uxstudio

Pattern languages are a design tool used to describe a set of best practices for a given design-space. Pattern languages have been used for centuries in urban planning and architecture;  more recently they have been applied to software product design.

The earliest pattern books were created by the Roman architect Vitruvius wherein he describes best practices for siting buildings, proper arrangement of rooms, external ornamentation, fenestration, etc.   Christopher Alexander coined the term “pattern language” in his 1977 book that focused on designing buildings and ranged from the macro (regional planning) to the micro (interior window treatments).

Jennifer Tidwell started an early effort to catalog UI patterns online which resulted in her book Designing Interfaces.  Yahoo’s design pattern library is a popular site for Ux designers interested in pattern languages.  There are many web sites on UI patterns that can be found using Google.

My team is currently in the process of constructing a set of UI pattern libraries that will serve as the canonical design references for our entire product suite. Continue reading UI Patterns…