Field Observations

Procedure

Each observation records a design choice seen in use. Observations are filed under the eight patterns named in CW-PUB-001, Field Notes on Productive Friction, issued by Cognitive Wallpaper. Products are recorded by kind, not by brand.

Choose a pattern to show its observations, or All patterns to show the full register. Select an observation to read its full record. The register is held as observations.json and can be read without JavaScript.

Retrieving the register. If nothing appears, JavaScript may be unavailable. The register file linked above can still be read.

Observations on file

No observations are on file for that pattern.

File an observation

Anyone may file an observation of a pattern seen in use. No account is needed.

1. Note what was seen and what it did, in two to four plain sentences. For example: "Subject reported that the box was already ticked."
2. Record the kind of product (a food delivery app, a fitness tracker). Brands are optional.
3. Name the pattern, if known. If not, leave it. Personnel will assign one.
4. Attach a screenshot if there is one. Remove names, faces, messages and account details first.

Open the intake form (Framaforms, operated by Framasoft. Opens a form on framaforms.org.)

The intake form is in preparation. Until it opens, observations may be filed by merge request (see below).

Submissions are examined by personnel before entry. They may be edited for the register and published without attribution unless a name is given. Filing confers no priority. Do not include anything you would not want on a wall.

For personnel: prepare a register entry

Complete the form to prepare a register entry as JSON. Nothing is sent. Copy the prepared entry into site/observations/data/observations.json and file it by merge request. The entry is given the next available catalogue number.

Write the observation in two to four plain sentences: what was seen, and what it did. For example: "Subject reported that the box was already ticked."

An image, if included, requires alt text that describes what the image shows, and must be under one megabyte. Remove personal data and account details from screenshots before filing. Do not include anything you would not want on a wall.

Filing an entry

Personnel may file further observations by merge request. Accepted entries are added to the register. Filing confers no priority.

Edit site/observations/data/observations.json in the repository and add one object to its array, in the shape below. Catalogue numbers run in order, in the form PF-0009. The register was opened with one observation per pattern. Submissions from the intake form are converted with node scripts/import-observations.js.

{
  "id": "PF-0001",
  "pattern": "ambient-nudging",
  "title": "Short title",
  "observed": "2026-09-15",
  "where": "kind of product",
  "description": "What was observed and what it did, in two to four plain sentences.",
  "contributor": null
}

Use a pattern id from the canonical pattern list. The image field is optional. When present, it requires a path to a file in images/ (png, jpg, webp or gif, under one megabyte) and an alt string. The tests check that the file exists. The contributor field is optional and may be null.

Run node --test and node scripts/check-site.js site from the repository root. Then open a merge request in the repository for inspection.