simon.says : Architecture

Summary of SPARK UX

smguest — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 01:57:00 GMT

Software Architects have a tough job. They need to be experts in mapping business needs to technology, understanding the IT organization, and domain specific areas such as service orientation, workflow, security etc. One of the areas that often gets overlooked however is User Experience (UX). If many software architects were building architects we'd have structurally sound buildings, but one ugly city!

This "UX for Architects" message is one that I've been taking on the road to a number of events recently, including TechEd in Boston this year. Judging from the feedback from these events, this is a topic that resonating well, but doesn't seem to be getting the attention it needs. To help this along, the Architecture Strategy Team at Microsoft hosted SPARK UX, a two day workshop on this very issue this week at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, CA.

We invited 30 top thinkers from a mix of UX and Software Architecture backgrounds to discuss the issues that surround this problem. The attendees included a few that have already publicly blogged, including Adam Richardson from Frog, Brandon Schauer from AdaptivePath, Lou Rosenfeld, and Phil Barrett. Analysts from Ovum and Gartner were also in attendance.

This workshop style gathering was moderated by two professional facilitators, and focused on card-storming and working group exercises as we covered a number of topics during Monday and Tuesday.

One additional highlight for many attendees was a presentation by John Hill, who is the building architect responsible for the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, along with a number of additional resort hotels across the world. It was fascinating to listen to some of his experiences, especially when someone asked "what's the worst mistake you've ever seen". To this, John thought for a minute and answered "Hmmm... nothing I can really think of". If we'd have asked the same question to an architect in our industry, I think we would have been inundated with tales of projects that hadn't been completed on time, or didn't meet the needs of the clients! For me, this was very indicative of how immature our industry is.

So, did we get a single, all encompassing answer on how to solve this problem? Not in the day and a half - but we did come away with a set of actions and outcomes that I think will set this in motion as we continue down this path. These included:

On the last day we discussed whether a "User Experience Architect" was a role or discipline within an organization. The answer is always going to be "it depends" based on who the organization is, but the group did agree that that many roles included a blend between architecture and UX. I believe that identifying this role is an important step to understanding what guidance we need to create.
I think there was a lot of agreement that we need to do more to incorporate UX into the Software Development LifeCycle (SDLC). We were fortunate to have Jeff Patton from Thoughtworks who admitted that many people are thinking about this today, but not much is really available publicly.
We need more UX sessions in architecture events and more architecture sessions in UX events. I'm personally going to be kicking this off by introducing an "experience" track at our next Strategic Architect Forum (SAF). I'm also looking forward to seeing more architecture related sessions in user experience and design events such as MIX, DUX and AIGA.

Lou Rosenfeld summarized the event well by saying that this is a journey, not a destination. For those that attended I'm hopeful that this unique and non-typical event from Microsoft demonstrated this, and look forward to continuing the discussion.

What do you need to know to be an IT Architect?

smguest — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 18:46:00 GMT

Update: This post has moved to here.

My team has been spending a fair amount of time recently asking this question "What is it that you need to know to be an IT Architect?". What you should be reading? What skills should you be honing? Who should be following?

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with IASA (the International Association of Software Architects) to try and answer this very question. I spent a week with Paul Preiss (the president), Angela Yochem (a fellow, and VP of Enterprise Architecture at SunTrust), Aaron Tan Dani (who runs the ISAC in Malaysia), and a few people from Redmond. During this week we created a taxonomy for what we believed were "the essential things you need to know to be an IT Architect".

We started by defining what we believe as the fundamental skills that every Architect needs. We classified these into five areas, known as IT Environment, Business / Technology Strategy, Design Skills, Quality Attribute Skills, and Human Dynamics:

IT Environment is about the organization of the IT department, Engineering, Operations, Governance, and Project Management. These represent the fundamental skills required for understanding how the IT organization works and how the IT Architect functions as part of this.

Business / Technology Strategy is understanding how the business maps to technology (and hopefully vice versa). It covers business fundamentals, business and technology alignment (mapping), valuation (e.g. is an IT project going to return value?), and industry concerns.

Design Skills are an IT Architect's primary tool for creating solutions. Skills required here include knowledge of patterns and best practices, building blocks, artifacts, tools, and methodologies.

Quality Attributes are the considerations that cross cut every technology solution (or at least they should!). These include management and monitoring, attribute types (security, reliability, supportability - this list can go on), and implementation.

Finally, the area of Human Dynamics cover skills required such as communications (writing, listening, speaking etc.), situational awareness, and leadership.

What are your thoughts? Ignoring the specific domains (e.g. solutions architecture, infrastructure architecture etc.), are we missing anything from the set of fundamental skills that every IT Architect needs? Are these the right areas or would you change them?

Call For Papers: Architecture Journal Issue #10

smguest — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 19:35:00 GMT

Microsoft’s Architecture Journal is a quarterly magazine, providing a world-class forum for the publication of unique articles on how good architecture can help create great implementations. Microsoft’s Architecture Journal is available as a printed subscription (you can order your own here) and also online here

With Issue #9 almost complete, I'm looking for abstracts and ideas for Issue #10, the theme of which is Composite Applications (applications that aggregate data from multiple sources, mashups, smart client applications, applications that integrate with Office applications, applications built using the CAB/SCSF, etc.).

Writing for the Architecture Journal gives you the opportunity to get your thoughts and ideas in the hands of enterprise, solution and infrastructure architects around the world – that’s a growing number of over 45,000 subscribers! In addition, your article will be localized into multiple languages and distributed at major events and conferences worldwide.

The cut off date for abstracts for the next issue is Sep 18th. If you are interested in making a submission, here are the details:

How do I make a submission?

To submit an idea for a paper, you are asked to send the following:

- A 2 – 4 paragraph abstract explaining how your paper fits the theme of the magazine

- A 1 – 2 paragraph bio

- A list of previously published articles

Submissions should be made via Email to editors@architecturejournal.net

Each issue of the Architecture Journal follows a theme (for example; integration, workflow, data). 80% of the issue is dedicated to this theme. 20% is reserved for articles that we wish to print, but do not follow the theme.

We receive many submissions for each issue, so we encourage you to put time and thought into the submission.

When will I know whether my submission is accepted?

After the call for papers has ended, everyone that submits an idea will be notified via Email as to whether their submission was successful or not.

What happens if my submission is accepted?

If accepted, you’ll have between 4 and 6 weeks to submit two drafts and a final version of your paper. These dates will be clearly communicated. Your first draft will be reviewed by an editorial board to ensure it is on message for the magazine. Your second draft and final version will be subject to both technical and content editing. You’ll be asked to be available to work with our editors via Email during this process.

The magazine is generally available in print and online 4 weeks after final drafts are submitted.

What are the guidelines for papers printed in the Architecture Journal?

We recommend that papers are between 3,500 and 4,500 words in length – although we have accepted shorter and longer papers in the past. The article should be submitted using Microsoft Word. Diagrams should be submitted in either Microsoft Visio or Microsoft PowerPoint.

Do I still own the work?

Yes. We ask you to sign a release form that gives Microsoft permission to reprint the article, but ownership of the paper remains with you, the author.

Will I get paid for writing?

We do not currently pay authors for contributing to the Architecture Journal.

Will I get copies of the magazine as an author?

After printing you’ll be sent 10 copies of the Journal for your own use. Additional copies can be requested.

Where can I get more information?

Check out this link.

SPARK UX 1 - 3 Oct, Half Moon Bay, CA

smguest — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:02:00 GMT

SPARK UX

the two faces of design

A FORUM TO EXPLORE THE INTERSECTION OF ARCHITECTURE AND EXPERIENCE DESIGN

Too often today, software products and interactive experiences fall short of their potential because the user experience does not serve the interests of its users. The engineering side of software architecture often fails to consider the full implications of its design, leading to interfaces that are non-intuitive, and experiences that compromise the product and threaten the success of the business.

To help address this, my team is inviting industry leaders and luminaries in this area for a think-tank meeting called SPARK UX. SPARK UX will examine the issues behind this problem to inspire a new framework for bringing the “art of user experience” into the process of software architecture. The event will bring together a diverse collection of architects, engineers, designers and analysts to define what user experience means for software architects, and provide guidance to all practitioners for improving both the process and end results.

The mission of SPARK UX is quite simple: to empower software architects to improve the user experience of products everywhere.

Together, we will help software architects think about user experience, define how software architects can employ UX in their software development lifecycle, and reveal how product managers can value UX as an integral part of the development process.

SPARK UX will be held at The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, CA (south of San Francisco) Oct. 2-3, 2006. If you know of someone that should be there (or if you think you should be there!), let me know by using the contact form on this blog.

Call for Papers: Architecture Journal Issue #9

smguest — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 03:12:00 GMT

Now that TechEd is out of the way, I'm looking for abstracts and ideas for Issue #9, the theme of which is Software Factories (think modeling, DSLs, development approaches etc.). Writing for the Architecture Journal gives you the opportunity to get your thoughts and ideas in the hands of enterprise, solution and infrastructure architects around the world – that’s a growing number of over 41,000 subscribers! In addition, your article will be localized into multiple languages and distributed at major events and conferences worldwide.

The cut off date for abstracts for the next issue is July 21st. If you are interested in making a submission, here are the details:

How do I make a submission?

To submit an idea for a paper, you are asked to send the following:

- A 2 – 4 paragraph abstract explaining how your paper fits the theme of the magazine

- A 1 – 2 paragraph bio

- A list of previously published articles

Submissions should be made via Email to editors@architecturejournal.net

We receive many submissions for each issue, so we encourage you to put time and thought into the submission.

When will I know whether my submission is accepted?

After the call for papers has ended, everyone that submits an idea will be notified via Email as to whether their submission was successful or not.

What happens if my submission is accepted?

The magazine is generally available in print and online 4 weeks after final drafts are submitted.

What are the guidelines for papers printed in the Architecture Journal?

Do I still own the work?

Yes. We ask you to sign a release form that gives Microsoft permission to reprint the article, but ownership of the paper remains with you, the author.

Will I get paid for writing?

We do not currently pay authors for contributing to the Architecture Journal.

Will I get copies of the magazine as an author?

After printing you’ll be sent 10 copies of the Journal for your own use. Additional copies can be requested.

ARC202 - Slides from TechEd 2006

smguest — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 21:32:00 GMT

I've now uploaded my slides (hosting space courtesy of Mark) from my user experience presentation at TechEd 2006 this week. You can find them here:

PowerPoint 2003 Format (60Mb)

PowerPoint 2007 Beta 2 Format (20Mb)

*** Update - Fixed link (again) ***

ARC202 – Putting the User Back into SOA (TechEd)

smguest — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 12:33:00 GMT

Thanks to all that came to my session today (ARC202 – Putting the User Back into SOA) at 10.45am. I really enjoyed putting the talk together and appreciate all the feedback (yes, I know the title of the talk needs changing for next time).

For those looking for the PPT, I am working on it! The deck is 60Mb (don’t ask!) and I need to get some more space so that I can host it!

Putting the User back into SOA - my first ARCast!

smguest — Sat, 20 May 2006 00:36:00 GMT

After the US NAF (National Architect Forum) last month, I sat down with Ron Jacobs to record my very first ARCast. The topic was "Putting the User back into SOA" - you can listen to it here.

Architecture Journal - now in 8 languages!

smguest — Sat, 20 May 2006 00:32:00 GMT

Issue #7 of the Architecture Journal is now available in 8 languages (English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Simplifed Chinese, Japanese and Korean).

To access these in PDF format, visit http://www.architecturejournal.net and select the lanuage from the top menu.

Enjoy.

Cliff Atkinson / Beyond Bullet Points

smguest — Wed, 10 May 2006 20:35:00 GMT

Cliff Atkinson is my new hero. For those that don't know, Cliff put together an MS Press book called Beyond Bullet Points. In the book, he describes a new way of compiling and putting together presentations using PowerPoint (without bullet points!). I used this style in a recent keynote I did at the US NAF (National Architect Forum) last month and it seemed to be very well received. Half way through the presentation I was amazed at how many people were engaged with the message I was saying - actually 100% focused towards me and not doing Email!

Cliff also has a blog - you can check it out here.

Iron Architect at TechEd US 2006

smguest — Tue, 09 May 2006 03:22:00 GMT

Coming to TechEd US this year? Think you are a pretty good architect? Think you are the best architect at the conference?

Now you can prove it by entering our "Iron Architect" competition as part of the Architecture Track. You'll get the chance to work on a solution to a real life problem and submit it to an audience and panel of judges during the week. The winner will win free entry into the MCA (Microsoft Certified Architect) program.

More details here...

Moving Beyond SOA

smguest — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 21:45:00 GMT

John DeVadoss (my manager and the guy who runs the architecture team at Microsoft) has been on the road talking about "Moving Beyond SOA", the latest of which was a session at VSLive. His messages appear to be generating some buzz - including reports by both eWeek and InfoWorld.

TechEd 2006 – Call for Speakers!

smguest — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 22:45:00 GMT

Would you like to shape the future by presenting a session in the Architecture track at TechEd 06 (June 11^th – 16^th in Boston)?

We are looking for dynamic and enthusiastic speakers to talk on a range of architectural topics as part of our track. Specifically, we are looking for three types of sessions this year:

Real Life Case Studies. Have you completed a unique project you’d like to share with the world?

Patterns. Have you created an architectural pattern that can be re-used?

Architecture Failures. Were you involved in a project that didn’t go to plan? Would you like to share the lessons learned from your experience?

If you would like to submit a presentation, please use this link.

Note: You must have prior experience at speaking at large conferences and be prepared to present your idea in a 15 minute LiveMeeting session to the track owners. Timescales are short, so please submit your entry before Feb 2^nd.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Announcing Microsoft's Architecture Forums

smguest — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 23:21:00 GMT

I’ve been a fan of Internet Newsgroups and Forums for many years – it still amazes me how these bring people together on subjects that they are very passionate about. As I’ve been looking into resources for our community however, it’s clear that we need something similar for people to post architecture related questions and comments.

To help address this, we have created brand new forums, dedicated to architecture on the Microsoft platform. You can find these live today on http://forums.microsoft.com. Go to the homepage, and select the Architecture forum group.

We are starting with two forums today – one for general architecture-related questions, and a second for modeling and tools. We'll be looking to expand these in the next few months.

I'd like to encourage anyone interested in architecture to participate on the forums. We have RSS enabled all of these so you can download the latest threads and comments into your favorite RSS reader, and our team is dedicated to making sure we have follow ups for all questions asked!

Holiday Web Casts!

smguest — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 02:47:00 GMT

Have some spare time during the holidays to catch up on new technologies? Mohammad Akif, an Architect Evangelist in Canada, has recorded two new webcasts that are worth checking out...

Using Visual Studio for Deployment Modeling

The new modeling features in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 can help you to validate application deployment scenarios by defining a logical data center. This webcast provides an overview of the new modeling features and a demonstration of the deployment modeling capability that is designed to improve and automate the interaction between development, infrastructure, and operations teams. The intended audience for this webcast includes solution architects, infrastructure architects, and developers.

Tracking the Life of a Business Requirement

This webcast demonstrates the new integration capabilities between Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office Project, and Microsoft Visual Studio. We track a business requirement from its definition in Excel to its completion in Visual Studio, so you can see how the new integration capabilities work on a practical level. The intended audience for this webcast includes architects, business analysts, and project managers.