Developing Lawful Technologies – A Revelatory Case Study on Design Patterns

Higher legal standards regarding the data protection of individuals, such as the European General Data Protection Regulation, increase the pressure on developing lawful systems. In the development of technologies, not only developers are involved. It also requires knowledge from other stakeholders, such as legal experts, that lack technical knowledge but are required to understand IT artifacts. We see two strings that can benefit from the use of design patterns: first, the well-known use of design patterns to support developers in case of recurring problems. Second, we see potential that legal experts, who have to interact with and understand complicated, novel technologies, benefit from the same patterns. We conduct a revelatory case study using design patterns to develop and assess a smart learning assistant. We scaffolded the case interpretation through the human-centered view of socio-materiality and provide contributions concerning the use of design patterns in the development and assessment of lawful technologies.