Two-level Checklists and Perspectives: Software Reading Techniques for Pattern Writer's Workshop

A Pattern Writer's Workshop (WW) is a peer-review method to improve pattern or pattern language papers. However, several problems may arise, leading to "ad hoc" review meetings where patterns are not systematically reviewed and authors do not receive useful feedback. Previously, we considered Checklist-based Reading (CBR) and Perspective-based Reading (PBR), which are techniques to improve ad hoc reviews, but some deficiencies were noted. In this paper, we propose an approach to improve WWs by providing a two-level checklist and refining perspectives for reviewing patterns. An experiment shows the strengths and weaknesses of this new approach.