solutions for complex problems... It bases solutions to problems around the domain you're working in, so that both technical and non-technical people can reason about the solution to the problem you're tackling."

"Technology is a means to an end; it's not an end in itself. It's a way to help solve problems."

"Leaders are making it up as we go along. There's more data now than ever before, but you still need good judgment to take action on that data. And we can never be 100 percent sure about anything. It's all based on hypotheses."

"Nine times out of ten, problems come down to system — the systems of how we work, rather than the people. A bad system will beat a good person every time."

"When working remotely, you don't get that instantaneous flow of conversation. So ensuring that people understand the narrative and are aligned to the purpose and goals we're trying to achieve [in this volatile industry] really helps. Then, they're more empowered to do something about the problem.”

"Our biggest challenge is driving innovative and creative ways to improve online transactions, with the constraint of working with our [IT-constrained] suppliers."

 

Bullet List of Resources – 

Scott Millett

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Patterns, Principles, and Practices of Domain-Driven Design on Amaz
...more
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SphereCastBy Sphere Partners