One of the essential skills in the practice of Business Technology Architecture is the ability to communicate complex concepts to the many different stakeholders within an organization, including other architects. The concepts and designs used to construct an architecture are often intangible—that is, we cannot see or touch elements of the architecture. Therefore, the architect constructs views or models of the architectural world that are understandable to other architects and stakeholders.
Another purpose of views is to serve as an analytical tool for the architect, enabling them to visualize and explore multiple alternative solutions to any given architectural problem. This can be as simple as drawing lines and shapes on a whiteboard or constructing diagrams and models using architectural tools. To make views understandable, the architect must assign meaning to these lines and shapes so that a broader audience can comprehend them, facilitating collaboration around the architecture and design. The way a view is presented depends on the stakeholder. The inspiration for this view library originates from a common query that frequently arises in many architecture assignments: “Which views should we use to describe our architecture/design?”
Views And Architecture Assignments
No two architecture assignments are the same, and the views used to describe the architecture are selected based on the assignment’s needs. The types of architecture views an architect can produce are limitless, as we combine various elements and relationships to express a particular perspective of an architecture. However, views can quickly become complex or difficult to understand, which in many cases defeats the purpose of illustrating the view.
In this respect, we can think of views in terms of primary views and composite views.
Primary And Composite Views
The primary views are the building blocks of the architecture and are often the starting point when analyzing an assignment. These views typically contain very few types of elements and relationships. The purpose of a primary view is to describe a single aspect of the architecture, such as the actors, an information structure, or a process.
The composite views expand on and combine multiple elements from the primary views, allowing for the construction of more complex solution scenarios. For example, a composite view might illustrate a process while also showing the actors and systems that interact with that process.
The idea is to first define the primary views before constructing composite views; otherwise, communicating the architecture to stakeholders may become challenging.
Why Do We Need A View Library?
The Architecture Mindset View Library provides a selection of primary and composite views that can be used for any given architecture assignment, whether you are architecting enterprises, business or solutions. The library is intended as a source of inspiration rather than a set of strict rules or conventions and is a source of information that is free to use, provided that attribution is given to ArchitectureMindset.com for any derivative works in accordance with Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The purpose of the library is to contribute to the business technology architecture profession by providing a reference for commonly used architecture views. The intention is to aid architects in building solid architectures that deliver great value to all concerned stakeholders.
Architecture Mindset 