Designing Interfaces

THE PATTERNS

Even though individuals are unique, people behave predictably. Designers have been doing site visits and user observations for years; cognitive scientists and other researchers have spent many hundreds of hours watching how people do things and how they think about what they do.

So when you observe people using your software, or performing whatever activity you want to support with new software, you can expect them to do certain things. The behavioral patterns listed below often are seen in user observations. Odds are good that you'll see them too, especially if you look for them.

A note for patterns enthusiasts: These patterns aren't like the others in this book. They describe human behaviors, not interface elements, and they're not prescriptive like the patterns in other chapters. Instead of being structured like the other patterns, these are presented as small essays.

Again, an interface that supports these patterns well will help users achieve their goals far more effectively than interfaces that don't support them. And the patterns are not just about the interface, either. Sometimes the entire package—interface, underlying architecture, feature choice, and documentation—needs to be considered in light of these behaviors. But as the interface designer or interaction designer, you should think about these as much as anyone on your team. You may be in the best position to advocate for the users.

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