tangible HexArch

Experience architecture work
hands-on

'The Blue Zone' example with tangible HexArch - Hexagonal Architecture

What is
tangible HexArch?

tangible HexArch is a toolkit for hands-on knowledge transfer in trainings and collaborative workshops for designing Hexagonal Architectures (Ports and Adapters).

Using a tangible modelling approach to design a Hexagonal Architecture promotes architectural clarity and discipline.
The toolkit encourages reflection and discussion about design decisions as they emerge.
The physical and spatial constraints of the board are not an obstacle — they are deliberate design constraints.
Deviations from the original pattern are possible — the physical constraints force explicit, considered design decisions.
Architectural trade-offs become easy to identify and discuss.

Why a tangible board
for software design?

Training and Knowledge Transfer

Logical constraints become physically tangible boundaries. Violations of hexagonal architecture design principles are made literally graspable.

Hands-on work deepens understanding of the pattern and is an excellent complement to trainings.

Ideation and Prototyping

What would an existing service look like after a redesign with hexagonal architecture? What problems arise from the intended design?

Ideas and concepts around hexagonal architectures can be explored playfully and with low friction through tangible work.

Review and Redesign

Scenarios that cannot easily be represented by arranging the physical building blocks provide explicit signals of potentially suboptimal design, poor coupling, or violations of core hexagonal architecture principles.

Tangible design helps to identify and discuss trade-offs.

How does
tangible HexArch work?

The tangible HexArch Set consists of

the tangible board: visual reference frame for the hexagon pattern
Ports with Required and Provided Interfaces: boundary between the application and its external environment.
Driving and Driven Adapters connect the ports to external actors
Actors: encompass all external dependencies or consumers of the application
Domain Concepts: used to validate the architectural boundaries.

The tangible board makes architectural edge cases and pattern violations physically apparent, thereby initiating targeted design discussions.

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Collaborative architecture work with
tangible HexArch

Hexagonal architecture workshop with tangible HexArch Set

Visualisation of interactions between domain building blocks within a hexagonal architecture

Analysis of adapters and ports for clear separation of domain and technical concerns

Plenary phase with joint reflection and alignment of key architecture decisions

Collaborative group work on a hexagonal architecture with tangible building blocks

Facilitated team discussion on shaping ports and dependencies