Assessing the Value of a Pattern Structure For Communicating Design Advice

This paper presents findings from an experiment evaluating the impact of a pattern structure on the worthiness of design advice. It explores the broader issue whether patterns facilitate communication of design knowledge. This study differs from past rsearch by focusing on the benefits of using a pattern structure on design advice, and not on the efficacy of available patterns in collections. In addition to patterns, the study includes claims as an alternate structure. Design advice prepared using pattern or claim structure was judged by experts using the following four criteria: context-of-use described, rationale provide, usefulness of advice, and overall quality. Our findings indicate that patterns and claims each have certain strengths that can be combined to yield a more robust representation, and invites a rethink of the ubiquitous pattern structure. This research responds to the call for much needed empirical work in the area of patterns in HCI.