Hackerspace Design Patterns 2.0: Difference between revisions
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== New Hackerspace Design Patterns == | == New Hackerspace Design Patterns == | ||
Please add your new Patterns here: | The following were provided to me by several people from several hackerspaces: | ||
Please feel free to add your new Patterns here: | |||
'''NonexistentKitchenPattern:''' Don’t have a kitchen at your space. Nothing turns a group of diverse individuals into competing cliques like using your hackerspace as shared living quarters. Have a fridge that is cleaned once a week, whether it needs it or not, whether you think food should be thrown away or not (it should). | '''NonexistentKitchenPattern:''' Don’t have a kitchen at your space. Nothing turns a group of diverse individuals into competing cliques like using your hackerspace as shared living quarters. Have a fridge that is cleaned once a week, whether it needs it or not, whether you think food should be thrown away or not (it should). | ||
'''ApathyByAThousandCutsAntiPattern:''' Nothing kills community spaces like apathy when bad things happen. Be aware of individuals bringing bad things into the space and address them early. When many such individuals crowd a space, they kill the creative energy of others by swamping them with drama. This in turn causes people to ignore bad behaviors, giving implicit permission and inviting more of the same bad behavior. Community is hard, and you should deal with such issues as they arise, and not let them gather. | '''ApathyByAThousandCutsAntiPattern:''' Nothing kills community spaces like apathy when bad things happen. Be aware of individuals bringing bad things into the space and address them early. When many such individuals crowd a space, they kill the creative energy of others by swamping them with drama. This in turn causes people to ignore bad behaviors, giving implicit permission and inviting more of the same bad behavior. Community is hard, and you should deal with such issues as they arise, and not let them gather. | ||
'''Creative Chaos Pattern: The Stage Fright Anti Pattern:'''<br> | '''Creative Chaos Pattern: The Stage Fright Anti Pattern:'''<br> | ||
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with their project instead of berating it, or simply ask them to step away | with their project instead of berating it, or simply ask them to step away | ||
and leave the member and their project alone. | and leave the member and their project alone. | ||
'''The Resource Replenishment pattern. (Extension of the Club-Mate pattern.)'''<br> | |||
'''Problem:''' A particular resource (soda/beer/h2o2/C3H7OH) is consistently | |||
in limited availability and nobody knows who should buy it.<br> | |||
'''Solution:''' The person who is most able (supply) and who uses the most | |||
(demand) provides replenishment during phases of heavy use. A member of | |||
the space who is qualified to handle funds should take allocated funds | |||
and replenish supplies.<br> | |||
('''common implementation:''' the Quelab soda fridge is replenished often by | |||
people who want a particular soda, which is commonly on sale alongside | |||
other sodas. Funds collected from the usage of soda, beer,etc go into | |||
buying more soda, beer, etc. respectively.) | |||
'''The Anti-Sponsoring Anti-Pattern.'''<br> | |||
'''Problem:''' Independence is cool, but rent needs to be paid.<br> | |||
'''Solution:''' Hackerspaces in big places (like tens of thousands of sqft industrial-zone warehouses) | |||
can benefit from occasional bumps in funding availability. This doesn't | |||
mean you should feed off someone else forever as a space; however, the | |||
occasional "yes we will take your no-strings-attached dollars with a | |||
comma and some zeros" is a weighted decision. Supplement and be in the | |||
black for longer when possible. | |||
'''The Viewers Like You Pattern.'''<br> | |||
'''Problem:''' Your hackerspace needs money.<br> | |||
'''Solution:''' Run a fundraising campaign, NPR style. Tote-bags and coupon | |||
books 'n all. | |||
'''Converse anti-pattern:''' You run them and can't make up on your printed | |||
totes, or you're running them every month. | |||
'''The Who's on First anti-pattern.'''<br> | |||
'''Problem:''' Your core workings of the space are dependent on several | |||
people being there. The question "Who do I give money to" is greeted | |||
with "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". The question "How do I become a member" | |||
is answered with "You'd talk to... J. Hacker, who's... not here | |||
tonight."<br> | |||
'''Solution:''' If a single person is necessary for a single task, there | |||
should be several. If that task is common, or involves the running of | |||
the space, that person should *be there* when the door is open or *available* more often than not.<br> | |||
: The person who takes money should be there every night. At open time. If you're a 24/7 space, there should be some *way* to contact said person *easily* -- and it should be **KNOWN**. | |||
'''The Focus-Group Pattern.'''<br> | |||
'''Problem:''' A change to the rules has led to outcry from a set of members. | |||
The problem fundamentally hinges around a particular topic (e.g. | |||
inclusivity, feminism, etc).<br> | |||
'''Solution:''' A meeting is held at regular intervals to discuss the issue | |||
by any member who a) effected the change, b) is affected by the change | |||
or c) feels the change is inappropriate.<br> | |||
'''NB:''' Have these off-site, somewhere nice, like a local restaurant. | |||
Around food. | |||
'''The space-sharing pattern:'''<br> | |||
'''Problem:''' Your hackerspace could use with some income supplementing. A | |||
group that some of your members are a part of needs a space to work or | |||
hold meetings in.<br> | |||
'''Solution:''' Pimp the space and offer at a (reasonable) price the usage of | |||
the space in off-times by groups. Be willing to be flexible for each | |||
group and work out a *signed* agreement -- contract or Notary Public | |||
letter to one another. |
Revision as of 15:41, 4 July 2015
Wanted: your Hackerspace Design Patterns
I submitted a proposal for a talk at CCCamp 2015: an updated presentation of the Hackerspace Design Patterns. It was accepted!
tl;dr:
Have you observed a Pattern (what works well, and what not so well) at your hackerspace that you think others can benefit from? If so, please share it with me, so I can share it with others in my talk.
- mitch AT CornfieldElectronics DOT com
Design Patterns
Design Patterns are generalize-able statements of what works well and doesn't work so well -- so that others can learn what may work well (or not so well) for them.
Hackerspace Design Patterns
The original Hackerspace Design Patterns was presented at CCCamp 2007 and 24C3 when there were only ~40 hackerspaces in the world. Here's the original Design Patterns (which are way worth reading!):
http://events.ccc.de/congress/2007/Fahrplan/attachments/1003_Building%20a%20Hacker%20Space.pdf
These patterns directly inspired the creation of the hackerspace movement. Now that there are over 2,000 hackerspaces listed on hackerspaces.org, it's time to update the Hackerspace Design Patterns to include 8 years of additional collective experience -- and present them at CCCamp 2015.
Somewhat updated Hackerspace Design Patterns
A somewhat updated version (that needs more updating) of the Hackerspace Design Patterns are listed at hackerspaces.org:
https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/Design_Patterns
Your Observations Wanted
Do you have any observations of what works well, and what doesn't work so well at your hackerspace (or any hackerspace)? Can you state it in a way that may be generalized so that people starting (or running) hackerspaces may benefit from your observation? If so, please send me your observation, and I'll incorporate it into my talk.
- mitch AT CornfieldElectronics DOT com
Workshop after the talk at CCCamp 2015
My 30-minute talk at CCCamp 2015 will include some old and some new examples. After the talk we will have a workshop on Hackerspace Design Patterns, and really get into what works well, and doesn't work well at hackerspaces. I'll take notes, write it up, and post it so that everyone starting or running a hackerspace can benefit from our collective experiences.
Thanks!
Mitch.
New Hackerspace Design Patterns
The following were provided to me by several people from several hackerspaces:
Please feel free to add your new Patterns here:
NonexistentKitchenPattern: Don’t have a kitchen at your space. Nothing turns a group of diverse individuals into competing cliques like using your hackerspace as shared living quarters. Have a fridge that is cleaned once a week, whether it needs it or not, whether you think food should be thrown away or not (it should).
ApathyByAThousandCutsAntiPattern: Nothing kills community spaces like apathy when bad things happen. Be aware of individuals bringing bad things into the space and address them early. When many such individuals crowd a space, they kill the creative energy of others by swamping them with drama. This in turn causes people to ignore bad behaviors, giving implicit permission and inviting more of the same bad behavior. Community is hard, and you should deal with such issues as they arise, and not let them gather.
Creative Chaos Pattern: The Stage Fright Anti Pattern:
Problem: As a group grows and becomes noticed in media and the surrounding
local community, its solo, group, and public projects as well as public
events are perceived differently. This can lead to higher assumed
expectations that outpace the output of quality, speed, and/or intricacy,
and can tie in with some other Hackerspace Design Patterns. This can be
affected by the Sine Curve Design Pattern, for instance. This can affect
any of the following: new guests who may feel intimidated before even
arriving or as a diametric who expect to see robots greet them with 3d
printed bon bons, new as well as longstanding guests and members who
attempt to discourage projects of perceived lower quality, members and
recurring guests who begin to feel pressured into producing higher quality
or participating with more effort, the general public, leaders in the
community who are not a part of the Hackerspace, local and global media,
partners, and sponsors.
Solution: Clearly identify when public projects and programs are low
barrier when announcing them, and communicate which skills and experience
are needed for activities with higher participant expectations. Also,
clearly identify the intended goal of a project or event when promoting it.
Encourage members and patrons to embrace an adventurous side without fear
of failure, and elect a community welcome wagon that does things like offer
constructive criticism particularly for new guests and members. Have clear
paths written on how to best perform a public project or event, with
specific expectations detailed. Provide one or more contacts to help
members add public activities like workshops, and try to schedule frequent
new member orientation classes or less frequent smaller classes about how
to add public activities to the Hackerspace's promotional queue and the
expectations of running public events. Burning out a core group of
volunteers is never a good idea, and some sustainability can be procured
from the encouragement of members to create their own public programming in
activities and resources. Make it clear that there are multiple tracks of
different quality and intricacy expectations. For private solo and group
projects, there should really be no expectations outside of the group's
charter or general ethos of respecting the space, peers, and other
projects. Discourage elitist policing and be swift and firm. Remind a
frustrated member that they may be incurring this Anti Pattern or helping
it along, and ask them to find constructive ways of helping that member
with their project instead of berating it, or simply ask them to step away
and leave the member and their project alone.
The Resource Replenishment pattern. (Extension of the Club-Mate pattern.)
Problem: A particular resource (soda/beer/h2o2/C3H7OH) is consistently
in limited availability and nobody knows who should buy it.
Solution: The person who is most able (supply) and who uses the most
(demand) provides replenishment during phases of heavy use. A member of
the space who is qualified to handle funds should take allocated funds
and replenish supplies.
(common implementation: the Quelab soda fridge is replenished often by
people who want a particular soda, which is commonly on sale alongside
other sodas. Funds collected from the usage of soda, beer,etc go into
buying more soda, beer, etc. respectively.)
The Anti-Sponsoring Anti-Pattern.
Problem: Independence is cool, but rent needs to be paid.
Solution: Hackerspaces in big places (like tens of thousands of sqft industrial-zone warehouses)
can benefit from occasional bumps in funding availability. This doesn't
mean you should feed off someone else forever as a space; however, the
occasional "yes we will take your no-strings-attached dollars with a
comma and some zeros" is a weighted decision. Supplement and be in the
black for longer when possible.
The Viewers Like You Pattern.
Problem: Your hackerspace needs money.
Solution: Run a fundraising campaign, NPR style. Tote-bags and coupon
books 'n all.
Converse anti-pattern: You run them and can't make up on your printed totes, or you're running them every month.
The Who's on First anti-pattern.
Problem: Your core workings of the space are dependent on several
people being there. The question "Who do I give money to" is greeted
with "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". The question "How do I become a member"
is answered with "You'd talk to... J. Hacker, who's... not here
tonight."
Solution: If a single person is necessary for a single task, there
should be several. If that task is common, or involves the running of
the space, that person should *be there* when the door is open or *available* more often than not.
- The person who takes money should be there every night. At open time. If you're a 24/7 space, there should be some *way* to contact said person *easily* -- and it should be **KNOWN**.
The Focus-Group Pattern.
Problem: A change to the rules has led to outcry from a set of members.
The problem fundamentally hinges around a particular topic (e.g.
inclusivity, feminism, etc).
Solution: A meeting is held at regular intervals to discuss the issue
by any member who a) effected the change, b) is affected by the change
or c) feels the change is inappropriate.
NB: Have these off-site, somewhere nice, like a local restaurant.
Around food.
The space-sharing pattern:
Problem: Your hackerspace could use with some income supplementing. A
group that some of your members are a part of needs a space to work or
hold meetings in.
Solution: Pimp the space and offer at a (reasonable) price the usage of
the space in off-times by groups. Be willing to be flexible for each
group and work out a *signed* agreement -- contract or Notary Public
letter to one another.