The lean architect: Experimenting your way to better decisions
summary
Argues for hypothesis-driven architecture: run small experiments, not big upfront design. Uses a server-driven UI proof of concept as a concrete case, builds one steel thread end-to-end in production to test config delivery, caching, schema validation, rollback and analytics, and proves the pattern works before scaling. Reframes features as testable hypotheses (eg. +10% cart size), tracks results, prioritizes items in an architectural concerns backlog, records decisions with ADRs.
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chapters (11)
- 0:00Lean architecture intro
- 1:56Ambiguity and staff engineers
- 4:25Clarity through experiments
- 8:00Lean architecture principles
- 13:16Outcome over initiatives
- 17:08Airport runway metaphor
- 18:56Steel threads tool
- 21:46Prioritizing with concerns backlog
- 24:52Three lean architecture ingredients
- 25:35Steering wheel metaphor
- 27:01Conclusion
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