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#+Title: PATTERNS OF PATTERNS
# #+AUTHOR: Ligne Étale
# #+Date: June 14th 2021
#+CATEGORY: ERG
#+OPTIONS: toc:nil author:nil date:nil title:nil H:4
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#+BIBLIOGRAPHY: /home/joe/PatternsOfPatterns/main.bib
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#+BEGIN_EXPORT latex
\hspace{.25\textwidth}\begin{minipage}{.75\textwidth}
\emph{‘Sire,
know that while wandering through the forest I saw an ancient
path, an ancient road travelled upon by people in the past. I
followed it and saw an ancient city, an ancient capital that had
been inhabited by people in the past, with parks, groves, ponds,
and ramparts, a delightful place. Renovate that city, sire!’}
Saṁyutta Nikāya Connected Discourses on Causation 12.65. The City;
quoted in \cite{batchelor2015after}
\end{minipage}
#+END_EXPORT
* Abstract :noexport:
:PROPERTIES:
:UNNUMBERED: t
:END:
<<Abstract>>
** Notes: Review version
- Audience somewhat ready
- Background added, conclusions to add to abstract
- After Action Review OK, let’s do it ourselves
- Title explained in Section 1 — could we put a note about ‘X of X’ (see Leo’s notes)
- What are the broader aims... — "GET GRANTS", "GUIDANCE FOR DISTRIBUTED COMMUNITIES" E.g., these existing specific distributed communities and methods that we do in the paper; futurists, design, peeragogy, emacs research group; the paper is something like a paper prototype of something we could actually build at some stage. How best to take it up we don’t fully state but we give lots of leads.
- "We are actually able to help solve problems using these methods!" — Is it practical for patterns community?
- "Fellowship" of methods and communities as the hero. This could go right into the abstract.
- We’ve removed a bunch of stuff, rephrasing, restructured to flow better. Leo will wreck everything. It’s just about ready. So we don’t need more overhaul.
- Challenges as part of an overview... finish on a positive note?
- Abstract presents our wares, and we’re working on that now.
- We think that the concepts are nicely framed now. Joe teaser for another paper: rant about "that which arises falls away"
- Last edits Saturday following the ERG check-in
*** Red pen before Monday, maybe based on any final feedback from Noorah or others?
- Are there 3 or 4 things in here that we could move elsewhere and just reference?
*** Joe soapbox:
- Grant proposal with Abby is very linked
- Second half revision pending.
- Not much need to further discuss the paper... MM has pretty much accepted the paper and wants to develop ideas further.
- Alex is thinking about how to bring these things w/ him into industry, continuing to collaborate with us on research in some form.
- Noorah similarly into practical policy development
- We’d like to put out a new edition of the Peeragogy Handbook sometime, this is pretty closely related to this work
- There could be an ERG remix
*** If raising questions are part of the contribution
- Thinking about patterns contextually — what does this mean?
** Notes: Conference version
*** 1. You might ask yourselves, therefore, where do you think the paper is weakest, and might benefit from improvement?
<<weakest>>
Part of our /intention/ with this paper was to create something that
people in different fields could read. We haven’t confirmed that they
can. In principle we could have one paper that can be read in
multiple different ways.
*** 2. Are there areas that could be made clearer?
<<clearer>>
Again, this depends on the background of the reader. Assume a primary
audience of PLoP readers, they will know what a pattern is, but they
won’t know much about /future studies/ or /CLA/. Maybe it would be useful
to give them some more *Background* on these topics?
*** 3. Are there sections that could be trimmed, perhaps taken aside for a later paper?
<<trimmed>>
*** 4. [...] could some of that be collated into a second, later paper?
<<later>>
*** [5.] Also, his broader question about "next steps", and our related in-house ambition to do a review of the process.
<<next_steps>>
* Introduction
<<Introduction>>
In 1999, the architect Christopher Alexander discussed the future of
design patterns with an audience of programmers cite:alexander1999a.
We revisit this topic, aided by an method from the field of future
studies. We use this method to analyse design pattern
literature and practices, and, additionally, present a practical case
study in which we deploy design patterns together with futuring and
distributed project management methods. Building on these
explorations, we develop several scenarios charactising potential
directions for the development of design pattern methods. The contribution of the paper is
simultaneously theoretical and practical. Towards realising the
promise of design patterns, we aim for an excavation and reworking of
the theory.
We begin by recalling that Christopher Alexander thought about
patterns in both a fundamental and a methodological sense.
#+begin_quote
/As an element in the world/, each pattern is a relationship between a
certain context, a certain system of forces which occurs repeatedly in
that context, and a certain spatial configuration which allows these
forces to resolve themselves.\medskip
/As an element of language/, a pattern is an instruction, which shows
how this spatial configuration can be used, over and over again, to
resolve the given system of forces, wherever the context makes it
relevant. \citep[p.~247]{alexander1979a} (our emphasis)
#+end_quote
Patterns in the first sense are basically physical in nature. /Design/
comes into play with the second sense. Leitner summarised how this is
meant to work: ``Patterns are shared as complete methodic descriptions
intended for practical use by experts and non-experts''
cite:leitner2015a.
We now ask: what happens if we think about patterns in the second
sense from the vantage point of the first sense? Already there are a
number of practical texts that use patterns (in the second sense) to
talk about patterns (again in the second sense): they share methods
that aid in discovery, writing, workshopping, and the broader
application of design patterns. By contrast we develop a more
fundamental analysis, and to use this to work towards a new level of
practicality.
Granted, the relevant forces are no longer simply physical, but are
socially distributed and culturally determined. Architects, computer
scientists, and institutional designers have all had very different
things to say about design patterns. We will, additionally, combine
design patterns with methods that originate in future studies and
elite training. We will suggest that these methods can be used
together to tackle problems both big and small.
** Outline of Methods
:PROPERTIES:
:UNNUMBERED: t
:END:
<<outline_of_methods>>
We detail three methods which can help a community carry out
self-evaluation and peer learning. Each has natural
use-cases when considered in isolation. When combined, the methods
provide a more holistic mixed pattern, as will be described in due
course. Our
focus is on scaffolding social perception, cognition, and action (Table \ref{tab:acronyms}).
The tripartite division here mirrors classical
psychology cite:Hilgard1980, and continues to be
relevant in contemporary neuroscience cite:Teufel2020,Friston2013.
\begin{echo}
\begin{table}[h]
\begin{tabular}{llll}
\emph{Key verbs:} & perceive & think & act\\[.2cm]
\emph{Scientists refer to:}& “sensory” & “cognitive” & “motor” systems\\[.2cm]
\emph{Our implementation:}&
\begin{minipage}{1in}
\textbf{P}roject\newline
\textbf{A}ction\newline
\textbf{R}eview
\end{minipage}&
\begin{minipage}{1in}
\textbf{C}ausal\newline
\textbf{L}ayered\newline
\textbf{A}nalysis
\end{minipage}
&
\begin{minipage}{1in}
\textbf{D}esign\newline
\textbf{P}attern\newline
\textbf{L}anguages
\end{minipage}
\end{tabular}
\vspace{.5cm}
\caption{Three acronyms used in this paper: PAR, CLA, and DPL\label{tab:acronyms}}
\end{table}
\end{echo}
*** Project Action Review (PAR) is the sensory element: systematically gathering and verifying observational data.
:PROPERTIES:
:UNNUMBERED: t
:END:
The Project Action Review is structured around five questions which
members of a community discuss and answer together. This practice
generates a record of an event, as seen through the eyes of the
participants. In the moment, the PAR allows us to draw out views
which might have gone unstated otherwise. Over time, projects which
use PARs improve their chances of staying grounded in reality as
circumstances evolve. We can additionally use PARs to help check how
effectively we are using other methods.
*** Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) is the cognitive element: giving organization and depth to the enterprise.
:PROPERTIES:
:UNNUMBERED: t
:END:
The goal of this methodology is to achieve a deep and inclusive
understanding by integrating empiricist, interpretative, critical, and
actionable knowledge surrounding a topic of concern. Without an
integrated understanding, a group runs the risk of getting lost in a
muddle of details. CLA can pull together information logged in PARs
into a coherent body of self-knowledge. It can also help to surface
concerns that might remain implicit in pattern language: for example,
CLA could help us understand why we had prized a technological
solution to what, upon consideration, turned out to be a fundamentally
social issue (or vice-versa).
*** Design Pattern Language (DPL) is the motor element: orchestrating and scaffolding action
:PROPERTIES:
:UNNUMBERED: t
:END:
Having carefully analyzed the situation and identified possible
solution pathways, we must plot a course of action that accounts for the
complexities of the situation. Individual design patterns present
solutions to recurring problems: they can be combined with other
patterns and adapted to different situations. A DPL is a common
language which a community can use to discuss matters of design; it
serves as a repository of shared knowledge. The flexibility of DPLs
allows the structure to be customized to our particular circumstances
as they evolve.
** Summary of Findings
:PROPERTIES:
:UNNUMBERED: t
:END:
- We used Causal Layered Analysis to describe the evolution of Design Pattern Language methods in response to criticism, innovation, technical developments, and long-term cultural change. We additionally surface some of the forces and tensions in the discourse.
- We used Design Pattern Language methods, together with Project Action Reviews and Causal Layered Analysis, to organise a research seminar. Our case study shows how the methods can be fruitfully combined, and suggests how others might take up the combined methods.
- We reflect on these processes to scaffold our discussion of the future of design patterns.
** Supplementary Material
:PROPERTIES:
:UNNUMBERED: t
:END:
\begin{echo}
In order to support a concise treatment of our core findings, we supply details of our Analysis and Case Study in Appendix \ref{Analysis} and Appendix \ref{Case_study}, respectively.
Our methods are further illustrated in additional supplements.
Appendix \ref{appendix-pars} contains a sample Project Action Review.
Appendix \ref{appendix-pizza} contains a short story that
can be used to become acquainted with Causal Layered Analysis.
Several patterns in Appendix \ref{appendix} are referred
to by name in the text. Henceforth, text in \textsc{Small Caps}
references external patterns, whereas ALL-CAPS references patterns
listed in this paper and the Appendix.
Lastly, Appendix \ref{flaws-appendix} contains a workshop design that accompanies
the paper and makes some of the ideas within it interactive.
\end{echo}
# Clarify punctuation usage? Certainly with coauthors!
* Background
# Batchelor fits w/ Sarkar, epilogue to Inyatullah
Perception, cognition, and action are necessary functions for all
living beings, and even for robots cite:cassimatis2004integrating.
Some of this thinking can be applied to organisations, as in the work
of Stafford Beer cite:beer1972brain. However, it is harder to say
what it means to be a well-functioning society; and what it means to be
a good member of a society in a time of crisis is a longstanding question.
Alexander’s hopeful stance on the generation of a living world cite:alexander1999a currently
comes up a climate crisis. How are we to understand design patterns in this context? Stephen Batchelor writes:
“If I am to take this crisis with the seriousness I feel it deserves,
then I need to align my thoughts and actions. I require a coherent
worldview to provide a rational and ethical foundation for my
behavior” cite:batchelor2020embracing.
Perhaps pattern methods could fill part of this need. On the one
hand, patterns could simply be regarded the paragon of the “technical
mindset” (/ibid./, here and in quotes throughout this paragraph), a growing repository of technical fixes.
However, thinking at a deeper level, pattern methods also suggest themselves as a
methodology that can help “imagine how human communities might come to
flourish in a radically changed world” and articulate “forms of
collective action that can respond to the climate emergency that
threatens life on Earth”. As we begin this exploration it is useful
to juxtapose our exploration of patterns against a macro-historical
scale.
#+begin_quote
For Sarkar, there have been four historical ways humans have dealt
with their physical and social environment: either by being dominated
by it, by dominating it through the body, dominating it through the
mind, or dominating it through the environment
itself. cite:inayatullah1999situating
#+end_quote
# Along with human societies, community assembly of ecosystems cite:Weiher2011,Capitn2009
# and the growth of embryos cite:Franois2010 are two natural examples of processes that have
# `futures'. These natural processes are ordered, not only in space but
# also in time. Reflecting on these examples, we see more clearly why
# it is that futurists and designers can benefit by connecting with each
# other: in order to work together across time and space at various
# scales.
We emphasise that design patterns, notwithstanding criticisms and
shortcomings, have been deployed in the real world, in a way that as
to tangle with all of these complexities. Whereas science fiction can
provide a `thinking machine' cite:Doherty2020, it cannot by itself
provide historically robust alternatives to the global crises that we
face. We need a concrete, testable, and adaptable approach that
integrates thinking with action and awareness, and that works across
scales: from individual agents to distributed networks.
* Methods
<<methods>>
# \begin{echo}
# \begin{flushright}
# \emph{tl;dr: We detail three methods that decompose the three components of design patterns into practical processes.}
# \end{flushright}
# \end{echo}
In Section [[Introduction]] we briefly summarised the methods we use in
this paper. Subsections [[par_method]], [[CLA_patterns]] and [[dpl_method]]
describe the Project Action Review, Causal Layered Analysis, and
Design Pattern Languages methods in further detail. Subsection
[[methods_summary]] pulls these methods together as a design pattern.
At a higher level, our research employed these three methods within
two studies which were carried out using well known, but more abstract
methodologies. One study develops a primarily literature-based
analysis, while the other deployed a form of Participatory Action
Research within a transdisciplinary research-and-development
seminar.[fn:: Not to be confused with the acronym PAR used in this
paper.]
** Project Action Review
<<par_method>>
The US Army developed a methodology called the /After Action Review/ or
AAR, which they use in training elite soldiers
cite:Training-the-Force. AARs can be used to assign responsibility
when things go wrong in training activities, and can help people figure
out how to do better next time. The method has also been used effectively
in business settings cite:learning-in-the-thick-of-it. As such, After Action Review
shares common ground with the \textsc{Daily Scrum} and
\textsc{Sprint Retrospective} cite:sutherland2019a patterns from Scrum. However,
it does not have the product orientation of Scrum.
In a distributed peer-to-peer collaboration, we wanted an adaptation of the
AAR that would make it more open ended and horizontal in nature. We
came up with the following template:
1. Review the intention: what do we expect to learn or make together?
2. Establish what is happening: what and how are we learning?
3. What are some different perspectives on what’s happening?
4. What did we learn or change?
5. What else should we change going forward?
When we fill in the template, we call it “doing a /PAR.”/ A real-world example is provided in Appendix [[appendix-pars]].
As an
acronym, “PAR” has stood for various things over the years—Peeragogical Action Review, Project Action Review—but we like PAR as
a stand-alone term. Allusively, it brings to mind the corresponding
concept of /par/ in golf, and helps give us a sense of how we are doing
at any given point in time.[fn:: “In golf, /par/ is the predetermined
number of strokes that a proficient golfer should require to complete
a hole, a round (the sum of the pars of the played holes), or a
tournament (the sum of the pars of each round).”—Wikipedia] Like the
Army, we typically use PARs retrospectively (“what /did/ we
expect to learn or make together?”). However,
PARs can also be applied to look forward, proactively, as a way to
scaffold anticipation by “remembering the future”
cite:arnkil2008remembering. In that case, item (5) can be expanded to
include a number of different forward-looking scenarios.
** Causal Layered Analysis
<<CLA_patterns>>
Sohail Inayatullah developed Causal Layered Analysis (CLA)
cite:inayatullah1998b,inayatullah2004causal as a research methodology
for examining a topic of concern at four layers that he refers to as
the /litany/, /system/, /worldview/ and /myth/. Part of the reason we do such
an analysis is that there are different kinds of causes, ranging from
immediate events to deep-seated cultural beliefs. Inyatullah’s work draws on his
scholarship of P. R. Sarkar cite:inayatullah1999situating.
#+begin_quote
This perspective is derived from Indian philosophical thought...which
asserts that the mind is constituted in shells or kosas. Moving up and
down the shells is a process of moral and spiritual
enlightenment. Going deeper into the mind is an inward process through
which truths are
realized.[fn::https://proutglobe.org/2013/06/the-further-reaches-of-policy-making-cla/]
#+end_quote
In developing a CLA, none of the four layers is
privileged over the others, nor are they examined in isolation.
Rather, one moves between them, examining how they relate to one
another. One can then integrate these insights to form a more
comprehensive basis for understanding what is happening in the present
and for anticipating the future. Table \ref{tab:cla-summary} describes each of the four layers according to the following schema:
- *Contents*: /What is found in this layer?/
- *Analysis*: /Techniques for analysis of this layer./
- *Literature*: /Instances of texts which are typically operative at this layer./
# 🍕🍕🍕🍕
# "Let’s stick with layer as opposed to level."
To further illustrate the four layers and show how such an analysis
might proceed, Appendix \ref{appendix-pizza} introduces a CLA analysis
of a fictional mom-and-pop pizza shop.
\begin{table}[t]
\begin{mdframed}
\begin{tabular}{c}
\textbf{Litany}\\
\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{description}
\item[Contents:] Observable facts, events, and quantitative trends.
\item[Analysis:] Minimal processing of data.
\item[Literature:] News reports, tax filings, chit-chat.
\end{description}
\medskip
\end{minipage}\\
\textbf{System}\\
\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{description}
\item[Contents:] The social, economic, political, and historical forces which shape events.
\item[Analysis:] Technical explanations and interpretation of data within a given paradigm.
\item[Literature:] Editorials and policy institute reports.
\end{description}
\medskip
\end{minipage}\\
\textbf{Worldview}\\
\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{description}
\item[Contents:] Core values and attitudes which motivate choices and actions.
\item[Analysis:] Uncover deep assumptions and study the mental and linguistic constructs which undergird how people interact with each other and their surroundings. Compare and critique paradigms and discourses.
\item[Literature:] Works of philosophy and critical theory.
\end{description}
\medskip
\end{minipage}\\
\textbf{Myth}\\
\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{description}
\item[Contents:] The symbols and tales which give meaning to life.
\item[Analysis:] Study symbols and narratives, and the myths and rituals within which they participate.
\item[Literature:] Poetry, art, anthropology, Jungian analysis.
\end{description}
\end{minipage}
\end{tabular}
\end{mdframed}
\medskip
\caption{Overview of the layers in Causal Layered Analysis\label{tab:cla-summary}}
\end{table}
** Design Pattern Languages
<<dpl_method>>
The two senses of ‘pattern’ mentioned above—‘As an element in the /world/...’ and
‘As an element of /language/...’—are mirrored within the
concept of a design pattern. Like an ellipse, the design pattern has
two main foci: context and community.
- /Context/ shapes and constrains the type of activity which is being considered, be it designing a building, writing software, or something else.
- /Community/ encompasses the stakeholders --- experts and non-experts alike --- who are involved with or affected by a particular project.
Integral to the basic concept of a design pattern is a third feature
that describes the interaction of the community and the context. The
community uses the pattern to overcome some real or potential /conflict/
that they experience within this context. It bears emphasis that the
community is not assumed to homogeneous, and, indeed, this can be part of how
they experience the conflict; i.e., it is not necessarily the case
that all members of the community share the same experience or view of
the context, or that they are all uniformly affected by
the circumstances arising. The conflict is also referred to as a /problem/; its resolution is
described as a /solution/. Alexander and Poyner emphasised that
‘design’ is not needed when the conflict can be resolved in an obvious
or straightforward manner. For example, you typically would not need
a design process surrounding /sitting in a chair/,
\begin{echo}
because “under normal conditions each one of the
tendencies which arises in this situation can take care of itself”
\citep[p.~311]{alexander1970a}.\endnote{The straightforwardness of sitting in a chair notwithstanding, Thich Nhat Hahn has written a book called \emph{\href{https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1111997/how-to-sit/9781846045141.html}{How To Sit}} (2014): this somewhat proves Alexander’s point as the exception to the rule. However, prior to reading this book one might want to read /How to Read a Book/.}
\end{echo}
We might say that the design pattern carries with it a fragment of
irreducible complexity. This perspective may or may not be
surprising. Early on, Alexander described the need for patterns when things get complex
cite:alexander1964notes. He specifically focuses on what could be
called “horizontal” complexity, a situation where there are a lot of
moving parts and relations between them. Methodologically this is
elaborated with the notion of a /pattern language/.\endnote{The issues involved become somewhat more complex when there are multiple DPLs interoperating, but are not fundamentally different.}
Pattern languages have a property of unfolding, from more general to
more specific. However, they do not necessarily cover deeper forms of
“vertical” complexity, where there are deep historical or ontogenetic
causes, feedback loops, or complex conceptual issues which are not readily
expressible in design-pattern-theoretic terms. Let’s have another
look at these issues by way of two contrasting metaphors.
The first metaphor comes from Christian Kohls, who proposed to treat
each design pattern as a journey: “a path as a solution to reach a
goal” cite:kohls2010a. In this metaphor, design patterns are
understood to have an initial condition and an end condition, defined
within some context. The context also associates a cost to traversals
of paths. There are several associated problems: the elementary
problem is to traverse the terrain and travel from the start state to
the end state. The next problem is to do this at low cost. The third
problem is to find a reliably repeatable way to do this. A fourth problem is to describe the process in such a way that the path
can be traversed by others.
The second metaphor comes from Joseph Campbell, who described an
“archetypal pattern” cite:shalloway2005a, one that can be found
embedded in myths and stories across diverse cultures and historical
periods. The “hero’s journey” is also described with a path
cite:campbell1949a, however, in this case the path runs in a circle,
and the journey focuses on the transformations of the hero who
traverses it. Although an account of the journey can be shared,
traversal is effectively single-use. The cost is typically “high.”
Nevertheless, once a myth or metaphor is established in a shared
narrative, the journey can be reenacted through ritual or engaged with
in other ways that solve a range of social problems
cite:handelman1998a. In short, the difference between these two
traversal stories suggests that the process of finding “the path that
is capable of leading to a good structure” cite:alexander1999a may
contain irreducible complexity—even when sharing the information
about the path is relatively simple.
** Summary
<<methods_summary>>
We are
now in a position to explain how PAR, CLA, and DPL combine into one holistic
pattern, in Leitner’s sense of a complete methodic description cite:leitner2015a. We
will write this down using the classical DPL format: describing the
associated /context/, the /problem/ denoting a conflict, together with a
/solution/. As it happens, the three acronyms can be combined and
remixed in a clever way to provide a title for this pattern. This
accurately suggests that the methods need not be run in a fixed order,
but are interwoven together.
*** PLACARD
:PROPERTIES:
:UNNUMBERED: t
:END:
<<PLACARD>>
- *Context*: In the course of working on a project together: /we use the PAR to get a sense of our working context/.
- *Problem*: Although we may encounter many difficulties in this context, our effort to understand them faces a central *challenge*, namely the fact that the problems span different layers and scales of complexity, so it can be hard to understand where the difficulties actually come from: accordingly, /we use the CLA to understand and frame the problems and their interconnections/.
- *Solution*: Once we have grasped the problem, we need to elaborate an actionable solution that remains adaptable to ongoing changes in the context: /we use DPL to elaborate the solution/.
\begin{wrapfigure}{l}{0.5\textwidth}
\centering
\vspace{-.8\baselineskip}
\includegraphics[width=.5\textwidth]{placard.jpg}
\caption{\label{fig:placard}Mnemonic illustration of the \hyperref[PLACARD]{PLACARD} pattern\vspace{-1\baselineskip}}
\end{wrapfigure}
Figure \ref{fig:placard} provides a mnemonic.[fn:: For French speakers, /placard/ means ‘cupboard’, and there is an idiom, /placardisé/, which refers to an employee whose tasks all have been reassigned to others; the import is similar to the English idiom ‘put to pasture’. While it is not the case that [[PLACARD][PLACARD]] reassigns all DPL functions to other methods, the French idiom is potentially suggestive as another mnemonic.] The main thing to notice is that using the three methods
together can help make the design pattern method practicable. We can use the
PAR to move from a context to a “Context”, established and written
down. We can use CLA to move from a situation of concern to a
situation in which the core “Problem” or “Problems” can be thought
about. However, the fact that DPL shows up inside of [[PLACARD][PLACARD]] without further elaboration may be somewhat
concerning.
\begin{echo}
The reader may be wondering: “I think I can see how the methods that have been discussed could help in understanding
the \textbf{context} and the \textbf{problem}, but is there anything here that actually helps with formulating \textbf{solutions}?”\endnote{\textbf{JC@coauthors:} I’m still a bit concerned about this!}
\end{echo}
This is certainly a worthy concern, and something we will come back to after considering an example of the [[PLACARD][PLACARD]] pattern in use.
* Results
<<Results>>
We applied Causal Layered Analysis in two different contexts, traversing different
scales. At the larger scale, we applied CLA to the design pattern
literature and practices, with the purpose of scaffolding an
examination of the future of the design pattern theory. At the
smaller scale, we made practical use of CLA alongside the PAR and DPL
methods within a distributed research seminar.
\begin{echo}
Details of these
analyses are presented in Appendix \ref{Analysis} and Appendix
\ref{Case_study}, respectively, henceforth referred to here as the
\textbf{\hyperref[Analysis]{Analysis}} and \textbf{\hyperref[Case_study]{Case Study}}.
\end{echo}
In précis, the Analysis examined:
- Queries raised by Alexander and his collaborator Bryant, along with a systematic analysis of criticisms of pattern methods collected by Dawes and Ostwald.
- Issues related to how people share and discuss patterns, as well as the changing way in which these discussions have been framed at PLoP.
- The worldview linked with patterns through the lens of mob software and its critiques.
- Symbols and philosophical traditions that enrich our understanding of the context in which Alexander developed his methods.
Taking a deep dive into DPL via CLA allowed us to gain perspectives on
how design patterns work. In particular, we have illustrated the
complexity that underpins the model. Alexander expands on his
metaphysical considerations in his multi-volume work, /The Nature of
Order/ (/TNO/). Our Analysis shows how some of these more
ephemeral-seeming factors are ramified across various layers of the
pattern theory.
In particular, working from the myth layer towards the more surface
layers: we show that the notion of /wholeness/ that Alexander deploys is
complex, and that the corresponding theory of emergent order based on
this concept is similarly complex and linked to “a tension between
independent and conforming tendencies” cite:vandrunenchristian. This
tension has—only partially—resolved into a dichotomous relationship
between /users/ and /designers/ of patterns and pattern-linked artifacts.
There are however many remaining points of friction, as users of
pattern methods run into difficulties cite:dawes2017a, and designers
are not entirely clear on how to improve the situation.
Our Case Study works at the small scale, and combines all three
methods in line with the [[PLACARD][PLACARD]] pattern introduced
above. Specifically, in our research seminar, we used the PAR to
surface matters of concern and highlights in each session of the
seminar. We used the CLA to organise this body of data into a
coherent statement of purpose. Then, we used DPL to turn this
statement into a plan of action.
Looking across the Analysis and Case Study suggests several useful
points of comparison. Firstly, we stopped short of developing a DPL
breakdown of our Analysis, whereas we provide one in the Case Study.
However, the Analysis has given rise to an informal description (presented in the following section)
which could further broken down in subsequent work, using the Case Study
as a model.
We can also reflect that the focal communities in the two CLAs—namely,
the Pattern Languages of Programs conference, and the Emacs Research
Group—are both projects within the larger system of contemporary
computing, which is organised with various loose hierarchical
structures. Accordingly, both projects inherit attributes from the larger
communities/networks and histories to which they are heirs.
Thus, the Emacs Research Group is a small subcommunity of the larger Emacs
community, and thus inherits two core tenets at the /worldview/ level:
- A preference for Free/Libre/Open-Source Software, as defined by the “four freedoms” at the core of the GNU project.[fn:: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html#four-freedoms]
- Enthusiasm for the features and affordances of *Emacs*: an extensible, customizable, and self-documenting editor cite:Stallman1981.
Both of these points have their origins in the worldviews and myths of
the hacker culture. Whereas Emacs is primarily associated with
functional programming methods, applications of design patterns in
computing have often been more closely associated with the Object
Oriented (OO) programming style. For example, the =c2= pattern wiki was
primarily linked with OO traditions. The members of these communities
were not always in direct contact.
On =c2=, “openness” was a key value at the worldview level: specifically,
the emphasis was on /in situ/ editability and community effort.
With Emacs and the broader GNU project, the emphasis extends beyond
the availability of source code to encompass the right to reuse it. A third
perspective on openness comes from Gene Demby and Ashe Dryden, who,
along with others, have pointed out that the open source community may
not be so open, in practical terms, to newcomers from all genders and
ethnic backgrounds.[fn::
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/05/248791579/why-isnt-open-source-a-gateway-for-coders-of-color][fn::
https://www.ashedryden.com/blog/the-ethics-of-unpaid-labor-and-the-oss-community]
Meanwhile, the theme of /openness/ appears, with varations, at all
levels of our Analysis. It can now be seen as manifold openness /to/:
- /criticism/ (Dawes and Ostwald cite:dawes2017a),
- /interpretation/ (Dawes and Ostwald again cite:Dawes2018)
- /failure/ (Gabriel cite:gabriel2002a), as well as
- /the sky/ and /the world/ (Alexander of /A Pattern Language/ (/APL/), as seen from the dual vantage points of /the hearth/ and /the gateway/; cf. \textsc{The Fire} (pattern #181) and \textsc{Main gateway} (pattern #53), and cite:benvenuto1993hermes).
Bringing these varied perspectives together affords a more
comprehensive understanding of the concept of openness—along with its
relationship to other linked concepts like freedom, rights, and
ethics—as well as contemporary realities surrounding carbon emissions,
migration, and systems design. Recentering the pattern theory as a
theory of the /open whole/, we can more thoroughly explore dialectic
tensions among stakeholders, and potentially initiate dialogue between
disparate communities whose work touches on aspects of this theory.
Meanwhile, our Case Study shows, in practical terms, how
the CLA of design patterns in the Analysis could be developed further. The
Case Study applied the [[PLACARD][PLACARD]] method within the Emacs Research Group
(ERG), which held regular meetings following EmacsConf 2020 until a recess for the 2021 summer holidays.[fn::
https://emacsconf.org/2020/; the conference took place November 28th
and 29th of 2020.] Using the PLACARD pattern allowed us to develop a
trajectory for our research. As a broader point of
reflection, the case study shows how mixing the three methods gives us
more than the sum of the parts.
The Case Study also serves to contextualize the work of the Emacs Research Group
relative to the PLoP and Peeragogy communities. Over the 25 sessions
of ERG seminar, we used CLA in combination with PARs to
address the question ‘What is our vision for change and how is
progress measurable?’. More specifically: we did a PAR at the end of
every (approximately weekly, two-hour) session.[fn:: Data archived at
https://github.com/exp2exp/exp2exp.github.io, with meeting notes and
PARs indexed and viewable on the web at
https://exp2exp.github.io/erg.] This allowed us to track progress,
and to surface key issues and concerns. For example, bootstrapping
needs related to scheduling and collaboration tools, along with
persistent questions about how best to go public, are documented in
our first PAR (reproduced in Appendix \ref{appendix-pars}).
Every six weeks or so, we merged selected bullet-points from our PARs
into the CLA outline in an intuitive way, depending on which section
they seemed to fit best.
We elaborated those bullet points into a narrative form,
which we jointly revised to accommodate new data as time went on.
We also began to develop TODO items that would make the
next steps for this seminar group both actionable and meaningful.
Additionally, we connected these TODO items to design patterns collected in the
/Peeragogy Handbook/ (cite:peeragogy-handbook-long, with ongoing work appearing at =peeragogy.org=).
The TODO items typically are not concrete objectives, but are,
rather, descriptions of anticipated patterns of behaviour—here linked
to /bona fide/ design patterns. To refine these items into tasks that
are concretely doable will require further breakdown and elaboration.
We foresee this to be an iterative process, assisted by bidirectional
links between patterns and next steps, and additonally assisted by software tools.
Our current prototypes could certainly be improved. These prototypes are based on Emacs’s
built-in Org Mode (a tool for managing information structured in
outlines), Org Roam[fn:: [[https://www.orgroam.com/]]] (an Emacs package
layered on Org Mode and used for creating zettelkasten, which are,
essentially, wikis), and Org Roam Server (a further layer for
visualisation of the resulting network structures). These tools have some deficiencies when it
comes to interlinking varied contents—such as patterns and next
steps—particularly when these originate from distributed sources (such as the Peeragogy project on the one hand
and the Emacs Research Group on the other). In short, we need to keep improving
our tools in order to effectively manage growing distributed,
interlinked, collections of PARs, CLAs, and DPLs, alongside other
scientific and technical corpora. Federated Wikis are another area
of work where similar concerns are being addressed
cite:esfandiari2016distributed,cunningham2013a.
With reference to the Case Study, we can now outline an answer to the
concern raised at the end of Section [[methods]], namely how do the
[[PLACARD][PLACARD]] methods help, concretely, to develop solutions? Broadly, a
solution process can often be decomposed into interrelated subtasks
cite:alexander1964notes,polya1945solve,polya1954plausible. A standard
problem-solving methodology is to understand the \mbox{(sub-)}context
and \mbox{(sub-)}problems in detail—along with their relationships to
other parts of the developing decomposition—and on this basis make
predictions about the way an intervention could change the overall
system. As we will revisit again in Section [[Related_Work]], there are
“two different forms of information processing (bottom-up and
top-down)” cite:Teufel2020. CLA can help with both, and in so doing
can indeed assist with solution-development. Nominally, CLA is an
analytic tool that decomposes a problematic situation into /layers/, and
/causes/ operating at and between these layers. In this sense it
functions top-down. However, CLA also plays a synthesis role.
Whereas we could compare the PAR to a tangent vector or derivative
that gives a momentary reading of how things are going at a given
point in time, CLA can be used to integrate these observations into a plan.
# \endnote{The Peeragogy approach to patterns
# is aligned with the feminist principle that all knowledge is incomplete (\url{https://mitpress.podbean.com/e/experiments-in-open-peer-review/}, minute 5).
# A “living” pattern is, accordingly, attached to Next Steps that would help to realise that pattern within a
# context; when we don’t have any next steps, we put the pattern in a \textsc{Scrapbook}.}
# \end{echo}
* Discussion
<<Discussion>>
# \begin{echo}
# \begin{flushright}
# \emph{tl;dr: We consider how the methods described earlier could be used to address climate change adaptation.}
# \end{flushright}
# \end{echo}
Informed by the two analyses described above, we would like to reflect
on why putting the CLA and DPL methods together can make a big
difference in practical terms. To do this, we begin by examining a
specific problem domain to which CLA and DPL have been applied
separately.
Anthropogenic climate change is a situation of major global concern in
the early 21st Century. It comes as no surprise that it has been
examined separately by proponents of both CLA and DPL. We use this
recent history to frame future work building on the case study and
analysis developed above.
In an overview of their work on the Cooling the Commons pattern language, Cameron Tonkinwise and Abby Mellick Lopes write:
#+begin_quote
A design pattern is first an observation: “People in that kind of designed situation tend to do this sort of thing”. It is then possible to design an intervention that redirects those tendencies. If that intervention succeeds, it can become a recommended pattern to help other designers: “If you encounter this kind of situation, try to make these kinds of interventions” cite:theconversation2021.
#+end_quote
They amplify the ‘ethical’ aspect of their thinking:
#+begin_quote
... the patterns we are talking about, context-specific interactions
between people and things, are more like habits. They are tendencies
that lead to repeated actions.
#+end_quote
The 41 patterns they have developed include examples like \textsc{The Night-Time Commons},[fn:: https://www.coolingthecommons.com/pattern%20deck/]
which:
#+begin_quote
... might shift daytime activities into cooler night times. Some
places already have these patterns: night markets and night-time use
of outdoor spaces. If locally adapted versions of these patterns
encourage people to adopt new habits, other patterns will be needed.
These will include, for example, ways to remind those cooling off
outdoors in the evening that others might be trying to sleep with
their naturally ventilating windows open. Such interlinked patterns
point to the way pattern thinking moves from the big scale to the
small.
#+end_quote
Reading this, we were concerned that, while the Cooling the Commons
patterns do acknowledge “horizontal complexity”—namely, through
interlinked patterns—the process does not deal with the “vertical
complexity” coming from the fact that diurnal rhythms are deeply
embedded in biology and culture. People have cultural beliefs about
the activities that are appropriate for different times of day.
Public and domestic rituals are organized about the daily cycle.
Times of day have symbolic associations. As far as we could tell,
these authors focused on more or less technical issues at the systems
level, and did not acknowledge these issues at the worldview and myth
levels. A more comprehensive approach might, for instance, re-examine
rituals to see which of them relate to the phenomenon of sunrise
versus the act of getting up and starting the day, and then figuring
out how to adapt these rituals to a new schedule. A suitable research
strategy might be to study how practices changed in the past, as with the
introduction of industrialization and its clockwork regimentation of
the day.
Meanwhile, Heinonen and coauthors cite:HEINONEN2017101 describe a CLA game that explored four
different scenarios in small groups. The four scenarios were “Radical
Startups”, “Value-Driven Techemoths”, “Green DIY Engineers” and “New
Consciousness”. As groups worked through the CLA for each scenario,
they developed a range of new ideas. We wondered, how might these CLA-linked
reflections collate against the Cooling the Commons patterns?
Might players of the CLA game have spotted ways in which the patterns would conflict
with deeper values—or ways in which they might be exploited to cause
chaos cite:friction2016a?
Broadening our exploration of how design patterns relate to futures
studies, we should mention Schwartz cite:schwartz1996a (Appendix,
pp. 241-248), /viz./, his “Steps to Developing Scenarios”. This process
follows an outline with a striking similarity to a design pattern
template. Both Alexander and Schwartz advocate the identification of
driving forces in a context. However, unlike Alexander, Schwartz does
not intend to resolve conflicts between the forces within a
harmonising design. On the contrary, the aim in the scenario
development method is to understand how these forces might evolve and
lead to the further diversification of scenarios. We think that design patterns can be
useful inside scenarios, and also used to scaffold the design and
evolution of scenarios.
With these reflections in mind, here are four scenarios that will be
of interest to DPL practitioners, roughly pegged to the four layers of
CLA. We should emphasise that these scenarios are not mutually
exclusive.
** Scenario I. Patterns become explicitly computational.
Patterns have been discussed in explicitly computational
terms—however, that direction of work so far remains mostly at the
level of a proposal cite:alexander1999a,moran1971a, with only limited
discipline-specific uptake (e.g., cite:jacobus2009a,
cite:OXMAN1994141, cite:taibi2003formal). Could this change, to
generalise the kinds of patterns that can be computed with, and make
them interoperable? Polya had already been writing about patterns of
plausible inference the year that Alexander
started his undergraduate degree in Cambridge cite:polya1954plausible; four years later
Polya’s student Allen Newell was beginning to think about how to model the
inference process computationally cite:newell1958,newell1983heuristic. In the domain of
economics, Ostrom-style institutions are analogous to design
patterns cite:ostrom2009a (p. 11). Recent work looks at how description of such institutions can extracted from text
cite:Rice2021. Could this line of thinking be extended, so that other similar kinds of patterns could be recognised where they appear?
Could the extracted descriptions be used directly in computations? One fruitful strategy might be to think of design
patterns as conceptual blends cite:Corneli2018, which can be given a
computational interpretation cite:SCHORLEMMER2021118. For example,
the Cooling the Commons pattern language includes
\textsc{Community Library} as one of its patterns; the pattern blends a learning space
with a cool refuge, and must balance these provisions against cost and
effort. If the library was additionally blended with a
\textsc{Writers Workshop}, it could become a place for the community
to generate knowledge about new adaptive strategies. However, this
might conflict with the notion of library contents as being read-only,
or with the view that libraries should be silent study spaces. Could
these ideas and complexities be reasoned about computationally?
** Scenario II. Pattern language authoring communities move to free/libre/open source licensing.
# Let’s explore!
In the field of policy, /resilience/ describes a society’s
ability to recover after a shock; whereas /adaptive capacity/ describes
its ability to move to a new state cite:thonicke2020advancing,magnan2010better.
This ability is, in turn, linked with the health and adaptivity of the society’s
institutions cite:fidelman2017institutions. Free/Libre/Open Source licensing is
one possible institutional innovation in the way design patterns are used that could
support social learning, and, in turn, boost adaptive capacity cite:THIHONGPHUONG20171.
As an example of work heading in this direction, Mehaffy and coauthors collaborated with Ward
Cunningham to make their book /A New Pattern Language for Growing
Regions/ cite:mehaffy2020new into a wiki, [[http://npl.wiki][npl.wiki]], which is licensed
under CC BY-SA 4.0. Will other pattern developers follow suit and
move to open licensing—and suitable infrastructures for working with open contents? We
can also ask: what of the other kinds and qualities of openness that we surfaced in Section [[Results]]?
Simply using a ‘copyleft’ license is not a panacea for all ills cite:Krowne_Puzio_2006, and
would not on its own make the pattern theory and methods fully open in all the ways that matter.
Nevertheless, grappling with the challenges around licensing and related considerations could serve
as rallying point for the pattern community.
# add refs to reproducible research papers
# add refs to Minnesota 2050 paper
# Maybe add a comment saying these people were ‘sort of’ working together (in different rooms)
** Scenario III. PLACARD scaffolds new literacies of collaboration.
As we’ve seen in our work with Emacs and Peeragogy (and previously
with the online community PlanetMath cite:krowne2003,corneli-thesis) projects need more
than simply access to source code in order to thrive. We see a link
to the topic of reproducible research. Above and beyond the immediate
technical considerations cite:sandve2013ten, the process of doing
science is “reproducible” if the methods are teachable to others. The
Literate Programming paradigm can help with this.[fn:: For notes on doing reproducible research with Emacs, see https://emacsnyc.org/2014/11/03/org-mode-for-reproducible-research.html]
At the same time, collaboration
across different skill sets is challenging; large scale
problems like adapting to climate
change seem to require such collaboration, and almost certainly won’t be solved if we carry on doing business as usual. In the Minnesota
2050 project, participants were selected from a variety of professions
and leadership roles to produce scenarios for energy and land use, and
combined modelling with scenario planning cite:olabisi2010.
Actually solving large-scale problems in interdisciplinary
teams will require new thinking and additional tools: to bridge
between the viewpoints of, e.g., professional futurists, programmers,
data scientists, local farmers—and to draw on the insights of
citizen scientists cite:wildschut2017a.
** Scenario IV. Patterns eat Big Tech.
Reflecting on the increasingly contextual and transdisciplinary nature
of the discussions at PLoP and other venues, along with the other
points above, brings to mind Hesse’s /The Glass Bead Game/. For those
who are familiar with the novel, this reference will suggest:
proceed with caution. How hierarchical do we want our community, or
our society, to be? How in touch are pattern authors with practical realities? How critical are we capable of being towards the
tenets we hold dear? When reflecting on futures-oriented discourses,
Slaughter described a spectrum: “participatory and open at one pole
and closed (or professionalised) at the other” cite:SLAUGHTER1989447.
Access to meaningful participation is a serious matter of concern in our
current technological culture cite:unger2019knowledge. Does our
experience of unequal access reappear in the future cultures we
envision? With due care, patterns might become the basis of
widespread technical literacies, not only for an elite group of hackers or
for a few highly-paid rockstars, but for everyone.
# maybe reference the Bloom’s 2 Sigma problem here
# Only half of the students will make it to the end of the course and only half of those get A’s
** Summary
# Need to recap Alexander 1999 at some point
Our vision for change—now speaking as part of the design pattern
community—is that the four scenarios we described above will be given
serious thought. Progress will become measurable through markers of
debate and dialogue between the different communities whose work we
have drawn upon, and perhaps through ensuing trial-and-error uptake or
adaptation of the methods we’ve described. Our Case Study suggests
the ways in which progress towards realising these scenarios might be
made actionable.
Appendix [[flaws-appendix]] contains a workshop proposal that we have
submitted to PLoP 2021 alongside this paper. In the workshop, we hope
to explore the biome of concepts and techniques that can help to build
adaptivity in groups. If the workshop goes well, it could be repeated
with variations to explore other topics, such as food security, the
design of urban spaces, or, indeed, the future of design patterns.
* Related work
<<Related_Work>>
We are certainly not the only people to think about systems and
futures: what is distinctive about this paper is that we’ve connected