Fluid Design Pattern Library

Allison Bloodworth

9/27/07

What is a pattern? A pattern is a proven solution to a common

problem in a specified context There may be many different implementations

of each pattern “Each pattern is a three-part rule, which

expresses a relation between a certain context, a problem, and a solution” [Alexander 1979].

Software Engineering Patterns

Organization

Process

Product

• Organizational Patterns (Coplien, 1998, Cockburn, 1997)

• Business Reengineering Patterns (Beedle, 1997)

• Steps and Task Patterns (Ambler, 1998; Coplien, 1995)

• Process Improvement Patterns (Appleton, 1997)

• HCI Patterns (Tidwell, 1998)

• Software Design Patterns (Gamma, 1995)

People

• Pedagogical Patterns (Manns, 1996)

• Human-to-Human Communication Patterns (Cockburn, 1997)

From: Maximizing Reusability of Pattern Languages over the Web,Homa Javahery, www.cusec.net/archives/2002/javahery.ppt

Patterns are useful for: Gathering best practices in user-centered

design (UCD) UCD pattern catalogues carry a significant

amount of reusable design knowledge Educating software engineers, who are the

individuals that make most of design decisions which affect usability

Facilitating communication among software engineers

Adapted from Pattern Framework for Eliciting and Delivering UCD Knowledge and Practices,A. Gaffar, H. Javahery, A. Seffah, D. Sinnig, presentation at HCI International 2003,http://dsinnig.com/ppts/Pattern.ppt

Pattern Libraries - Tidwell

http://www.time-tripper.com/uipatterns/

Pattern Libraries - van Welie

http://www.welie.com/patterns/index.php

Pattern Libraries - Yahoo!

http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/

Pattern Libraries - UC Berkeley

http://harbinger.sims.berkeley.edu/ui_designpatterns/webpatterns2/webpatterns/home.php

Pattern Libraries - Moudil

Pattern Library Organization Models - Patrick Stapleton Subject

Content - normally specify an application genre like ecommerce and supply chain management.

• E.g. in the Design of Sites collection under "Site Genres" and in Welie’s collection under "Site Types".

Functional - based on logical breakup of functionality• E.g. shopping cart and two-panel selector.

This seems to be the most common prevalent classification type, found in many popular libraries

Client - the platform on which a UI pattern has been design to operate.

From ui-patterns-authors mailing list

Pattern Library Organization Models - P. Stapleton

Level 1. Information architecture –navigation of

content within an application 2. Screen architecture – positioning of

functionality and content within a screen 3. Site furniture – the formatting of

functionality and content

From ui-patterns-authors mailing list

Pattern Library Organization Models - UPADE

Pattern Library Issues

Proper granularity for a pattern Serve one organization or many/all? Use classification hierarchies or tags? Use mark-up language to facilitate reuse

(e.g. PLML)?

Advice on creating a pattern library First of all, read all the articles and books etc.

related to this topic to get started. Second, it is really important to understand

organization's culture to select suitable patterns and create tool for sharing and managing patterns.

And, when you have created the library, you need to find the ways to keep the library living.

From ui-patterns-authors mailing list

Questions about Fluid Design Patterns How can patterns add value to the Fluid

community? What do we mean by “design patterns”? Who is our audience?

Programmers, UX Designers, Jr. UX Designers Individual Fluid apps, all Fluid apps, other university

websites & applications, all websites & applications What do our target users need? What is our scope?

Design patterns related to components, any design patterns relevant to Fluid applications

Questions about Fluid Design Patterns

Is the package we want to provide more than just design patterns? Patterns, style guide, component code, component implementation

instructions (design & technical) How do we want to present the information?

Wiki, Content Management system How can we help our target users find what they need?

Indexing, search, tags, dynamic generation of examples for each application How does the Fluid DP library relate to/borrow from other DP

libraries? What value do we add? How can we ensure the Fluid DP library remains relevant/lives

on?

Oracle’s Enterprise Pattern Exchange Proposal The Enterprise Pattern Exchange (EPE) is an ambitious

project, which aspires to become the major online UI Pattern resource for pattern writers and user alike.

Proposed Features The most comprehensive collection of patterns publicly available

online to date (Oracle, Yahoo, eBay and Tidwell) Discussion threads for all patterns (including RSS feed

generation) Pattern submit tool Search tools Role based access for patter writers, users and assessors Distributed pattern management tools Pattern usage statistics

From “Developing a UI Pattern Standard,” Patrick Stapleto, Oracle

More Pattern Resources Yahoo! UI Patterns Authors mailing list:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ui-pattern-authors/

The Pattern Gallery: http://www.cs.kent.ac.uk/people/staff/saf/patterns/gallery.html