Andrew Harmel-Law
@andrewhl.bsky.social
They/them. Technical Principal at Thoughtworks UK. All opinions are my own (at least I sourced them myself) and don't reflect those of my employer.
Its the Stories of Facilitating Software Architecture and Design Anniversary! 🎂🎉
Kenny (Baas) Schwegler@kenny.weave-it.org · 3w agoA year ago today, @roundcrisis.com, @andrewhl.bsky.social and I published the first episode of Stories on Facilitating Software Architecture & Design. Yesterday episode 27 went out. We've kept it going every two weeks since.
There’s a new Software Architecture Humble Bundle and my book is among the amazing tomes on the list. 🎉💙 www.humblebundle.com/books/softwa...
Humble Tech Book Bundle: Software Architecture 2026 by O'Reilly
Learn the latest techniques and set yourself up for success in tech with the 2026 Software Architecture Bundle by O'Reilly!
humblebundle.com
Among the misunderstandings of how AI might change management: for every decision to be made there is a right decision and otherwise many wrong decisions; the criteria for what makes a decision right doesn't change over time; speed is optimal for all decisions
This October I'll be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in support of the Galilee Foundation. They have spent almost 20 years helping Palestinian students & preserving Palestinian culture through grassroots projects. 🏃➡️ 🏃♀️➡️ 🏃♂️➡️ Please sponsor me & share for reach www.justgiving.com/fundraising/...
Running the Royal Parks Half Marathon for the Galilee Foundation — and chasing a 20-year-old PB
Help A Harmel-Law raise money to support The Galilee Foundation
justgiving.com
Genuine question: when @garyseconomics.bsky.social says wealth inequality is a massive problem that’s metastasised, those with the power to act brand him as “populist” / ignore him. Yet when @thomaspiketty.bsky.social wrote over a decade ago that if inequality kept rising it could end violently.
So it looks like the dark money Cottrell scandal around Farage now involves people in Trump's circle too
TIL: “Butlerian Jihad” is something from the Dune universe and _not_ a struggle for the ideas of Judith Butler. 😭
What if the best software architect isn't the person making all the decisions? 🤔 At @yowconf.bsky.social @andrewhl.bsky.social explores how to empower teams to make architectural decisions, reduce bottlenecks, and build better systems together. Watch: youtu.be/BQYIBKIzY5g?... #SoftwareArchitecture
Empowering Teams to Make Architectural Decisions • Andrew Harmel-Law • YOW! 2025
YouTube video by GOTO Conferences
youtu.be
In several of the stories people told @roundcrisis.com, @andrewhl.bsky.social and I on the @virtualddd.com Stories of Facilitating Software Architecture & Design, the thing that decided the outcome wasn't in the room. It sat upstream. >>>
Last week I was on a podcast to talk about the future of software design, with @martinfowler.com, @settling-mud.bsky.social, and @andrewhl.bsky.social. It was a lively mix of AI optimism and concern, from practical aspects of design, to design philosophy. www.youtube.com/live/g5WfzxS...
Loosely Coupled - Domain-Driven Design and more...
YouTube video by BridgingTheGap
youtube.com
Apropos of nothing, i didn’t think it was possible to love #JohnBlanche more than i already did… www.thegamer.com/warhammer-40...
Warhammer Artist John Blanche Raises £18,000 For New Female Miniatures
All four - Jägerin, Apolonia, Osterhilt and Salomia - are based on Blanche's own artwork.
thegamer.com
This report on AI in tech sounds pretty interesting and confirms a lot of my experience/suspicions. TL;DR Developer productivity is marginally up, however, incidents and bugs and way up. Source: www.faros.ai/blog/ai-acce...
In software, we embrace anarchistic ways of organising more than we realise. I made this talk so that you can be more explicit in your adoption of these approaches, patterns, and most importantly, mindsets. Enjoy!
Adaptive Organizations meet Architecture@aomaconf.bsky.social · 3mo agoPatterns of Anarchy for socio-technical design. Watch "Everything About Anarchy" with @andrewhl.bsky.social youtu.be/L9V33prYC1U #amaberlin
Every software org is dysfunctional. Yes, yours too. 😉 Rebecca Parsons, Gregor Hohpe, @technologytulip.bsky.social & @andrewhl.bsky.social sat down and basically said it out loud. You shouldn’t aim to “fix” dysfunction, but to work with it instead. 🎧 Listen in: gotopia.tech/podcast
And I am going to do this again Craft Conf in june together with @evelynvankelle.bsky.social . Together with @roundcrisis.com and @andrewhl.bsky.social we were actually thinking about setting up some surveys to do this broader linked to our @virtualddd.com. Perhaps something you are interested in?
We're quietly curating these connections. Curious to see what patterns emerge across the full collection. Each story is at buff.ly/bG8QsWX and all the heuristics are on dddheuristics.com. #CollaborativeModelling #SoftwareArchitecture #DomainDrivenDesign #Facilitation #VirtualDDD
Stories on Facilitating Software Architecture & Design - Virtual Domain-Driven Design
We’ve consistently observed a common pattern: regardless of the architectural approach—from traditional enterprise to more hands-on, emergent methods—teams face similar obstacles when building…
buff.ly
Three different practitioners, three different stories, and underneath all of them the same move: get what's inside people's heads into a shared, tangible space. >>>
What I find interesting — and this isn't visible on the site yet — is that these start to connect with heuristics from earlier episodes. Diana's complements one Paul Rayner shared: make implicit mental models explicit for objective collaboration. >>>
Facilitation creates more lasting impact because people internalize what they discover through their own thinking. >>>
In a recent episode, Diana Montalion shared one that sits alongside it: design experiences instead of explaining more. When people resist change, the instinct is to add more explanation. Rarely works. >>>
Gien's full heuristic: surface value-based preferences before choosing technical solutions. Before evaluating options, dig into what's driving the strong preference. Is it fear of skills becoming outdated? Concern about maintainability? Making that visible changes the whole conversation. >>>
What we try to do is different: invite practitioners to share a real story, then sit with them and extract the heuristics they've actually been working from. Something @rebeccawb.bsky.social introduced into our community. >>>
recent episode of "Stories of Facilitating Software Architecture & Design" — a series I host with @roundcrisis.com and @andrewhl.bsky.social on Virtual DDD. Most architecture content gives you frameworks or opinions. >>>
"AI Augmentation for Technical Leaders" - Birgitta Boeckeler. Can AI help with architectural decisions? Watch:& Subscribe. youtu.be/qB7rsbDfmQg
What AI augmentation means for technical leaders – Birgitta Boeckeler
YouTube video by Agile meets Architecture
youtu.be
AI hype or real progress? @t-redactyl.bsky.social & @aiwithmichelle.com break it down on GOTO Unscripted 🎤 History, data, and hard-won pragmatism. www.youtube.com/watch?list=P...
Beyond the Hype: What AI Actually Can (and Can't) Do • Jodie Burchell & Michelle Frost • GOTO 2026
YouTube video by GOTO Conferences
youtube.com
the hardest part of software was never the technical decisions. It was what happened — or didn't happen — in the room where they were made. >>>
