Candidate Pattern: Pattern Mining Workshop

Summary	Use comparative analysis of case stories to refine proto-patterns. Elaborate the proto-patterns to alpha-state patterns, by articulating the problem, context, core of the solution and related patterns.
Status	alpha	Confidence	3
details...		Group	Planet team

Problem

Case Story Workshops guide practitioners in articulating problem-solving narratives from their experience. Narratives are a fundamental form of capturing and communicating knowledge. Yet they fall short in several accounts:

• The endpoint of a narrative, its central message, is always implied. In order to expose it to scrutiny it needs to be made explicit.
• Narratives are loosely structured, and thus do not lend themselves to modularisation.
• Practitioners reporting on their experience often take critical factors for granted, both in terms of the context and in terms of the key actions they took.

Design patterns provide a semi-structured form which exposes the gaps and hidden messages in the case stories, while eliminating superfluous detail. However, the transition from case stories to patterns might seem insurmountable for the uninitiated. Many pattern communities rely on "pattern scouts", experienced pattern authors who mine practitioners' stories for potential patterns. While this approach may guarantee quality, it does not scale, and it looses the intimate knowledge of a first person account.

Context

Communities engaged in collaborative reflection on their practice, using design patterns as part of their discourse.

This pattern assumes a co-located (on-site) half to full day workshop with 20-30 participants, and with a collaborative authoring system to support a-synchronous contributions before, during and after the workshop.

It can be adapted to smaller or larger groups, and to a shorter time-frame. A cohesive community could also adapt it to a distributed location event using audio-graphic conferencing.

Ideally workshop participants should have conducted a Case Story Workshop prior to the event,  but alternatively the two workshops can be combined to one.

Solution

Facilitating a Collaborative Reflection Workshop, which shifts the conversation from a case-driven discussion to a pattern-based discussion of common problems and solutions in the target domain. Present groups with case stories from a previous Case Story Workshop and prompt them to compare the cases and identify recuring patterns. Guide them in articulating these patterns in full.

Apply the Collaborative Reflection Workshop structure, adding:

Before the workshop

• Collate a selection of case stories pertinent to the workshop theme, including both previous contributions of the workshop participants and notable contributions from other sources.
• Prompt participants to comment on these cases and identify possible links.

On the day

• Introduce the selected cases using an exercise which provokes attentive reading, e.g. use them as inputs for a table-top concept mapping exercise.

Instruct participants to -

• identify parallels between the cases in terms of context, problem and solution. These should be noted succinctly on cards or small note paper.
• choose one of these notes, and elaborate it as a full-bodied pattern.

First, ask the groups to present a short portrayal of the new pattern, by providing -

• Name
• Short description
• Illustration

Next, guide them in using a pattern template, e.g.:

Name

Naming is important. Think of a short catchy phrase that captures the essence of your pattern. Pattern names are often imperative - 'do this'.

Summary

Try to capture the essence of the pattern in 2-3 sentences. Focus on function - what it does, not how its built. The summary will appear as a tooltip on the index page.

Illustration

Metaphoric or inspirational image or graphic, which captures the spirit of this pattern.

Problem

What is the problem that this pattern addresses? What does it try to achieve? One useful method of defining the problem is as a conflict between the two main forces dominating the situation.

Context

When and where is this pattern most relevant? To which settings can it be extended?

Solution

Describe the core of the solution in such a way that it can be directly implemented a million times without doing the same thing twice.

Diagram

Structural or narrative graphic which supports the detailed description of the solution.

Related Patterns

list other patterns related to this one, under categories such as component, assisting, conflicting, uses this, etc.

Support

Source

The original case story from which this pattern was derived.

Triangulation

Additional supporting cases where this pattern was observed

Rationale

Theoretical justification.

Verification

Scenarios / solutions which were developed using this pattern.

Provide specific guidance on articulating each one of the core components. Eample: http://www.slideshare.net/yish/stories2patterns-presentation

Notes, Links and References

Liabilities, potential risks, extensions, expected side-effects

======= Related ========

Extends:

• Collaborative Reflection Workshop

Follows:

• Case Story Workshop

Leads to:

• Future Scenarios Workshop
  ======= END Related ========
  

Licensing

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.