Permaculture Principles Tool & Technique (PPTT) Analysis application development using LLM.

Draft 2

Problem Statement

Permaculture designers and permaculturalists lack a standardised, visual, and comparative tool to systematically assess their application of the 12 permaculture principles, resulting in incomplete designs, missed learning opportunities, and inability to track progress over time.

Point of View Statement

Permaculture designers and permaculturalists need a way to quickly visualise and compare their principle implementation because current assessment methods are informal, non-standardised, and don't provide historical tracking or community benchmarking.

How Might We Questions

• How might we make principle assessment as intuitive as arranging physical cards?
• How might we motivate consistent use through meaningful progress visualisation?
• How might we connect individual learning to community-wide understanding?
• How might we bridge offline reflection with online collaboration?

Success Criteria

• Historical progress is immediately visible through comparative visualisation
• Engagement increases through gamification without compromising assessment accuracy
• Tool serves both individual reflection and community aggregation needs
• Assessment process supports contemplative, unhurried reflection on each principle

Ideate – Draft 3

Building on our defined problem and "How Might We" questions, exploring creative solutions for the PPTT Analysis tool:

Core Interface Ideas

1. Card-Based Interface Solutions

• Horizontal deck of 12 principle cards with vertical drag scoring (0-10 scale) in columns
• Visual feedback: cards have a centre line that denotes datum for score line - in the middle of the vertical height of the card. An immutable histogram of the previous analysis 'score' flows through the columns that each card sits in. A new contemporary histogram showing trendline through the centre of each card on its datum. When a card is moved the histogram moves too
• Magnetic snap points at score intervals for tactile feedback
• Card flip animation to reveal principle details/descriptions

2. Progress Visualisation Concepts

• Dual histogram: ghosted previous scores vs. current bright colours
• Histogram showing trendline through the centre of each card on its datum
• Timeline slider to scrub through historical assessments
• Heat map showing principle attention over time periods

Gamification Ideas

3. Engagement Mechanics

• "Principle Steward" badges for sustained high scores in specific principles
• Streak counters for regular assessment completion
• "Balanced Designer" achievements for even principle distribution
• Progress milestones with nature-themed rewards (seed→sprout→tree)

4. Community Features

• Anonymous regional benchmarking ("Your bioregion averages...")
• Collaborative group assessments for shared projects
• Principle spotlight: monthly community focus on specific principles
• Peer comparison opt-in with privacy controls

Technical Architecture Ideas

5. Data Management Solutions

• Offline-first PWA with sync when online
• Export functionality (PDF reports, CSV data)
• Import capability for existing assessment data
• Backup/restore through QR codes for easy device transfer

6. Adaptive Interface Concepts

• Mobile: vertical card stack with swipe gestures
• Desktop: horizontal spread with mouse drag
• Tablet: hybrid approach with touch-optimised interactions
• Accessibility: keyboard navigation and screen reader support
  
  
  

Seasonal calendar conversions and comparisons

Greetings

Reading northern/southern hemisphere books pertaining to planting/harvesting/pruning/horticultural practices/gardening/permaculture design etc. in the southern/northern hemisphere can be confusing with reference to the months/seasons. This is due to the  six month offset of the seasons and the differences between the meteorological and astronomical definitions of the seasons.

Meteorologists(NZ) divide seasons into periods of three whole months based on average monthly temperatures. Astronomers define seasons with two solstices (shortest day and longest day) and two equinoxes (when day time and night time are of equal length). Astronomers use the earth's tilt and the sun's alignment over the equator to determine the dates for each event.

The table below has been designed to facilitate interpretation of months and seasons for each hemisphere and seasonal definition.

 
Click on image for larger version or download PDF.

 

Month/Season Calculator

 

2025-05-29

American resources pertaining to planting/harvesting/pruning/horticultural practices/gardening/permaculture design etc. use the USDA Hardiness classification system to divided geographic areas that have similar long-term average annual extreme minimum temperatures into 13 zones. New Zealand covers 8b to 11b. 

Zone 8b:  −9.4°C to −6.7°C

Zone 9a:  −6.7°C to −3.9°C

Zone 9b:  −3.9°C to −1.1°C

Zone 10a: −1.1°C to  1.7°C

Zone 10b:  1.7°C to  4.4°C

Zone 11a:  4.4°C to  7.2°C

Zone 11b:  7.2°C to 10.0°C

Map of NZ divided by USDA classification

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Analysis: PITEBA Oil Extractor Design Element

I recently came across the website for Piteba oil extractors

• The extractors are hand powered mechanical extractors (seperators) for nuts/seeds and oil
• As a hand powered device they fit in with my manual production philosophy
• This is a basic cost comparison and review of the ability to produce hazelnut oil
• As a concept it could apply to any other nut/seed oil

• The mind map below shows my design element analysis for home oil extraction

 Click on the mindmap for a larger view

• Following the above analysis I will be purchasing a Piteba oil extractor as a design element.  I just wish I had a plant nursery and an area to plant nut trees
• I would start collecting cuttings and bringing them on in the nursery and at the same time start preparing the area where the trees would finally be planted

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Design: Reverse Engineering

Greetings

Reverse engineering is the process of systematically analysing an object (activity/concept/design/element/function/idea/problem/process/procedure/routine/structure/system...) specifically to ascertain the external (black box) structure/processes/inputs/outputs.. and/or internal (white box) structure/processes/funtions.. that contribute to its function and form

• The technique is used to breakdown an object/system (physical/actual or hypothetical/proposed) to facilitate our understanding and learning of that object/system

• For a hypothetical/proposed design/system the analysis can facilitate understanding of the energy/materials/... required to implement/manage the design/system

• The 5 Whys strategy of questioning is a type of reverse engineering used in Root Cause Analysis problem solving

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Mnemonic: SING - How to remember what you read

Greetings

Remembering read information takes an effort, especially when reading information/data in text books that will probably only be read once

• Note taking (in any form) is a good way of recording the information for learning, but how do I remember both the background information and the data to make it useful information in the future
• I came across the mnemonic below on a Youtube clip How to remember what you read, which fits in with the way I remember what I read 

Stop - at end of text/passage for a second to focus on the read text

Identify - the main point/s of the text. Stories are hierarchical. Focus on retaining the points

Never - mind the details. Focus on the point/s

Gist; get the - of the story. Overall - all point/s together 

Other techniques I use to remember read information include: 

• Reading the contents pages of a book prior to reading the book, a primer to understanding the gist of a book (see I and G above)
• If I'm bored I will also skim the index pages in the same manner
• Reading the first few paragraphs/pages of a chapter and then skipping to the last paragraphs/page
• Text book chapters will begin with an introduction to the contents of the chapter (the first few paragraphs/pages) and end with a conclusion (the last few paragraphs/pages)
• The information in between/the bulk of the chapter is simply discussion and only of further interest if required to understand the conclusion (see N above)

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Design: Dynamic Processes

Greetings

• Designing for dynamic processes is defined here as the assessment/evaluation/development and implementation of sustainable strategies/processes/procedures/structures and activities designed to reduce and/or eliminate losses and danger resulting from the surge and pulse of the natural and/or manmade environment

• Dynamic processes/systems are understandable at a systems level but not controllable or fully predictable due to their natural/chaotic nature

• When working with dynamic processes consider Reinhold Niebuhr Serenity Prayer: 

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference

Or if you prefer Mother Goose :o) 

For every ailment under the sun; There is a remedy, or there is none; If there be one, try to find it; If there be none, never mind it

• The mind map below shows my designing for dynamic processes notes

Click on the mindmap for a larger view

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Households (Zone: 0) as part of the hydrological cycle ideal and reality

Greetings

Below is some observational/analysis/design work I did in 2009-11

I've been fixing a standard flush toilet today, continuing my mental observation/study of water in my household and pondering how a consciously designed household might function

Fig 1. Shows my designed household water cycle. The household/community collect/consume/use fresh water within the hydrological cycle of their environment, cycling water through human functions/processes and returning it to the local area for treatment. Treatment being black water composting, grey water recycling, reed beds etc... local, decentralised, reticulated and free

Fig. 2 shows the reality of the household water cycle. The outputs of the hydrological cycle have been sequestered/intercepted/stolen by corporations masquerading as municipal entities who collect or mine fresh water to produce a product called drinking water

The community consume this product [drinking water] and relies on the same municipal entity to deal with the waste by convenient removal. Household waste is processed along with industrial and agricultural effluent and pumped into the environment/bioregion at above loading capacity rates - and we pay for it all!

Me -$, them +$ and a polluted environment! My input/participation and therefore support into/of this system needs to be reduced and if possible move to the ideal state (Fig1.)

A permaculture design will remove all reliance on the municipal entity and tend towards the idealised household water cycle style participation in the hydrological system

Key:
Blue lines = fresh water
Brown lines = grey/black water
Yellow lines = drinking water
Black lines = contaminated (heavy biological or toxic loading)

Fig 1. Designed household water cycle

Fig 2. Reality of the household water cycle

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Strategies: Hierarchy of Intervention

Greetings

• The hierarchy of intervention provides a pattern to work with when designing management strategies\routines and implementing pest management
  
• The energy input of an intervention level is relative to the intervention itself not the overall level of input
• Some aspects of the physical and biological interventions can have equal energy inputs\disadvantages
• The mind map below shows the hierarchy of intervention levels and notes

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