IMPLEMENTING DOMAIN DRIVEN DESIGN AT ESSENT
In 2022 the energy market changed overnight. The Russian invasion of Ukraine caused prizes to go up. Demand exploded. Traffic on our website spiked to ten or twenty times the normal level. Systems could not keep up. Essent faced website outages and long queues. Customers suffered the most. Many struggled with huge bills and called in distress. The crisis became a wake up call.
Essent decided to rethink everything. The company shifted toward becoming a tech driven organization. Part of that shift was the adoption of domain driven design. With help from experts, teams learned new ways to shape their systems and their collaboration.
Domain Driven Design helps teams understand the real problem first. It creates one shared language between business and engineering. It supports building software that is easier to change. It also encourages people to work together in a more natural way.
The impact became visible fast. A new developer could learn the entire domain in one sprint. Teams delivered features quicker. They improved stability. Collaboration between departments grew stronger. Event storming sessions brought people together. Business experts and developers solved problems side by side. Trust increased.
The first big experiment turned into a working product within six months. Other teams adopted the same tools and practices. Leadership also embraced the new way of thinking. Initial doubts faded once results came in. Delivery speed increased and teams felt more ownership. Work became more enjoyable.
The journey was not always easy. But the benefits are clear. Faster delivery. Better teamwork. More clarity. And a tech culture that keeps evolving.
The main advice from the Essent teams is simple. Keep the real goal in mind. Do not treat DDD as a goal by itself. Involve business and IT together from the start. Build trust. And stay close as one team, even in challenging moments.
Essent’s experience shows what is possible when people commit to learning and working differently. It shows that a crisis can spark real transformation. And it shows that the right collaboration can turn complexity into progress.