> Markdown version of [/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1128-sociotechnical](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1128-sociotechnical). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md).

---

# Sociotechnical Architecture Reviews: Understanding Teams, Not Just Artefacts


- **Date:** Thursday, Jul 9, 2026
- **Time:** 15:30–16:00 (30 min)
- **Room:** Stage 2
- **Event:** World Congress 2026 Europe

## Description

At first glance, software architecture appears to be a purely technical artefact. So it should be possible to review it solely as such—or should it? In reality, an architecture is the outcome of a team’s work and a response to stakeholder requirements. It therefore makes much more sense to review architecture as the product of a sociotechnical system.
This perspective shifts the emphasis from technical artefacts to the people behind them, their goals, and their interactions. Experience has shown that this approach provides a more efficient and effective way to understand architectures than many traditional review methods.
Attendees will see how sociotechnical reviews work in practice and leave with practical techniques to improve the effectiveness of their own reviews.

## Speaker

### [Eberhard Wolff](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@eberhard-wolff)

Head of Architecture at SWAGLab


## Related talks at this congress

- [Trust code you didn't write: From code review to confidence](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/953-trust-code-you-didn) — Ben Hutchison, Carl Fagerlin
- [Confessions of a Software Archaeologist: What I Did Wrong in 10 Years of Restructuring Software](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1270-confessions-of-a) — Hendrik Lösch
- [Architecture 3.0: From 90% to 99.999% Reliability in Building AI Systems](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1211-architecture-3-0) — Ingo Eichhorst
- [Solving Architectural Entropy With Runnable Diagrams](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1151-solving) — Mourjo Sen