Interaction Design Patterns: Twelve Theses

This position paper was written for the CHI2000 Patterns Workshop, The Hague, 2–3 April, 2000. It is a revised and extended version of a paper for a patterns workshop of the British HCI Group in March 2000. It offers twelve statements outlining my position about patterns in human-computer interaction (HCI). The first, under “Roots”, suggest how HCI, unlike software engineering, can adapt the original patterns idea from architecture. The second set, “Adaptation”, shows how this concept can be expanded to cope with the dynamics and requirements of user interfaces. The “Users” section explains how HCI patterns lead to participatory design. The closing claims introduce some current work on using patterns in software engineering, HCI, and the application domain to enhance communication in interdisciplinary design teams, and outline how those pattern languages fit into the usability engineering lifecycle.