Introduction: What You’ll Learn
This simulation helps you practice running an architecture review session. The goal is to balance diving into technical details with keeping things clear and building consensus among the team.
You’ll practice:
- Introducing the architecture and setting the tone
- Navigating technical discussions while staying focused
- Encouraging feedback and building agreement
- Wrapping up with clear next steps
Step-by-Step Simulation
Scene 1: Opening the Review
Facilitator: "Hey everyone, thanks for joining. Today, we’re reviewing our proposed microservices architecture for the new payment system. We’ll go over the design, discuss any trade-offs, and gather your thoughts. Let’s make sure we cover the important stuff. I’ll kick things off with a quick overview."
Facilitator (as an architect): "Our aim is to build a scalable and reliable system. We’ve split the architecture into several microservices: Payment Processing, User Account Management, and Notification Service. The diagram up there shows how these services talk to each other. We’re using REST APIs for communication and have redundancy in place for high availability."
Facilitator: "Thanks for listening. Let’s get into any thoughts or questions. John, want to start us off?"
Scene 2: Navigating Technical Discussion
John: "I’m worried about latency with REST APIs, especially when there’s a lot of traffic. Have we looked into using something like gRPC or messaging queues?"
Facilitator: "Good point, John. We did check out gRPC for its speed benefits, but we picked REST for its simplicity and because it works well with our current systems. Using messaging queues to handle peak loads is definitely something we could explore. What do others think?"
Sara: "I’m with John on this. Messaging queues could help decouple services and make them more resilient. We should look into that for critical paths."
Facilitator: "Sounds good, Sara. Let’s put that on our list to investigate further. Any other thoughts or concerns?"
Alex: "What about data consistency across services, especially with eventual consistency issues?"
Facilitator: "Great question, Alex. We’re planning to use distributed transactions when needed and have compensating transactions for failures. We’re also thinking about using a centralized event sourcing approach to keep things consistent. What do you all think about that?"
Scene 3: Building Consensus
Facilitator: "Alright, let’s sum up what we’ve talked about. We’re going to explore messaging queues for better performance and resilience and look more into event sourcing for data consistency. Does everyone feel good about these next steps?"
(Nods and agreement from the team.)
Facilitator: "Awesome. Before we wrap up, any other areas to cover or thoughts to share?"
Priya: "Could we also talk about security, especially data moving between microservices?"
Facilitator: "Absolutely, Priya. Security is key. We’ll use TLS for all inter-service communication and keep audit logs to monitor access. We can plan a separate session to dive deeper into security if we need to. How does that sound?"
Scene 4: Wrapping Up
Facilitator: "Thanks, everyone, for your input. Here’s what we’re taking away:"
- Explore messaging queues for handling peak loads
- Look into event sourcing for data consistency
- Plan a security-focused session to address concerns
Facilitator: "I’ll get these action items documented and share them on our project board. Let’s aim to meet again in two weeks to check on progress. Appreciate your time and insights today."
Mini Roleplay Challenges
Challenge 1: John brings up a concern about database choices mid-discussion.
- Best Response: “Great point, John. Let’s jot that down and dive deeper after today’s session.”
Challenge 2: Sara is pushing for a specific tech stack without team consensus.
- Best Response: “Thanks, Sara. Let’s weigh the pros and cons of each option before we decide.”
Challenge 3: Alex seems disengaged and quiet.
- Best Response: “Alex, any insights from your recent work that could help with this design?”
Optional Curveball Mode
- Someone challenges the whole architecture direction.
- An important integration point was overlooked in the initial design.
- Time is running out, and key topics are still on the table.
Practice addressing these without losing focus or consensus.
Reflection Checklist
Session Flow
- Did I keep the discussion focused and productive?
- Was the architecture overview clear and concise?
- Did everyone have a chance to speak?
Technical Depth
- Did I balance technical discussions with actionable steps?
- Were next steps clear and agreed upon?
Leadership & Tone
- Was I open to different perspectives?
- Did I create an inclusive space for all voices?
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Letting one person dominate the conversation
- Overlooking security or performance issues
- Not documenting decisions and next steps
- Leaving unresolved issues hanging