I'm Rebecca Wirfs-Brock. This is where you will find my current research, musings, and many contributions to software design and development in the form of books, articles, blog posts, essays, papers, patterns, presentations, and podcasts. This site is an ongoing work in progress.

I am an object design pioneer who invented the set of design practices known as Responsibility-Driven Design (RDD). By accident I started the x-Driven Design meme (TDD, DDD, BDD…) and along the way authored two popular object design books that are still in print. Recently, I collaborated with Mathias Verraes to write several essays about modeling and models, which are collected in the book, Design and Reality.

I help software developers, architects, technical leads, product managers, analysts, and testers hone their modeling, design, architecture, communication, and thinking skills. In addition to coaching and personal mentoring, I occasionally conduct workshops and give talks on a variety of topics. I enjoy collaborating with others, especially to tease out, reflect on, and then share our personal design heuristics.

My current research interests center around the cognitive and social aspects of software architecture and design, domain modeling, and collaboration. I'm particularly interested in architecture decision-making, generative pattern languages, personal design heuristics, and practical ways to characterize, design, and evolve complex socio-technical systems.