Question-Led Development
Software development is a profession, discipline and industry obsessed with solutions. It places justifiably high value on answers... but what if we take a step back for a moment to consider that an answer arises as a response to a question? And, therefore, perhaps we should be placing more focus on asking questions.
The right questions can be more powerful in the long run than answers. Answers may shift as specific technologies change beneath our feet, but if we are able to frame the right questions, we will better learn what we need for our products, our architectures, our code, our tests, our deployments and our users. Not asking the right questions in the right way can lead to solutions is in search of problems that do not exist. Such mismatches can create gaps that are costly to close or to bridge.
In question-led development we think of software development not just as a process of creation, but also as a process of our enquiry.
Target Audience: Developers, Architects, Managers
Prerequisites: Software delivery experience
Level: Advanced
Kevlin Henney is an independent consultant, trainer, speaker and writer. He helps individuals and teams improve their skills, codebases and cultures, ensuring people have a place in their architecture. He is co-author of two volumes in the "Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture" series, editor of "97 Things Every Programmer Should Know" and co-editor of "97 Things Every Java Programmer Should Know". He lives in Bristol and online.
Frank Buschmann is a Distinguished Engineer at Siemens Technology in Garching. His interests are in modern software architecture and in development approaches for industrial digitization.
