Design Patterns: Defining and Sharing Web Interface Design Languages Panel Notes (SXSWi 2007)

Rough Panel Notes:

why talk about design patterns? a dialog between design teams. Give you a shared language; pattern language.

giving things a name gives things a shared goal.

Pattern recognition - helps you recognize and understand meta information.

Stephen Johnson]s everything bad is good for you - talking about visual relationships that create patterns.

lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?347

Yahoo design pattern library - used to be internal, but is now an open library.
designinginterfaces.com - pattern library
welie.com/patterns/
ebay pattern engine

what are design patters - Solutions to problems in context
repeatable solutions
works in specific contexts
best practices that solve real users needs
difference between principles and & guidelines
a design vocabulary - having a name around a solution

Examples of design patterns -
drag and drop

scope of design patterns - some are complex, yahoo keeps it pretty simple.
top down - frameworks + documentation

bottom up - components + documentation

title
The problem
use when (constraints)
solution
who to contact regarding problem
why (rationale)
how to apply
examples
related patterns

How are design patterns used?
as Style guide replacments - more flexible; they are obsolete; too general, too specific, doesn't solve problems.
sharing best practices

Does it work for clients at web design agencies?
focus on solutions rather than rules
encourages good behavior
reusable

Sharing Best Practices
browse stuff that's online
user centered goals
design constrains (the use when portion)

Example - top, right, or left aligned form labels?
advantages and disadvantages of each.