Pattern Languages for Public Problem Solving

Seven Seeds for Theory and Practice

November 14, 2014Krems, Austria

Douglas SchulerThe Evergreen State College

The Public Sphere Project

• Purpose: Exploring opportunities for focusing our work

• Disclaimer: This work is exploratory. I’m not attempting to be definitive or authoritative.

• Approach: A vision, followed by seven seeds with questions and ideas (not answers). (And the seeds are not autonomous.)

Pattern languages could play vital roles in helping to bring about positive social change.

Vision

How might this come about?• Pattern languages could help document the problem solving aspects in a

given domain (e.g. nature of problem, forces, indicators, marshaling resources, resolving problems and sub-problems, goals)

• Pattern language development could provide community building opportunities (to do one project — but also to promote / shepherd / market the ability for others to do the same)

• Pattern languages could provide additional opportunities if they were more accessible, attractive, and easier to use

• Pattern languages could promote interdisciplinary work by providing a shared “neutral” language

• Pattern languages could promote distributed, loosely coordinated work

Seven Seeds1. Appeal2. Use3. Theory4. Meta-patterns5. Cataloging & Formalization6. Public Problem Domains7. Community

SEED 1

• What do we like about patterns & pattern languages? (this I will not try to bias here…)

• Why do we think they’d be useful for social change?• problem-solving orientation• good level of generality• holistic, systems orientation• more!

Appeal

SEED 2

1. About patterns & pattern languages themselves (generative processes, piecemeal growth, network-based, …)

2. About the use of patterns & pattern languages

Theory

Two main types (I think):

SEED 3 (1/9)

• In what ways are pattern languages used? • In what ways could pattern languages be used?• How can we make pattern languages more useful

and accessible?• What barriers are there?• What difference does the actual form make? • Is there pattern language life-cycle?• And can / should a methodology be formalized?

Use

In what ways are and could pattern languages used? • By whom? Children? students? activists?• In what arena or setting?• Using what guidelines, scripts, or protocol• For what purpose?

SEED 3 (2/9)Use

SEED 3 (3/9)

• What difference does the form make? Cards, games, master plan, online, posters, interviews, multi-media productions (StreamScapes)

• Patterns and pattern languages can be thought of as “social objects” [See Iba Tasashi’s dialogue workshop]

Use

SEED 3 (4/9)Use

Game based on patterns

SEED 3 (5/9)Use

Onlinegame

SEED 3 (6/9)Use

Poster — English & Spanish

Anti-Patterns

SEED 3 (7/9)Use

Patterns in Russian ~~ surviving the cultural & translational trip?

SEED 3 (8/9)Use

Turning patterns into action

Worksheets: Kenneth Gillgren

SEED 3 (9/9)Use

More action planning

Worksheets: Kenneth Gillgren

SEED 4

Can / should we develop a meta-pattern language (or?) that would help us throughout the pattern language life-cycle. (Or is that too meta??)

Meta-patterns

GeneratingSelectingUsing (to generate

ideas; for planning; for fostering imagination, group skills, etc.)

Configuring (arranging)

RefiningLinking AnnotatingDiscussingCritiquing CombiningSplitting

EvaluatingValidatingIndexing CategorizingIncentivizing Problem mapping VisualizingStakeholder identifying

SEED 5 (1/3)

1. Reference model is a union of the features in the patterns of the world’s pattern languages

2. “Card catalog” contains references (and links) to the world’s pattern languages

3. Computer support for everything we need…• API and/or database sharing access to parts of patterns,

access to multiple pattern languages

• Is it possible to formalize the representation of the force diagram (syntactically and with a shared tag-set) to accommodate more sharing?

Cataloging and Formalization

Voices of the Unheard (LV)

Retreat and Reflection (LV)

Seasoned Timing (GW)

Connection to the Earth (APL)

Online Deliberation (LV)Floor Surface (APL)Purpose (GW)Spirit (GW)

Big Tent for Social Change (LV)

Power Research (LV) Go Meta (GW)

Seeing the Forest, Seeing the Trees (GW)

SEED 5 (2/3)Cataloging and FormalizationComputer-Aided-MashupRandom patterns from three pattern languages were selected as an experiment in “forced connections”

PATTERN LANGUAGE RE-MIX

Retreat and ReflectionSeasoned Timing Connection to the Earth

Image for Seasoned Timing: Liz WestSEED 5 (3/3)

SEED 6

Work with a small number of communities to develop pattern languages collaboratively. This could focus attention (including our own) and we could learn by doing how pattern languages could help.

Suggestions: Climate Change, Government and Business Corruption, Public Education (not just “Education in the Public Schools”)

Public Problem Domain(s)

SEED 7

Strengthen our communities (which includes us, potential vs actual direct users, potential vs actual indirect users)

Community

How to attract people, attention, and resources and grow.

last word…

Thanks!

Understand our own interest around pattern languages

Expand our community

Critique and improve these seeds…