How should the customer-facing portal and back-office administration panel be represented on the Architecture Canvas?

A customer-facing portal and a back-office administration panel should be represented as separate bounded contexts on the Architecture Canvas because they serve distinct functionalities and cater to different user groups. Each bounded context represents a specific aspect of the system that encapsulates its own business logic and domain model.

The customer-facing portal is designed to meet the needs of end users, providing them with a user-friendly interface and functionalities tailored for customer interactions. In contrast, the back-office administration panel is intended for internal users—such as administrators or managers—who require tools for managing operations, monitoring performance, and overseeing the application.

By having separate bounded contexts, the architecture clearly delineates the responsibilities and interactions of each part of the system, facilitating more effective development, maintenance, and understanding of the overall application. This distinction helps the team to apply different strategies, technologies, and optimizations suited to the specific needs of each user group, thus promoting better scalability and flexibility in the solution.