a term used when functional units operate in isolation, implying that projects are passed off from one group to the next without cooperation or coordination and so without regard for the needs of the downstream user; conjures up an image of objects tossed blindly over a separating wall to the next group, as in “The developers didn’t talk to marketing at all before going live, that’s an over-the-wall design” (used here as an adjective); can also be used to refer to the final delivery of a product or service, which is then irretrievably thrown over the metaphorical wall of a company to the end user