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Conway’s Law of Engineering Management

Conway’s Law, a principle coined by computer programmer Melvin Conway in 1967, states that “organizations which design systems are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations.” In simple terms, the way teams are structured within a company directly influences the architecture of the software they build. If teams are siloed or fragmented, the software systems they create will reflect that disjointedness, and vice versa – collaborative teams tend to build more cohesive systems. This is best explained via the following simplistic illustration: At Nexxen, we’ve witnessed this law in action many times, both in positive and challenging ways. Below are a few real-world examples where Conway’s Law was applied, intentionally or otherwise, and how it shaped our technical architecture and team structure. The Monolith Several years ago, Nexxen acquired a successful ad-tech firm that had built an impressive and feature-rich platform. However, it came with one significant architectural challenge: it was built as a monolith. A single, unified codebase where all functionality is tightly coupled. While such systems may be easier to develop in the early stages, they come with several long-term downsides. Such applications usually demonstrate slower development and scaling limitations given the butterfly effect, where for example, changing one line of code in the UI may impact the data-science codebase. It was clear we needed to break down this monolith and transition to a distributed architecture with microservices. Distributed services allow different components of the system (e.g., runtime, front-end, data) to operate independently, making the system easier to scale, maintain, and deploy. To make this transition, we reorganized the original monolithic development teams into several smaller groups, each focused on a specific domain – such as runtime, front-end, and data. These new teams, now more autonomous, were incentivized to take ownership of their respective areas, leading to the natural evolution of independent services. Each group began decoupling their domain from the monolith and building it as a standalone service. As Conway’s Law dictates, as our communication structure shifted, the software followed, evolving from a monolithic architecture into distributed microservices Distributed teams lead to misalignment Not all outcomes of the newly distributed team structure were purely positive. As teams became more independent, we noticed an increase in the rate of production issues. The issue wasn’t with the teams’ capabilities, but rather with a lack of alignment between them. As each team focused on its own service, communication across teams diminished, and this misalignment led to inconsistencies. Because the teams were operating in silos, the systems they built reflected that disconnection. The architecture had become fragmented, with services not always communicating well or adhering to shared practices. Fearing the return of the monolith, we introduced a more structured communication framework, leaving the teams independent. For example, we implemented a rigid Slack structure, ensuring all teams had dedicated channels for cross-team collaboration, changes, and feedback. We created clear guidelines for communicating changes early and soliciting feedback across teams. Another example would be the enforcement of regular cross-team meetings and a shared response system that improved communication, leading to faster resolution times and better alignment across services. By improving the communication structure, we were able to reduce production issues and bring the architecture into better alignment with the business’s needs. Freedom vs. Alignment Another example of Conway’s Law at play can be seen in our front-end development teams. Nexxen operates several independent product lines, each with its own front-end application. Each product line is supported by its own development team, leading to a natural separation in how teams approach their work. Over time, this autonomy led to diverse tool choices – teams were using different logging frameworks, testing tools, monitoring solutions, and even CI/CD pipelines. There are clear advantages to allowing teams to choose their own tools, such as increased ownership and innovation, but it raised the challenge of inconsistent practices. Each team’s differing choices in tools made it harder to maintain, monitor, and support these applications at a company-wide level. To address this, we reorganized the teams under a single department, while maintaining the independence of each team’s product line. This shared management layer ensured alignment on core tools and protocols (logging, testing, monitoring, etc.) while preserving the benefits of autonomy where it made sense. This approach allowed us to standardize critical infrastructure while giving teams the freedom to innovate within their domains. Conclusion Conway’s Law has been a guiding principle at Nexxen, sometimes intentionally and other times revealed through experience. Whether breaking down a monolith, dealing with the challenges of distributed teams, or balancing autonomy with alignment, we’ve learned that organizational structure and communication are just as critical to system design as the technologies we choose. By being mindful of how teams interact, we’ve been able to shape our architecture to better serve the business – and ultimately, our customers. Read Next
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Linkedin Icon-xtwitterlogo-black Leveraging its proprietary Discovery platform, Nexxen has unearthed unique data on the Hispanic and Latine electorate in swing states and across the U.S. New York, October 1, 2024 – Nexxen, a global, unified advertising technology platform with deep expertise in video and Connected TV (“CTV”), has conducted original research utilizing its proprietary Discovery tool to reveal insights into the types of online content with which Hispanic/Latine voters in swing states like Arizona and Nevada, as well as across the U.S., are engaging. This in-depth analysis offers a unique view into the interests and media consumption habits of one of the country’s most influential voter blocs ahead of the 2024 election. The study, conducted using Nexxen Discovery, delves into the preferences of U.S. adults aged 18+ who identify as Hispanic/Latine. With data drawn from a diverse array of sources – including proprietary user web panels, ad exposure, TV viewership, bid streams and first-party data – Nexxen Discovery has identified key trends that may be shaping the political landscape for Hispanic/Latine voters. Key findings include: Hispanic/Latine voters in Arizona prioritize gun control, immigration and reproductive rights more than other hot-button issues, while those in Nevada are more heavily focused on the recent rise in COVID-19 cases and price-gouging The ways Hispanic/Latine generations consume content vary drastically – Boomers+ prefer in-depth analysis, Millennials gravitate towards simplicity and Gen Z is drawn to sensationalism While sports content is at the top of the list to find the 25+ demographic, the younger generation is more likely to be reached on fandom and fantasy sites “Recognizing the rich nuance of our population is more important than ever, especially in today’s complex political landscape,” said Sham Mathis, Director of Research at Nexxen. “A blanket strategy simply won’t work when we consider the diverse backgrounds, experiences and beliefs that shape people’s perspectives, including their political leanings. By diving deeper into the data – as we’ve done in this report – we can uncover critical insights that allow advertisers and campaigns to connect with voters on a more personal level. Ultimately, we believe understanding these nuances is key to delivering impactful and resonant messaging.” Nexxen Discovery provides insights that enable marketers and political campaigns to better understand and connect with target audiences, including the Hispanic/Latine community. To learn more about Nexxen Discovery and view the full Hispanic/Latine voter report, ‘The Pivotal Electorate,’ please visit pages.nexxen.com/pivotalelectorate. Methodology For this report, Nexxen conducted data analysis that explored distinct segments of the adult 18+ population, such as age and race/ethnicity. Custom audiences were built to allow for deeper analysis of each segment. The audience in this report is a custom group designed for Nexxen Discovery insights. It consists of US adults aged 18+ of Hispanic/Latine ethnicity. More specifically, this audience was built using Nexxen’s standard methodology, focusing on over-indexing topic areas for the Hispanic/Latine electorate. By identifying top phrases and keywords from specific websites in the audience’s native language (e.g., Spanish) and predicating the audience was built on engagement behavior, Nexxen was able to achieve a geographic and political balance. Census data also helped ensure the audience accurately represented that of the U.S. Hispanic/Latine demographic. Insights were derived from Nexxen’s proprietary audience discovery technology, Discovery. Discovery data is based on online user consumption/engagement and comes from wide-ranging online sources, such as: proprietary user web panels, ad exposure and TV viewership, bid streams and first-party data. About Nexxen Nexxen empowers advertisers, agencies, publishers and broadcasters around the world to utilize data and advanced TV in the ways that are most meaningful to them. Our flexible and unified technology stack comprises a demand-side platform (“DSP”) and supply-side platform (“SSP”), with the Nexxen Data Platform at its core. With streaming in our DNA, Nexxen’s robust capabilities span discovery, planning, activation, monetization, measurement and optimization – available individually or in combination – all designed to enable our partners to reach their goals, no matter how far-reaching or hyper niche they may be. Nexxen is headquartered in Israel and maintains offices throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia-Pacific, and is traded on the London Stock Exchange (AIM: NEXN) and NASDAQ (NEXN). For more information, visit www.nexxen.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “can,” “will,” “estimates,” and other similar expressions. However, these words are not the only way Nexxen identifies forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements regarding the benefits associated with any of Nexxen’s products and platforms including the Nexxen Discovery Tool, cross-screen measurement tools, Data Platform and CTV offering. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause Nexxen’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from its expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: negative global economic conditions; global conflicts and war, including the current terrorist attacks by Hamas, and the war and hostilities between Israel and Hamas and Israel and Hezbollah, and how those conditions may adversely impact Nexxen’s business, customers, and the markets in which Nexxen competes. Nexxen cautions you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of these factors, and other factors that could cause actual results to vary materially, interested parties should review the risk factors listed in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov) on March 6, 2024. Any forward-looking statements made by Nexxen in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release, and Nexxen does not intend to update these forward-looking
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