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World Congress 2026 Europe • Jul 9, 2026 • Session details

Software Engineering for Muggles

Theresa Heine

Translating technical jargon into vivid metaphors like the chaotic Weasley house bridges the communication gap. Discover how to finally win business support for crucial infrastructure maintenance.

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#1 about 3 min

The challenge of explaining technical concepts to stakeholders

Engineers often struggle to explain the necessity of technical maintenance to business stakeholders.

#2 about 2 min

Modeling software architecture evolution with the Weasley house

The ever-expanding magical house serves as a metaphor for software that must continuously adapt to new requirements.

#3 about 3 min

Explaining the cascading complexity of software security upgrades

Upgrading a house door illustrates how updating one software component often requires extensive changes to related dependencies.

#4 about 1 min

Illustrating test environments and canary releases using metaphors

Visualizing duplicated houses and partial rollouts helps non-technical audiences understand testing strategies and deployment types.

#5 about 2 min

Improving business collaboration and prioritization through shared understanding

Breaking the technical bubble enables decision-makers to prioritize necessary engineering work and set realistic deadlines.

#6 about 2 min

Practical strategies for verifying audience comprehension in meetings

Actively checking if stakeholders understand technical discussions prevents miscommunication and encourages radical simplification.

Matching moments

3:31 min

Translating internal software complexity to external perspectives

Hendrik Lösch Hendrik Lösch · WWC 2025

2:25 min

Building engineering cultures that support long-term software architecture

Oskar Kruschitz Oskar Kruschitz · Europe 2026 Virtual

2:30 min

Overcoming the human challenges of software maintenance

Robby Russell · Coffee With Developers

3:56 min

Acknowledging the inevitability of software evolution and technology migrations

Luisa Rink Luisa Rink +1 · WWC Europe 2026

1:43 min

Summarizing the organizational benefits of platform engineering

Christian Strack · LIVE

1:54 min

Navigating essential and accidental complexity in software engineering

Alex Thurow Alex Thurow · Europe 2026 Virtual

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