Phase 2 - Architecture

Questions

• What do our target users need? What will they come to the OSDPL looking for? How can we help them achieve their goals? How can we help them find what they need?

• How can we ensure that the pattern library functions together as a coherent whole (e.g. if many communities are contributing)?
  Volume? How many design patterns will the library include? Is there a limit?

• How should we organize the patterns?

• Presentation layer – what do we expect to see and where?

• How does the design pattern library connect to the Fluid component library, UX Toolkit, and other documentation? and other Design Pattern Libraries?

• How do we integrate information/patterns from other pattern libraries?

• How should we bring in patterns from the Sakai design pattern library?

• How can we make the OSDPL sustainable?

• How can we encourage participation, broadly?

• Are there particular things we want to prioritize for this initial build?

• How will contributors interact with the library and what will they contribute?
  • those who submit their pattern
  • those who want to critique a pattern
  • those who want to use a pattern

• Can we include screen shots from commercial sites?

Discussion

We expect that visitors to the OSDPL will all be seeking information that assists them in some sort of design undertaking, but there will be some variation in just what they are looking for, depending on their individual professional interest.

1. Design Pattern Authors will be looking for examples of prior art, and inspiration for their own creations. They will appreciate the employment of good design principles.
2. Designers will be seeking well-crafted templates on which to base actual designs for implementation. They will like to see examples of how templates translate into a highly usable and readily understood mechanisms.
3. Developers will place a high value on information that assists them in implementation. If there is a good solution to a problem that can be illustrated through fragments of code or markup, a developer will appreciate their inclusion in the information attached to a pattern.

The challenge is to present the content of the library in such a way as to enable each viewer of a pattern to find easily the type of information they need most.