Communities and Conversation Support: Rethinking the Design of Organizations and Information Systems, Learning from Pattern Languages

Information systems development can be framed as the construction of built information environments. In the design of these built environments, structures both in the social realm (of organizations and communities) and the information realm (computer-supported conversations) are not easily separated. In the design of built physical environments, Alexander addresses both the social realm and the physical realm by means of a pattern language. This approach can be applied to built information environments. Through an understanding of scope, content and influence of the physical realm onto the social realm, parallels can be drawn to how a pattern language might improve the design and construction of built information environments. In the field of built physical environments, urban planners, architects, and builders successfully use a pattern language to communicate coherently. In the field of built information environments, we propose that a pattern language become a lingua franca for organization designers and information systems designers.