Getting Started
Contents
Why Use a Wiki?
Developing a Pattern Language requires a significant amount of collaboration. The ideal environment would involve face-to-face meetings where we can collectively pool our ideas, strive for consensus on what we believe are the key patterns, and document those patterns with a range of examples. Collaborating electronically using documents and e-mails not only slows the process, but drains a lot of the interactivity out of the process. Wikis were designed to support remote collaboration, by providing a common platform for shared content creation and editing.
The premise is that the content is owned by the team, and anyone can contribute or make changes to the content. Some people find this concept difficult to accept - most of us have a strong sense of 'ownership' of material that we have created. On the other hand, truly collaborative writing often involves diverse input from so many sources, that the concept of 'ownership' becomes less important.
The Wiki that supports the Patterns in Nature project uses the same software (MediaWiki) as Wikipedia. It supports both articles and discussions, inline images, uploaded files, change tracking and change notification (through the Watchlist and optionally by e-mail).
Fil Salustri has written an excellent article A lightweight collaborative tool to support design research - although we are not using Xiki, many of the Xiki features have been included in MediaWiki.
Getting Started with the 'Patterns' Wiki
Although anyone can read the contents of the Wiki, only registered users can create new pages or edit existing pages. 
Self-registration has been blocked to control Spambots.
When you are logged in, you should see your username followed by some links at the upper right. Click on my preferences. Things you might want to enable or define (saving changes before switching to a new tab)
- User profile: E-mail me when a page I'm watching is changed (once Wiki activity increases, you may want to turn this off)
- Date and time: preferred date format, timezone offset from UTC
- Editing: Edit pages on double click, rather than clicking on the Edit tab
- Misc: if links to internal or external pages do not show up clearly, try setting Underline links to Always
Check out the Guidelines and Help pages for more information.
What's In It For Me?
- All active team members will be mentioned in journal articles and papers on this subject (i.e. SEM2007 Paper).
- You get to contribute to the emerging field of bio-inspired design, by collecting information about well-adapted systems that is accessible, insightful and directly applicable to solving problems.
- You are helping transfer knowledge between different disciplines and encouraging multi-disciplinary collaboration by developing a new Pattern Language.
- You can help increase our understanding of how interesting systems (both natural and man-designed) actually work.
Preliminary 'Patterns' Process
Where to Look for Patterns
Fil recommended that we look for patterns in the same way that the brain detects visual patterns - our brain seems 'hard-wired' to detect discontinuity, boundaries and change. That suggests we should explore dynamic systems and the boundaries between systems for recurrent problem/solution sets.
Documenting a New Pattern
- Enter the name in the box of the 'List of Patterns' page and click on the 'Create article' button - this creates a new page and pulls in the pattern template.
- Fill in as much of the pattern template as you can, leaving the template text for any sections that are not yet done.
- Create links to other patterns (if the pattern does not exist, just create an 'orphan link' that can be filled in later).
- Periodically look for overlaps and redundancy between patterns
Don't forget to add a link to the pattern page in the 'List of Patterns', along with some descriptive text.
Completing the Patterns Template
- Completing all sections of the template can be challenging. Research may be required to find really good examples (both natural and technical). If possible, write 'stories' around each of the examples to make the patterns meaningful and memorable.
- I found developing the list of drivers difficult. What worked for me was exploring 'counter-examples' and identifying what drivers cause us to take the wrong path.
- When linking to other patterns, indicate the nature of the relationship - this will be used later to create a Concept Map of the patterns and eventually lead to a proper Pattern Language.
See Discussion with Tom on Patterns vs. Pattern Language Approach
Working in a Remote Team
In addition to workload pressures, working on a remote team presents a number of logistical challenges. Trying to use a Wiki as a key communication tool only compounds the issues. A Wiki entry on Barn Raising contrasts the communal, social and reciprocal activity of getting together to erect an individual's barn (or a community building) with the more asynchronous and gradual nature of Wikis: "... [it] liberates us from the need of proximity, but it also weakens the bond. When the work is done, you're drinking alone and you have no one to dance with."
At least in the initial stages of the project, I will be scheduling conference calls to help strengthen relationships between team members, focus our efforts and build momentum.
See Discussion with Tom on Asynchronous Collaboration for more ideas.
