User experience (UX) pattern designs are standardized solutions to common design problems aimed at improving usability across digital products. They provide consistency that makes it easier for users to navigate and interact with interfaces.
In this blog, we’ll explain why UX patterns are essential, with examples to illustrate their impact on user satisfaction. We’ll also cover how to implement them effectively in your designs.
Table of Contents
Why Are UX Patterns Important?
UX design patterns are essential tools that help designers create efficient, user-friendly interfaces. By solving common design challenges, they streamline processes and improve the overall user experience.
Implementing these patterns effectively offers a range of advantages for both users and developers, such as the following:
1. Simplified Navigation
UX design patterns lessen the time and effort required to navigate a site. When consumers engage with an interface, they link unfamiliar elements to those they have already seen.
People expect specific outcomes when they interact with systems. They anticipate an endless scroll when using social media or news websites, for instance. UX patterns provide a familiar structure, making it easier for users to move through websites or apps without confusion.
2. Improved User Experience
Streamlined navigation reduces friction and enhances user satisfaction. Users don't have to deliberate over each choice when they encounter familiar interactions in design patterns. By minimizing cognitive load, they can focus on achieving their goals more efficiently.
Additionally, when designers can meet their expectations, it contributes to overall satisfaction, which is how design patterns enhance the user experience.
3. Consistent Design Language
By applying user experience patterns, design language across platforms remains uniform. This leads to a cohesive experience, helping users feel more comfortable as they interact with the product. Consistency also reinforces brand identity and makes products more recognizable.
4. Time-Efficient Development
Designers can save time by reusing established UX patterns rather than creating solutions from scratch. This speeds up project timelines and allows teams to focus on innovation. Faster iterations lead to quicker testing and adjustments, which improves final product quality.
6 UX Design Patterns for 2024
Design patterns consist of six main groups:
1. Data Input and Output
One of the most frequent interactions between users and products is data entry and output. Users input data, and then the system either returns data or performs an action.
A date picker, used by many websites and applications, is an excellent illustration. Most date pickers have a similar form and operation, though they vary slightly in appearance —month/year in the header, days of the week, and dates.
A date is highlighted to illustrate the selection when a user clicks on it. When the user is finished and ready to move forward, they can click the CTA (and occasionally a cancel button).
Input and output of data also include the following:
- Form submissions
- Success/fail messages
- App notifications
- Progress bars/steps
2. Content Structuring
Have you ever noticed that image thumbnail block layouts are primarily consistent across galleries? Or how the navigation panel is typically on the left with the content on the right in admin interfaces?
By using these familiar user experience strategies and content structures, users can explore a new digital product or website more efficiently. The objective is to reduce friction for a seamless and delightful user experience, especially when learning a new interface.
3. Navigation
Navigation patterns for desktop and mobile interfaces differ. On a desktop, the main navigation is typically found on the left side or in the header. Meanwhile, on mobile, the navigation UX dashboard is located in the footer of the app, within easy reach of the thumb.
Instagram and Pinterest, for instance, frequently use an infinite or continuous scroll as their navigational design pattern. The system updates to show new content as users scroll. Because visitors don't need to click the next button or pagination to see additional material, this design pattern improves the user experience.
4. Social Media & Sharing
Designers can choose from a variety of social media and sharing design patterns, such as:
- Social media links with branded icons
- Sharing icons, such as the arrow bending to the right or the three-dot open triangle hare icon
- Quote from testimonials with the person's name and picture in inverted commas
Users can locate social proof to increase their trust in your product and brand using these well-known design principles. These UX design processes use psychology to persuade users to take the intended actions. The idea is to build a connection between the user and the product.
5. Incentivization
Utilizing design psychology, incentive UX patterns motivate users to complete tasks and take on other activities, developing a user/product relationship. Designers create design patterns to captivate consumers through encouragement, thought, gamification, and other UX research methods.
For instance, gamified patterns encourage users to recommend friends to earn prizes. On a UX pattern, users will see their current point totals and a CTA to invite friends to earn more points.
6. Hierarchy
Like content structure, hierarchy patterns help users quickly familiarize themselves with an interface, allowing them to scan it and figure out how to take appropriate actions.
Tables of contents and headers are two common hierarchy types used in blogs. Users can utilize the table of contents to skip to specific sections or quickly scroll through a page to find what they need.
Another hierarchy structure commonly used by eCommerce websites is the breadcrumb. This feature makes it easier for visitors to navigate product pages and checkout processes.
How To Use UX Design Patterns
Now that you know the various UX design patterns available, discover how to pick the ideal UX patterns for your custom website user experience. Remember that UX patterns mainly address usability issues. Hence, there is no need to use a pattern if no problem exists.
Here are four steps to select a UX design pattern:
1. Determine the Issue That Needs Fixing
The first step in using UX design patterns is to identify the usability issues that your users are facing. Gather insights directly from users by conducting surveys, interviews, and usability testing. Then, analyze their feedback to pinpoint common pain points.
To enhance the UX of an existing website, consider utilizing:
- Focus groups to gather qualitative data
- Perform A/B testing to compare different design approaches.
- Review support tickets or user complaints to identify recurring issues.
2. Examine Solutions on Other Websites
Once you’ve identified the usability issues, research common UX patterns that have been proven effective in solving similar issues. Look at websites or apps that have successfully addressed your challenges. Observe how they approached the problems you’ve identified in the first step and take note of the design patterns they employed, as many may use a combination of patterns to create a seamless UX.
Exploring similar or even your competitors’ websites can give you ideas on how to solve your website’s issues and provide inspiration on how else you can improve your design.
3. Match the Appropriate Patterns to Address User Needs
Now, after looking at how other websites handle similar issues, the next step is to evaluate the effectiveness of the techniques they implemented. Not all UX design patterns will work for your specific context; it’s important to assess each one based on your users’ needs and the goals they have for using your website.
For example, a navigation pattern that works for a complex website may not be the best fit for a mobile app. So, always consider the context, the device you’re catering to, and user needs and expectations from your website. Whatever UX design pattern you employ should always align with your brand’s identity and UX goals.
4. Test and Adapt the Pattern
Once you’ve selected a pattern, the final step is to implement it and test if it’s effective. Even well-established and common patterns should be adapted to fit your website’s design context.
To properly test it and determine if it helps your website, you can utilize A/B testing, usability testing, or user feedback. Based on the results, refine the pattern and make necessary adjustments. As a rule of thumb, patterns should improve your user experience and not complicate it.
UX Patterns Takeaways
The goal of UX designers is to give users the best experience possible, and UX patterns aid in achieving this. In a nutshell, you can think of UX design patterns as established solutions to frequent issues. Using these proven methods results in intuitive interfaces.
The success of an app often hinges on design simplicity, and both UX and UI patterns can impact the overall quality. High rankings are closely tied to these elements. Additionally, employing UX design patterns results in better user engagement, increased revenue, and higher retention rates.
