When to Use UX Standards, Guidelines, and Patterns

Recently, several children were within one foot of being run over by a car while they tried to walk to school. There is a crosswalk painted in the street and there are flashing lights marking it. Yet, most drivers ignore the crosswalk and it can become a bit of a hazard for pedestrians.

There are design problems of all kinds in the world and in software applications. Some present a challenge to effectively completing a task while others are a risk to our safety. There are three main ways to catalog and describe solutions to design problems in software applications; standards, guidelines, and patterns.

Most of the buzz these days is around patterns. There are many good UI pattern resources. For example, Smashing Magazine ran an article 40+ Helpful Resources On User Interface Design Patterns 40+ Helpful Resources On User Interface Design Patterns. Many of the better patterns sites are listed there. There are also books on patterns. Designing Interfaces by Jennifer Tidwell is one good example.

The idea of patterns seems to come from Christopher Alexander and his work on the architecture patterns used to build houses as well as communities. In the introduction to the book A Pattern Language, Christopher describes them as “Each pattern describes a problem which occurs over and over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a way that you can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice”.

So, patterns can be helpful; a great source of inspiration and ideas for how to solve a problem. But, what if that isn’t the real challenge? What if you have a design and business goal of achieving consistency across a suite of products? Or, if your goal is to use designs proven to improve safety or reduce operator error? That is where guidelines and standards come it.

Guidelines are provided by the major software OS companies such asMicrosoft and Apple. By providing guidelines, they help people know the basic interactions that should be followed when designing applications for their operating system. Many companies build on the OS guidelines with designs and guidelines specific to their domain.

Guidelines are usually tested with people to help ensure that the recommendations work effectively. While they may include some flexibility, they are stronger than patterns at ensuring usability and consistency.

Standards are often used when human performance and safety are critical. There is usually only one design solution provided and it must be followed in order to comply with the standard.

To illustrate the difference between patterns, guidelines, and standards, you might think of designing a car. Placement of the accelerator and brake pedals always follows the same standard. Reversing them would cause serious problems. There is a bit more flexibility with respect to the shifter; on the floor vs. on the column, the shift pattern, the manual up/down shift provided on some automatics. But, there are some generally successful designs which are commonly applied across the product line for a manufacturer. Finally, there is no one best way to provide a trunk release mechanism. It can be a button or lever, on the dash or on the floor, etc. Patterns could be helpful to someone beginning to design a new trunk release.

In the end, then, standards, guidelines, and patterns all have their place in experience design. The best strategy might be to have a hybrid mix that includes all of them to cover as many situations as possible. Patterns are a great inspiration – but sometimes they just aren’t enough to ensure consistency or safety.

What types of design challenges do you face? Have you used patterns, guidelines, or standards to help solve them? I would love to hear your experience.

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