4 The ingredients of collaborative modeling
This chapter covers
- Explaining the collaborative modeling stages
- How to use sense-making during collaborative modeling session
- Explaining the check-in and check-out in depth
- Description of the collaboration styles
“When we, as a field, for the most part turned away from BDUF (big design upfront) toward Agile methods, we tended, unfortunately, to turn away from architecture visualization and modeling. Turned away to apply our modeling skills early, to understand and shape strategic opportunity, and to set design direction for the system. “
Ruth Malan
Our first collaborative modeling sessions didn't go so well. We were part of a development team, and as a programmer, architect, etc. we could see the huge benefit that collaborative modeling and its tools could bring us, but we had a hard time convincing other people of its power. Mistakes were made along the way, and they were ours. Over time we adapted our approach and we discovered an approach that worked well. In this chapter we will share that approach with you, so you can avoid these mistakes. We created 6 stages to organize a successful collaborative modeling session:
- Preparation
- Check-in
- Modeling with tools
- Check-out
- Retrospective
- Communication and documentation