Comparing to Slack, there are many similar key points in the “work community” pattern written by Christopher Alexander. In the reading, Christopher suggests that the workspace should contain a mix of jobs, such as desk jobs, craft jobs, and selling. In slack, we are able to create subdivisions(channels) that form different groups. In these Sub-groups, we are able to look at what other groups are focusing on and what other teams are currently doing. Working in Slack as a group has no feeling of segregation and isolation because of the transparency that Slack provides us.
Moreover, Christopher mentioned that there was a common piece of land within the work community, which ties the workshops and offices together. In slack, similarly, there is a channel called “general” that everyone can join and share information. This channel exactly forms the workplaces Christopher mentioned – “if the workplaces are grouped around a common courtyard where people can sit, talk, it will help the contact and community among the workers.”
In the “circulation realm” chapters, Christopher introduced that the complexity of buildings’ problem of disorientation is acute. People are prone to get lost when the position of the address is hard to explain. In digital applications, I think the term “circulation” equals the significance of information architecture, which allows audiences to easily locate what they are looking for on a complicated digital platform. In some websites like the former version of Amazon, it was really easy to get lost on the website since it was so hard to conjure up a hierarchical map in the brain. The navigation was sophisticated to understand because it contained tremendously enormous information.
In “Degrees of Publicity,” Christopher focused on the idea that the environment between the extroverted and introverted living community. The extroverted group tends to live in places that have shopping malls, various services, and commercial centers; while the introverted are likely to live in places that are isolated, or far away from the center. In digital socializing platforms, there are similarities in many ways. For example, such as Instagram and WeChat, we are able to turn off/on the notification, choose to hide/show our video moments, and change the account type to a private account.
Honestly, I feel like I still get lost with the new version of Amazon. Like I can’t find my Amazon Prime QR code anywhere for Whole Foods
Interesting! I like the example you mentioned in “Degrees of publicness”. The feature of unmute/mute is really helpful.