Transforming Grounds

For many years I have been intrigued by the notion of Pattern Language as developed by Christopher Alexander . It is obvious that I am not the only one in the field of HCI and design in general who has found this particular way of structuring knowledge about design and designs interesting. There are numerous attempts by researchers and practitioners to develop pattern languages for one or the other aspect of interaction design. Personally, I have not been involved in any serious work with pattern language development or use, so I do not have a lot of hands-on experience, but I have since the first time I read about the idea in the early 1980s constantly reflected upon its fundamental assumptions, philosophical claims, and practical promises. I am therefore very happy that Yue Pan (a phd student in HCI in my department) approached me and suggested a study on the present status of pattern language in our field. We are at the moment interviewing a number of people who have developed pat

I am at the moment in Seattle for a few days doing interviews for our NSF project. The project is mainly focused on how professionals understand and use methods and tools. The study I am doing at the moment is aimed at the examination of professional competence and especially on what professionals do to stay competent over time. So far I have done four interviews with highly skilled and experienced UX professionals. They all have impressive experience and competence. It is fascinating with professionals at this level, they are confident, they know that they are competent, and they can explain why.  They also know how the industry works and what it takes to stay ahead and to survive in this competitive environment. In my interviews, these professionals reveal their way of thinking about competence and what they do to stay competent in a rapidly developing field. Not staying ahead of the field, not knowing what is going on, not engaging with colleagues and networks to constantly learn,

Today I got a package from MIT Press with copies of the 2nd Edition of mine and Harold Nelson's book "The Design Way". It looks very cook with a bright orange cover. It is possible to order now from Amazon and other places. This is how it looks. And below you can find the Table of Content and also the Preface to the Second Edition. Table of Content & Preface Preface to the Second Edition ix Acknowledgments xiii Prelude 1 I THE FIRST TRADITION 11 II FOUNDATIONS 25 1 The Ultimate Particular 27 2 Service 41 3 Systemics 57 4 The Whole 93 III FUNDAMENTALS 103 5 Desiderata 105 6 Interpretation and Measurement 119 7 Imagination and Communication 127 8 Judgment 139 9 Composing and Connecting 159 10 Craft and Material 173 IV METAPHYSICS 181 11 The Evil of Design 183 12 The Splendor of Design 191 13 The Guarantor-of-Design (g.o.d.) 201 V  A DRAWING TOGETHER 213 14 Becoming a Designer 215 15 Being a Designer 239 The Way Forward 261 References 265 Index 271 Pre