No abstract

Patterns, which are based on in-depth practical experience, can be instructing for the design of groupware applications as sociotechnical systems. On the basis of a summary of the concept of patterns -as elaborated by the architect Christopher Alexander -its adoptions within computer science are retraced and relationships to the area of groupware are described. General principles for patterns within this domain are formulated and supported by examples from a wide range of experience with knowledge management systems. The analysis reveals that every pattern of a groupware application has to combine the description of social as well as technical structures, and that a single pattern can only be understood in the context of a pattern language. It also shows that such a language has to integrate patterns of socio-technical solutions with measures and procedures for introducing them, and that the language not only has to express one type of directed relationship between the patterns but a variety of different types which have to be deliberately assigned to the patterns.

How can the documentation of concepts for complex sociotechnical systems, such as the adoption of groupware, be incorporated into practices of PD? Documents are important in supporting participants in their decision-making and in serving as a guidance for the ongoing project. To create such documents a mix of abstract graphical models and illustrative material can be used. There is evidence which suggests that they can be successfully employed if they are embedded into a communication process which is facilitated in a specific manner: The socio-technical walkthrough (STWT) that supports a participatory process during which concepts of such systems are (re-)considered step by step. A case study describes the challenges and benefits of the STWT paying special attention to aspects such as facilitating strategies, required preparation, training, characteristics of the diagrams, and accompanying work.

Abstract

No abstract