Conway’s law is an adage in software engineering that states that an organization’s communication structure will inevitably resemble the design of its software. It is named after Melvin Conway, who introduced the idea in a 1967 paper.

The law is based on the reasoning that for a product to function, the authors and designers of its parts must communicate with each other to ensure compatibility between the components. If an organization’s details do not closely reflect the essential functions of the product, or if the relationships between organizations do not reflect the connections between product parts, then the project will be in trouble.