science

Social architecture

Social architecture is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Social architecture rather than just read about it. In short: Social architecture is the conscious design of an environment that encourages a desired range of social behaviors leading towards some goal or set of goals. The environment social architecture influences may be social systems, or digital spaces such as media tools (sometimes synonymous with Web 2.0) and UX strategy.

Key takeaways

Social architecture belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Social architecture to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Social architecture from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Social architecture is the conscious design of an environment that encourages a desired range of social behaviors leading towards some goal or set of goals. The environment social architecture influences may be social systems, or digital spaces such as media tools (sometimes synonymous with Web 2.0) and UX strategy. In building design it can refer to the architecture of social spaces such as bars and restaurant. In social systems, "social architects" seek to modify human behaviors (behavior change) through carefully designed programs or workshops that seek to involve the members of a population to improve, for example, the livability and safety or environmental impact of their own communities. In digital spaces, "social architecture" is sometimes confused with "information architecture" or "interaction design". The theory of social architecture can be applied to solve talent attraction and retention issues, while simultaneously combating a community's social issues. The Milwaukee-based firm, NEWaukee is the first social architecture firm in the United States.

Architecture of On-Line Communities In September 2011 Pieter Hintjens presented "Social Architecture 101" at Mix-IT in Lyon. Hintjens defined the term like this: "Social Architecture by analogy with conventional architecture, is the process, and the product, of planning, designing, and growing an online community." Hintjens' 2016 book, "Social Architecture" provides a theoretical framework and a set of tools for building online communities, including a contribution process for open source software communities. The book refers to the ZeroMQ community as an example built using these tools and processes.

Social architecture on team-building Social Architecture is different from interaction design and information architecture. Rather, it can be illustrated with the combination of two. Specifically, the idea is to use structural (e.g. software, organizational rule) tools to design a socio-technical infrastructure for participants to behave in the wanted direction of the designer. It can be used as a conceptual framework for directing building a real-world community of which member communication is mostly taking off online. Social architecture aims for creating an effective infrastructure for non-face-to-face communication and management. As more and more across-devices team-building platform (such as Slack Basecamp\Architecture Social\Teambition\Tower.im) has been used, they provide some empirically-designed communication pattern for new joined teams whose major communications taking off online. The popular team-building platforms have some common features that their designers see as providing more efficient online communications. Mostly the team leader (or any member) will create a team on the platform with customizable name and invite other team members to join this team. The created team will be able to use designed features from the platform. They include: Newsfeed: Similar to Facebook's news feed, it is a semi-public feed where all joined team members can post or update their thoughts and get immediate or delayed feedback from other team members. Discussion Board: Team members can create threads related to topics for all members to participate in discussing. File Sharing: Team member can upload files from their multi-platform devices and cloud storage. Chatroom and Private chat: They provide real-time chat among all team members or between specific team members. Task-distribution and checklist: Team members can(be) distribute tasks and set deadlines. Calendar: A shared calendar with deadlines and important dates.

See also Community of place, a community of people bound together because of where they frequently spend time Crime prevention through environmental design, design of spaces to reduce criminal behavior Environmental psychology, study of how the natural and built environments shape individuals Gathering place, any place where people are able to congregate Hostile architecture, features of a built environment designed to inhibit undesired behaviors Neighborhood character, the look and feel of an area Place identity, the extent to which people identify with a place Social engineering (political science), top-down efforts to influence attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale Third place, a place for fraternization excluding homes and workplaces Urban vitality, the quality of spaces in cities that attract people

References

External links Social Architecture The Use of Social Architecture in Developing Internet Applications and Websites The Empowerment Institute Social Architect What is a Social Architect? Social Architecture 101 Strategic Social Architecture Interview on Amy Jo Kim NEWaukee: Social Architecture Firm

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Social architecture

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Social architecture claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Social architecture before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Social architecture ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Social architecture

In research: Social architecture appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Social architecture in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Social architecture is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Interdisciplinary subfields of sociology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Social architecture outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Social architecture in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Social architecture means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Social architecture out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Social architecture in simple terms?

Why does Social architecture matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Social architecture?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Social architecture.