Patterns of Patterns (original) (raw)
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On the use of design patterns in collaborative design processes
2011
Abstract Even if the usefulness of a knowledge repository represented as a collection of design patterns is largely recognized in the literature, little work has been done in investigating and measuring the impact such a collection would have on collaborative design processes involving designers. The paper describes the results of a case study designed to bring some insight into the matter. 18 design workshops were conducted with 18 teams of undergraduate students in Computer Science.
Configuring patterns and pattern languages for systemic design Helene Finidori
This paper builds on the work on Fourth generation pattern languages-patterns as epistemic threads for systemic orientation, presented at Purplsoc 2015, and Pattern Literacy in support of Systems Literacy presented at Plop 2017. In this paper, I explore how a systemic approach to patterns and pattern language can support the concept of an act of design expressed in broader terms than the conception-to-delivery of objects or projects to be designed. In particular, I propose to include patterns in an extension of the act of design: upstream to decode the context and forces that motivate or trigger a design, and downstream to encompass the behaviors generated by the design in interaction with other designs, as well as the effects the design may produce on initial contexts and behaviors. I consider action as an act of design. This involves expressing elements constitutive of contexts and driving forces, as well as outputs or outcomes of generative designs as sign/form patterns, embedded into the formulation of a pattern as guide for design. This is part of an endeavor to bring pattern thinking and systems thinking or pattern science and systems science closer to each other, in order to further introduce pattern thinking and pattern language in the design, assessment and orientation of our socio-technological and socio-environmental systems, large or small, to better address the societal issues of our time.
Proceedings of the 23rd European Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs, 2018
In a straightforward meta-level shift of focus, we use design patterns as a medium and process for capturing insight about the process of design. We survey mainstream design genres, and draw conclusions about how they can help inform the design of intelligent systems. CCS Concepts • Computing methodologies → Knowledge representation and reasoning; • Software and its engineering → Patterns; • Human-centered computing → Collaborative interaction;
The use of design patterns in overcoming misunderstandings in collaborative interaction design
CoDesign, 2012
In collaborative design there is a need to create a shared understanding of design ideas and proposals. Misunderstandings and communication breakdowns often get in the way and need to be resolved. Little empirical research has addressed the use of design patterns in collaborative design work. An empirical study was carried out on students' collaboration while working on design tasks. Data was analyzed using interaction analysis focusing on how the participants resolved misunderstandings and communication breakdowns and the role of design patterns. Particular attention was given to gaps in the collaboration; situations where designers had difficulties understanding each other and how to continue the design work. One type of gap concerned difficulties seeing or finding solutions to problems. However, many gaps concerned how to define or frame problems underlying design proposals. The results contradict the conception that design patterns are examples serving the role of inspiration for reuse of design ideas: simply showing a pattern solution was not enough to resolve gaps. Main observations were that (1) patterns had an important role in overcoming difficulties in discussions regarding rationales and problem framing,
A design science based evaluation framework for patterns
ACM SIGMIS Database, 2010
Patterns were originally developed in the field of architecture as a mechanism for communicating good solutions to recurring classes of problems. Since then, many researchers and practitioners have created patterns to describe effective solutions to problems associated with disparate areas such as virtual project management, human-computer interaction, software development and engineering, and design science research. We believe that the development of patterns is a design science activity in which an artifact (i.e., a pattern) is created to communicate about and improve upon the current state-of-practice. Design science research has two critical components, creation and evaluation of an artifact. While many patterns have been created, few, if any, have been evaluated in this sense. In this paper, we propose a framework to evaluate patterns in any domain and provide examples of how to use the evaluation framework. This process of evaluation could help researchers refine extant patterns and improve the possibility of creating sustainable best practices for a given domain. We believe this evaluation framework begins an important dialogue related to the evaluation of patterns as artifacts of design science research. We draw upon the literature associated with patterns, evaluation of design science research, and research methods to develop this framework for evaluating patterns in a more consistent and rigorous manner.
2008
conducted a comparative study of how research teams design, develop and evaluate TEL software, in the context of component-based educational programming. They identified the issue of the social configuration of the production team as "a critical family of issues that are easily marginalized" (p.117). These social configurations are loosely equivalent to what Activity Theorists refer to as the rules and division of labour (Engeström, 1987) in the activity system of TEL production. studied four such configurations in detail and noted their relationship with the evolution of the technology and its use. These models suggest different ways of bringing the various participants involved in TEL development together. Based on the definition of interdisciplinarity (van den Besselaar and Heimeriks, 2001; Gibbons, 1994), in this chapter we detail how to support participants from different disciplines to work together in small, product-oriented groups, using design patterns. Our patterns were developed in the context of the Learning patterns for the design and deployment of mathematical games project, funded under the Kaleidoscope Network of Excellence of the European Union. Our primary aim was to develop patterns that worked at the interface between disciplines. They were focused on pragmatic ways to have teachers and technologists productively engage with each other. Furthermore, many patterns were developed from the use of particular tools in educational contexts, where the tools were developed from scratch as outputs of research projects. There was a reflection in the patterns of the need for participants to understand each others' practices in order to achieve integrated development. DiSessa et al. (ibid) reflect on the fact that teachers can find it "difficult and sometimes intimidating to participate as equal contributors in a technology-based development process" and suggest that effective management of collaboration can address this problem. As distinct from DiSessa's four models, we identified a somewhat more complex emerging structure, that of a development network, where distributed groups with local expertise use a pattern language to share their expertise, sometimes in collaborative longterm projects, sometimes in ad-hoc exchanges. A detailed analysis of this model is presented in this chapter. What is clear at this stage is that a successful model needs to empower all partners in the design process, avoiding 'producer-consumer' and 'sage-hal-00588746, version 1 -
Dealing with abstraction: Case study generalisation as a method for eliciting design patterns
Computers in Human Behavior, 2009
Developing a pattern language is a non-trivial problem. A critical requirement is a method to support pattern writers with abstraction, so as they can produce generalised patterns. In this paper, we address this issue by developing a structured process of generalisation. It is important that this process is initiated through engaging participants in identifying initial patterns, i.e. directly dealing with the 'cold-start' problem. We have found that short case study descriptions provide a productive 'way into' the process for participants. We reflect on a 1-year interdisciplinary pan-European research project involving the development of almost 30 cases and over 150 patterns. We provide example cases, detailing the process by which their associated patterns emerged. This was based on a foundation for generalisation from cases with common attributes. We discuss the merits of this approach and its implications for pattern development.
Configuring Patterns and Pattern Languages for Systemic Inquiry and Design
Proceedings of the 25th Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (PLoP), 2018
This paper builds on work relating to pattern languages for social change, such as in the papers titled Fourth generation pattern languages-patterns as epistemic threads for systemic orientation, and Pattern Literacy in support of Systems Literacy presented to the Systems Science and Pattern Language communities between 2015 and 2017. It is part of an endeavor to bring pattern thinking and systems thinking, or pattern science and systems science, closer to each other, in order to further introduce pattern thinking and pattern language in the design, assessment and orientation of our socio-technological and socio-environmental systems, large or small, to better address the societal issues of our time. It complements several initiatives to put pattern languages at the service of sustainability and societal change, and to introduce pattern thinking and pattern language into systems thinking and systemic design. My broader aim is to enhance the innate patterning capability of human beings and thus an overall pattern literacy in support of systems literacy. Pattern literacy manifests our ability to grasp, learn, assemble, represent and mobilize patterns to make-sense of, converse about and shape our world(s). Systems literacy manifests our ability to interrogate and attempt to understand the relationships among systems wholes and parts, and the mechanisms that affect and shape our world(s), in part or as a whole. In this paper, I explore how a systemic approach to patterns and pattern language could support systemic inquiry and systemic design, and more generally the advancement of pattern language. In particular, I discuss the extension of the act of design to encompass the systemic inquiry that motivates a design and the ongoing monitoring of the fitness of a design to its intended purpose. I examine the multiple facets and understandings of the concept of pattern and show how they can be reconciled to include both the inquiry or observational/informational aspects and the design aspects of patterns in a larger systems framework. In this light, I reexamine the appropriateness of the pattern expressed in problem-solution form in the context of complex systems, and the notion of generativity, and I propose ways forward for extended definitions and pattern forms.