User Experience
Pattern
Plain English
It is a repeatable way of solving the same kind of design problem.
Definition
A pattern is a reusable solution to a design problem that recurs across products and glossaryContextContext is the set of surrounding conditions that shape how someone behaves and decides, including their goal, their environment, their time pressure, and what happened immediately before. The same action can mean different things in different contexts.Open glossary term. It captures an approach already shown to work, so a team solves the problem once rather than every time it appears.
In practice
Used to create glossaryConsistencyConsistency is the use of uniform patterns, behaviours, and visual elements across a product to create familiarity and predictability. It helps users learn once and apply that knowledge throughout the experience.Open glossary term and glossaryEfficiencyEfficiency measures how quickly and easily users can complete tasks once they are familiar with a system.Open glossary term.
In context
Reaching for a familiar one is usually right. Users have learned how glossarySearchSearch is the functionality that allows users to find content or information by entering queries. It relies on indexing, metadata, and relevance algorithms to return useful results.Open glossary term, filters and checkouts work elsewhere, and the novelty budget is better spent on the actual proposition.
The reality
If patterns aren’t followed, users get confused.
Compared with
Pattern vs Component
A pattern is a repeatable approach to a problem, such as how to handle a multi-step form. A component is a built, reusable piece of glossaryInterfaceAn interface is the point of interaction between a user and a system, where inputs are made and outputs are received. It can be visual, physical, or conversational.Open glossary term. Patterns describe the thinking; components deliver it in code.
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