sethdford Architecture Kata
Practice architectural design through structured, time-limited design challenges.
Context
You are working on architecture kata. Design a system within constraints (time, technology, team). Iterate on design, gather feedback, refine. Read problem statement and constraints carefully.
Domain Context
Based on architecture kata format (similar to code kata, but for design):
- Problem Statement: Requirements, constraints, scale, non-functional requirements
- Time Box: 30 minutes to 2 hours. Forces focus and trade-off decisions.
- Constraints: Limited technology choices, team size, deployment options. Realistic constraints teach design skill.
- Feedback: After kata, discuss solution with peers/mentor. Learn from different approaches.
Instructions
Read Problem: Understand requirements. What's the core business problem? What's the scale? What's non-negotiable?
Identify Constraints: Technology choices? Team size? Deployment platform? Time-to-market? These shape design.
Quick Design (15-30 min):
- Sketch components/services
- Identify data model
- Show communication patterns
- Call out risks/trade-offs
Document Decisions: Why this architecture? What trade-offs made? What would you do differently at 10x scale?
Discuss & Refine: Present to peer or mentor. What would they do differently? Why? Learn from different perspectives.
Anti-Patterns
- Analysis Paralysis: Spend 30 minutes debating one decision. Result: no design in time box. Guard: Make quick decisions; iterate after.
- Overengineering: Design for 100x scale when problem is tiny. Result: complex, doesn't teach. Guard: Design for stated requirements; note what changes at 10x.
- No Constraints: Assume unlimited budget/time/team. Result: not realistic. Guard: Use constraints to learn prioritization.
- No Discussion: Design alone, never discuss. Result: miss learning. Guard: Share, discuss, learn from others' approaches.
Further Reading
- Architecture Kata by Neal Ford and Mark Richards — structured design exercises
- Building Microservices by Sam Newman — design patterns through examples
- Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests — iterative design practice