Event Storming
“Alberto Brandolini's workshop format uses coloured sticky notes to map domain events.”
Two teams work on the same system. They describe its core process completely differently. Every release, something breaks at the seam between them.
Event Storming is Alberto Brandolini's collaborative workshop format. You use coloured sticky notes to map domain events, commands, aggregates, and policies chronologically — surfacing hidden complexity by getting everyone in the room to describe what actually happens.
The best sessions are messy, argumentative, and revelatory — disagreements expose where genuine confusion exists. That's the point. Reach for it before redesigning an existing system or exploring a new domain before building, when shared understanding matters more than documentation.
The visual output creates alignment that traditional specs struggle to achieve. The technique requires wall space (physical or virtual), domain experts in the room, and willingness to embrace productive chaos. It fails on simple domains where everyone already agrees, and without the right people present it just maps one team's assumptions onto sticky notes.
Your next move: Which two teams on the same system would describe its core process completely differently if you asked them separately — and what happens at the seam between them every release?
“A stakeholder keeps changing their mind and I can't lock the scope.”