The document discusses how platform teams can reduce cognitive load for application teams. It argues that platform teams should provide a curated internal platform with supported "golden paths" to reduce complexity. The presentation provides an example using EasyEaty to demonstrate how a platform team can offer self-service tools and environments to simplify the developer experience of deploying code. Key takeaways recommend that organizations identify their existing golden paths and look for ways to improve the developer experience and guide developers along a supported route to production.

1. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Reduce Cognitive Load: Pave the
Golden Path On Your Internal Platform
Mauricio Salatino
@salaboy
VMware
Paula Kennedy
@PaulaLKennedy
Syntasso

2. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Who are we?
Mauricio Salatino (he / him)
Staff Engineer, VMware
for Knative OSS Project
@salaboy

3. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Paula Kennedy (she / her)
Chief Operating Officer,
Syntasso
@PaulaLKennedy
Who are we?
github.com/syntasso/kratix

4. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
What are we talking about?
● Why?
○ definitions / explain the
problem space
● How?
○ demo practical example of one
way to do this, using open
source tools
● Key takeaways?
○ recommendations / steps to try
Reduce Cognitive Load:
Pave the Golden Path
On Your Internal
Platform
Photo by Akshay Nanavati
https://unsplash.com/photos/JYM97WANxcQ

5. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Why?
Source: https://www.cncf.io/reports/cncf-annual-survey-2021/
“5.6 million developers
using Kubernetes today”

6. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Why?

7. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Why?

8. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Why?
“The cognitive load involved in a task is the cognitive effort (or amount
of information processing) required by a person to perform this task.”
(Reif, 2010)
Source: https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/cognitive-load-theory-and-its-application-in-the-classroom/
“Cognitive load theory asserts that learning is hampered when working
memory capacity is exceeded in a learning task”. (De Jong, 2010)

9. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Why?

10. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Why?

11. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Why?
“An internal platform in nearly all cases isnʼt something you
can buy outright. Itʼs something that is built and tailored to
the needs of your technology organization.“
Source: Puppet State of DevOps Report 2021

12. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Why?
Photo by Akshay Nanavati https://unsplash.com/photos/JYM97WANxcQ

13. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
How? EasyEaty example
Product Team 1
Product Team 2
Product Team 3
Platform Team

14. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Products & Platforms

15. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
“Platform”, whatʼs that?

16. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Platform Cluster - Compositions with Crossplane

17. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Platform Cluster - CI/CD for teams

18. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Platform Cluster - Self-Service and Gluing Tools together

19. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Environments for Developers

20. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Promises

21. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Developer Experience, itʼs not all about creating clusters

22. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Key Takeaways
● Modern technology landscape is complex = there is plenty of cognitive load
to go around

23. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Key Takeaways
● Modern technology landscape is complex = there is plenty of cognitive load
to go around
● Platform Teams can reduce cognitive load for Application Teams by
providing a curated platform and supported Golden Paths

24. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Key Takeaways
● Modern technology landscape is complex = there is plenty of cognitive load
to go around
● Platform Teams can reduce cognitive load for Application Teams by
providing a curated platform and supported Golden Paths
● Developers need good Developer Experience and a self-serve, supported
path to get their code to production

25. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Key Takeaways
● Modern technology landscape is complex = there is plenty of cognitive load
to go around
● Platform Teams can reduce cognitive load for Application Teams by
providing a curated platform and supported Golden Paths
● Developers need good Developer Experience and a self-serve, supported
path to get their code to production
● What golden paths exist in your organisation? Can they be improved?

26. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Continuous Delivery for Kubernetes
● 35% Discount on MEAP
● Code: ctwdevoxxuk22

27. #DevoxxUK @salaboy @PaulaLKennedy
Thank You!
Mauricio Salatino
@salaboy
VMware
Paula Kennedy
@PaulaLKennedy
Syntasso