stories2patterns

Yishay Mor: from stories to patterns, Nov 3rd, 2008

From stories to patterns (and back (and back again))

A pattern language network tutorial

Yishay Mor, Oct. 2008

http://patternlanguagenetwork.org/

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/


Problem: sharing design knowledge

Acceleration: the world is changing. Fast. Faster.

The design divide: access to technology is not the barrier; Access to the knowledge of how to make and use it is.

See: http://www.slideshare.net/yish/planethandheldlearning08-presentation/

http://www.slideshare.net/yish/planethandheldlearning08-presentation/

http://www.slideshare.net/yish/planethandheldlearning08-presentation/



The void

The Prophetswill tell you what should be done

The Explorerswill tell you what they did

Current discussion of learning and technology alternates between the abstract theoretical and the anecdotal.In between there is a shortage of design-level discourse.

?



Where am I? What do I do now?

You're in a hot air balloon You should find where you want to go

and land there.

Did I tell about the time I crossed the

Himalayas in a Zeppelin?



Therefore..

Collect stories of success Extract their essence as design patterns.

See: http://www.slideshare.net/yish/case-study-how-to-presentationHow to write a case story

But ...

http://www.slideshare.net/yish/case-study-how-to-presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/yish/case-study-how-to-presentation



The long way from cases to patterns

The bull can't see his horns. Practitioners are often too close to their story, the

key element of success seems obvious to them. “Oh, that's common sense”

there's nothing common about common sense. The “make something useful” pattern (aka “like,

duh?”) Avoid stating the obvious*

(yes, this is an example)



Some questions to ask a case..

What are you about? What are you an example of?

What was successful? What made it successful? What in the context was necessary for it to be successful? When might it not work? Do we have any other examples of this?



I see a pattern!

Name it (and rename later) Write it in 30 words - NOW! Fry it Sing it Draw it

C o n t e x tProblem Solution



Some questions to ask a pattern

What's your problem? What would we do without you? (why do we

need you) How are you different from X? What are your boundaries? (when are you not

relevant) Walk me through the steps



Huston. We have a problem

C o n t e x tProblem

Solution

If there isn't a problem, there's no need to design. Problems are your friends! A good problem description is half the solution.

But, describing a problem is a problem

Colliding forces:we want A, but need to satisfy B

Elimination:Where would we be without this?

Exclusion:What does this solve that a cheaperalternative couldn't



It depends (on the ...)


Too broad: applicable everywhere, but hard to apply Too narrow: immediate to apply but rare application

Feature deletion:Start from a storycontext, delete non-essential detail Boundaries:

Note where this pattern doesn't apply

Fusing:Find two examples,note common features




[describe] a problem which occurs over and over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a way that you can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice

(Alexander et al., 1977)



Back to stories: rule of three (revised*)

Find two more examples of this pattern Find one “near-miss”: similar story that doesn't

match Interrogate the stories, adjust the pattern. Link

* http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?RuleOfThree

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?RuleOfThree



..and back to the pattern

Link to related patterns Refine distinctions & refactor if needed

Draw clear lines between this and other patterns. Identify part-of / instance-of relations If needed, split into sub-patterns, add super-

patterns, or merge redundant patterns. Revisit the name & summary Present for review



Repeat.

http://xkcd.com/289/



Thank you

The pattern language network project:http://patternlanguagenetworg.org

Participate:http://snipurl.com/planet-workshops

Yishay Mor

http://www.lkl.ac.uk/people/mor.html

[email protected]

This presentationhttp://www.slideshare.net/yish/stories2patterns-presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/yish/stories2patterns-presentation


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