Architecture Kata Brief Template

Architecture kata practice brief: client brief for teams, hidden facilitator constraints, 150-minute session plan, 20-point judging rubric

ArchitectureLeankata briefUpdated Oct 29, 2026

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How to use: Use it to run a team training session where small groups design and defend an architecture for an invented client. Write the hidden constraints first, then a deliberately vague brief. The main pitfall is putting every requirement in the brief so teams never need to ask questions.

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Architecture Kata Brief: [Kata name]

Practice brief for an architecture kata: a short, time-boxed exercise in which small teams design an architecture for an invented client, then present and defend it. The page holds the client brief that teams receive, the facilitator's hidden answers, the session plan and a judging rubric. The format follows common practice for architectural katas, an exercise first run as a conference workshop by Ted Neward. Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example.

Field	Value
Kata ID	[KATA-007]
Level	[Junior / Mid / Senior architects]
Duration	[2 hours 30 minutes]
Facilitator (client)	[@facilitator]
Last used	YYYY-MM-DD

1. Client brief (handed to teams)

Example: Harbourline Ferries (an invented regional ferry operator) runs 14 routes between islands and the mainland. It wants passengers to book, change and board with a phone, and wants crews to see live passenger counts per sailing.

Users: passengers, booking agents in 6 ports, crews on 9 vessels, operations staff.
Requirements: book and pay up to 90 days ahead; change or cancel until departure; board by scanning a code; crew view of counts and vehicle deck space.
Context: vessels have unreliable connectivity at sea; current booking runs on a 20-year-old desktop system.
Deliverables: a context diagram, the main containers or services, three key decisions with reasons, and the top two risks.

2. Facilitator notes (hidden)

Hidden constraint	Reveal when a team asks about
Example: Peak season traffic is about 8 times the winter average	Load, scaling, seasonality
Example: The maritime authority needs a passenger list before each departure	Regulation, safety, manifests
Example: Budget allows two developers to run the system after launch	Operations, team, cost
[Constraint]	[Trigger topic]

3. Session plan

Step	Minutes	What happens
Brief and questions	20	Facilitator reads section 1; teams ask the client questions
Design	60	Teams agree requirements, options and a sketch
Presentations	40	Each team presents for about 8 minutes, then takes questions
Challenge and vote	20	Other teams challenge fairly; the room scores with section 4
Retrospective	10	What surprised people, which question unlocked the design
Total	150

4. Judging rubric

Score each criterion 1 (weak) to 4 (strong). Maximum 20 points.

Criterion	1	4
Requirements discovery	Designed from the brief only	Found and used the hidden constraints
Fit to quality attributes	Qualities not named	Named the top qualities and showed how the design meets them
Decisions and trade-offs	Choices without reasons	Three decisions with alternatives and trade-offs
Risk awareness	No risks	Top risks with a mitigation or a test
Communication	Hard to follow	Clear diagram and story in the time slot

Related templates: Architecture Decision Record (architecture/adr-full), C4 Architecture (architecture/c4-architecture), Quality Attribute Workshop Report (architecture/qaw-workshop-report).

Standard and licence note

Based on the general practice of architectural katas (history and format described at https://nealford.com/katas/about.html, checked 2026-10-30). The brief, the invented client, the session plan and the rubric are original to this collection. Template licence: MIT.

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