TechWomen100 2025 Winner
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Jacqui Read
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Talks as Sketchnotes
Steve and I recently had the pleasure of talking at DDD South West about software design and software architecture. Adrian Banks captured our talks as sketchnotes, and he has given us permission to share them with you today! 🥳🥳🥳
What is an architect?
What is a Software architect? It is a very grand title, and has notoriously been difficult to define. You can make exhaustive lists about what different types of architects do, but it is better to focus on what they have in common given that typically architects cover multiple archetypes.
Technical Debt: Pressures on decision-makers
Technical debt in software development is not a helpful metaphor, there are too many things it should apply to that aren’t clear in common usage, and the impacts much more complex than in common comprehension. When I first came across the term in my early career it was regarding productivity and writing code, but the world has changed since the metaphor was created, and the breadth of things…
Surviving Complexity Through Software Design
There has never been more pressure on software developers. Dealing with multiple tech stacks, devops pipelines, observability, and more. Add to that the pressure to deliver working software quickly and regularly and we end up with software that doesn’t meet expectations and cannot be easily changed. But with so much else on their minds, when do teams think about design and architecture?
Influence and Awareness: Breaking software development silos
Did somebody turn on the light? Meetings across team borders can only be described as an illuminating experience. Inter-team and inter-department communication not only make us better informed, but bring a wealth of additional experiences and working relationships which can result in better business outcomes. Whether you are designing or architecting software systems, or looking for other business…
The Software Design Newsletter #1: The ACED Model
Happy new year everybody 🥳 I’m pleased to announce The Software Design Newsletter . We will be publishing it monthly by email, and syndicating the content into LinkedIn as well. For the best experience we recommend the email subscription as you will receive the newsletter first this way, and the formatting is much better (LinkedIn newsletters do not benefit from layouts, among other…
Assessing Software Architectures
Available now. More info coming soon. Contact me for further details.
The ACED model & Software Design
Coming soon. Contact me for further details.
Better Software Design: Changing how we talk about software
Changing how we talk about software is the beginning of designing better software. Through clear definitions we have better design conversations. We will start with a recap of where we got to in understanding the software development process in Software Design: What went wrong? .
Happy 1st Birthday to Communication Patterns!
I can’t believe that it has been a year since Communication Patterns was published. The main writing took me 9 months, so it really was a book-baby!
Software Architecture Monday #200
Call to action! What call to action is Mark Richards giving you today in his 200th edition of Software Architecture Monday? 7 years of fantastic architecture content on Youtube.
Conference Tour 2024 has ended
12 in-person conferences in the space of 8 months… wow! Thank you to all the conferences who have invited me to speak in 2024, it was a wild ride!
Software Design: What went wrong?
Software Design should be a developer’s bread and butter. Changing how we talk about software under development is the start of building better software systems. We must stop calling everything architecture, make design more accessible, and resist the urge of focusing on technology.
The Knowledge Vault: ADRs
I recently added the knowledge vault to JacquiRead.com with a new article: ADRs (Architecture Decision Records). It provides an overview of why and how we use architecture decisions, and how the technique compares to other methods available to us.
A Knock-out Kandddinsky
This week saw Kandddinsky 2024 land in Berlin, and the diversity of topics truly inspired me! From sociotechnical to CQRS, and everything events to typography, there was technical, social, and philosophical content on offer. To round this off an open space day (unconference) brought out the grass-roots atmosphere and meant that the community were pushing the state of the art in terms of software…
What's on the technology radar?
It’s that time of year again for ThoughtWorks to publish their opinionated technology radar. I know I am not the only person reading the Tools section and thinking “No, we don’t talk about Bruno, no, no, no!” (see #42), but I also wanted to highlight a few interesting blips (items on the radar).
When to bring in a software architect?
Bringing in a software architect at the end of a project isn’t architecture. It’s archeology. 🤦 That’s not saying there is no value in the process, but much more value is offered from involving an architect at the early stages. It is much more expensive changing existing decisions than making new ones.
Communication Patterns on Software Architecture Monday
Mark Richards, co-author of books such as The Fundamentals of Software Architecture and Head First Software Architecture, chose to feature my book Communication Patterns in his Software Architecture Monday video series. I can highly recommend the whole series, and you can watch the Communication Patterns edition here:
Mandatory back to office
It’s sad to hear that more companies, like Amazon, are enforcing blanket back-to-office policies. The truth is that it is not a failure of the workforce to work productively from outside the office, but a failure of the business to take advantage of the benefits of remote first working.
Businesses are graphs, not hierarchies!
Not everything in an enterprise is a hierarchy, we need to start thinking in graphs. We seem to like to create order, whether that is through organisational structures of teams, org charts, business capabilities, or classes in code. Where there is a true hierarchy this is generally not a problem, but because we have created these structures it is our nature to then try to classify everything into…
Decision-making ADRs: weightings are a work-around
When defining criteria for your decision-making Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) you should avoid mixing levels of abstraction. Even when applying a modern and agile architecture technique such as ADRs, you will not get the desired effect if you do not take care in its execution.
Diagrams-as-Code with AI
Create diagrams alongside your code that are useable with LLMs More and more teams are starting to use coding to tackle their diagramming and documentation challenges. Using plain text notations to create diagrams turns a traditionally artistic process into a systematic and data-driven approach. Using diagrams-as-code and models instead of traditional diagrams gives you many benefits, including…
Teaching systems thinking through computer games
There have been a number of times in my life when I have found that I have learned things through doing, and then later discovered empowering vocabularies and models which further enhance and improved what I was already doing. Domain-driven design was one such area, but systems thinking recently became another.
Every Event, Everywhere, All at Once
Domain events, integration events, pivotal events, boundary events… What are these and how do they differ? But it doesn’t stop there: event-driven, event sourcing, event streaming… Are these part of DDD and how do they fit in?
Software Design Accelerator: Design a System in x Day(s)
In a world where 75%+ software projects still fail, what is going wrong? Failure means the system doesn’t meet customer and/or business needs. This workshop allows you to super-charge your design learning, combining technical skills, team-working, conflict resolution, and complexity-management techniques.
How to ADR
Create effective Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) for your team and organisation. Get deep into the details of ADRs with training and practical workshops personalised to your context. After gaining a full understanding of why and how to create ADRs you will realise practical tips for how to get started or move your ADRs to the next level.
Hands-on software architecture
Many times I’ve heard it said that software architects should be hands-on - they shouldn’t be in an ivory tower. They should still be coding, one foot in the game. There is so much to unwrap from this!
Using large language models in software architecture
How have LLMs affected me in software architecture? It’s been maybe 6 months since I started using corporate-approved large-language models, and I thought it would be worth writing a summary of how it has affected my work.
Modern Approaches to Enterprise Architecture
Enterprise architects need to use a broad variety of techniques and perspectives, delivering a varied set of artefacts and collaborating with other parts of the organisation to provide insights which cannot be attained alone. Many activities crucially important to modern enterprise architecture are not labelled as such. Some practitioners of the new techniques don’t want to be…
Decision Archeology: Using ADRs with Existing Products
I’ve had the same question from a few people lately. They’ve seen how Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) , and other Business Decision Records, improve their software architecture and development process, but they wonder what to do about the decisions made before they started using ADRs. Should you create ADRs for historical decisions?
Communication Patterns and Soft Skills with Virtual DDD
Recently I was invited to talk at Virtual DDD about Communication Patterns and Soft Skills - the recording of the event can be found here:
Devoxx UK
Communicating software architecture is a crucial aspect of being a successful software architect, however, this is a skill you don’t get taught. Learning by trial and error is not ideal, so how do you create inclusive diagrams and visuals that successfully communicate to your audience? Apply communication design patterns and recognise antipatterns. The purpose of a diagram is to successfully…
Communication Patterns at Apium book club
I was recently on the Apiumhub book club discussing Communication Patterns, and the recording has now been published.
The testing pyramid - it's not that simple!
The Testing Pyramid, while well-intended, has become one of those diet-plan moments where it has over-simplified the problem and over-specified the solution. Yes, reliability, cost, and time of execution are relevant to your test strategy. Focus on those. Forget the pyramid. An effective testing strategy isn’t triangular - it is tailored!
Consulting
I can help businesses internationally in a number of formats: Block consulting A day or more covering topics of yours choice
Figures
In a medium where words take central place, Communication Patterns teaches concepts and ideas that go beyond that usual boundary.
New year - new website!
I’m pleased to announce my new website! It’s been in draft for quite a few months - my husband Steve and I both put it together using Hugo and FixIt theme
O'Reilly Architecture Superstream
I will be taking part in the upcoming superstream - I’ve been putting some AI-specific material about communication patterns, so be the first to see it this January!
AI Communication Patterns: Communicate 10x Faster?
You’ve heard of the 10x developer, but can AI make you into a 10x technical communicator? Jacqui Read shares some of the patterns and antipatterns of harnessing AI as a software architect. Can AI generate and understand architecture diagrams? Could an LLM really architect a system? In the seemingly endless selection of AI-powered tools and LLMs to prompt, discover what’s worth your…
Core Skills for Technical Professionals
The strongest tech skills don’t necessarily guarantee success. To get the best from those around you—and maximize your own influence—you need to boost your tech skills with core skills. Luckily, small changes in the way you work can produce big results.
Design Patterns for Software Diagramming
Creating effective diagrams for your software and architecture Understanding the software you are working on is crucial to successful software. To understand, you and your team must transfer knowledge to each other. Diagrams are key to this knowledge transfer, but effective diagramming is a skill you traditionally don’t get taught. So how do you create effective diagrams and visuals?
Design Patterns for Software Diagramming
Creating effective diagrams for your software and architecture Understanding the software you are working on is crucial to successful software. To understand, you and your team must transfer knowledge to each other. Diagrams are key to this knowledge transfer, but effective diagramming is a skill you traditionally don’t get taught. So how do you create effective diagrams and visuals?
Knowledge Management for the Technically Inclined
Knowledge sharing and creation is foundational to technical professionals’ work, and yet is one of the most overlooked areas of modern business. When you cannot find the information you need, or it is hard to understand, your productivity and your end customer are going to be affected. You can use effective knowledge management principles and techniques to get your time back for your…
New workshop on comparing software architectures
I have exciting news on a new online course I will be providing on O’Reilly. In February I will be taking over the reins on Comparing Software Architectures from Mark Richards and Neal Ford. Comparing Software architectures was one of the first courses I took when I joined O’Reilly, and covers great foundational content for tech leads and architects. I will be incrementally updating…
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What you need to know about ADRs
Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) are not just for architects. They are key to spreading the understanding of why decisions were made, as well as what the decision was, to all stakeholders. Without access to the understanding and reasoning behind a decision you risk wasting time and money on revisiting decisions and even making changes that cause costly problems that had been avoided in the…
Agile Meets Architecture
I’ll be speaking on Design Patterns for Software Diagramming at Agile Meets Architecture 2025 . Get your conference tickets on the Agile Meets Architecture website .
Agile on the Beach
Communicating software design is a crucial aspect of being a successful software developer, however, this is a skill you don’t get taught. Learning by trial and error is not ideal, so how do you create inclusive diagrams and visuals that successfully communicate to your audience?
Agile South Coast meetup
Technical professionals love to learn about tech, whether at a conference, learning online, or reading a book. But technical skills only take you so far in your career and towards your goals - you will need a broad array of soft skills to get the best from those around you, as well as maximise your influence.