DesignHinge was suggested as a possible alternative term for ShieldPattern. A hinge lets you move one end (change your design decision on one side) without having to move (change) the other side, and clearly makes your design more flexible. The term "heavy" doesn't work with it, but everybody can see that putting in a lot of hinges makes your design more "costly", and more complex. Sometimes we need a bigger (and more costly) hinge, sometimes a smaller hinge is enough, and sometimes you ain't gonna need it. -- FalkBruegmann Sometimes adding hinges simplifies code, by reducing spaghetti.