Pattern Identification

Initially, we had hypothesized that the more of the matrix a set of principles covered, the more likely it would be that a pattern would be found. A matrix with principles in every box would be an optimal pattern. The ability to identify additional principles from a sparse matrix proved to be so easy as to make this kind of culling difficult. More importantly, we discovered that principles from different authors typically addressed only one phase of the development process. While this was not surprising, it provided additional incentive to find patterns which might provide a means through which cognitive scientists focused on the analysis phase might better communicate with computer scientists focused on the implementation phase.

After some fine-tuning of the clusters, nine patterns were defined and named.

• consistent information
• meaningful information
• informative interface
• universal commands
• meaningful sequence
• accommodating data
• ordered information
• recognizable objects
• appropriate information

1. a title descriptive of the pattern's content but at the same time brief and easy to remember.
2. a paragraph describing the context of the problem solved by the pattern.
3. a rational of for pattern the empirical background of the pattern?).
4. examples of the use of the pattern in the design of an application.
5. a statement describing how to use the pattern.
6. reference to the different principles that constitute the pattern.

Studying the clusters of principles, possible additional patterns were identified at set aside for study at a later date. We did note that the patterns that were defined seemed to fall into the following categories:

• patterns related to the interface,
• patterns related to the interaction across the interface, frequently called the dialog, and
• patterns related to the information or objects that are represented both in the human mind and in the computer system.