A plurality of icons are presented via a graphical user interface, each of the icons representative of a template component that incorporates component-specific constraints representative of best practices in integration software development projects. Configuration information in response to configuration prompts related to a selected icon is received. In order to enforce best practices on the integration software development project, the configuration information may be compared with the component-specific constraints such that an error indication is displayed via the graphical user interface whenever the configuration information does not compare favorably with the component-specific constraints. Receipt of the selection information also causes an instance of the template component corresponding to the icon to be created, with the resulting instantiated component configured according to the configuration information. The configured component is stored as a part of a design model for the integration software development project.