One of the reasons why XLP makes for such a powerful testing bed is that it brings together participants from different cultural backgrounds who represent a variety of professional and academic disciplines. XLP crosses boundaries by involving a diversity of students, teachers, and ‘hackers’ from various places, disciplines, and age groups. XLP also welcomes and integrates practices that originate from a variety of academic fields, including information system design, law, and communication.
It is through such interdisciplinary interaction that XLP participants can discover the unique skillset that they bring to the group. Consequently, the diversity within teams and the group as a whole will lead participants to greater self-awareness of their own talents as well as of the capabilities of the team and the group.
Large-group intervention
===Large-group intervention===
An XLP stands for an experience-driven large-group intervention in which participants need to engage with others as they tackle a set of open-ended tasks. The mission, not the contents, is driving, and product development is an integral part of the experience. XLP can therefore be regarded as an exponent of hacker/maker education, which finds its roots in the wider maker movement in China and elsewhere, sharing its thoroughly collaborative spirit.
Although the number of teams may range from four to forty (and more, if physical space allows this), typically ten self-organizing teams of eight need to muster all the skills and tap all the talents of the group in order to rise to meet the demanding challenges they have been set. These tasks are defined by the ‘challenge designers’ and are tailored for each intervention, which can span anything from an intensive four day immersion event to a continuous four year process (and why not an entire lifetime).
===OPERATING SYSTEM===