Design Space for Design Patterns in Interaction Design in Web Applications

Abstract

User interface (UI) design patterns provide reusable solutions to recurring design problems and are widely used to create intuitive and consistent user interfaces. However, existing descriptions of patterns are often fragmented, inconsistent, and lack systematic structures that would support their practical use. This gap is particularly challenging for junior designers with limited experience and for non-designer stakeholders who must understand and evaluate design choices in collaborative development contexts. The primary objective of this thesis is to address this gap by developing a design space for user interface design patterns in web applications. A design space offers a multidimensional structure for organizing and navigating patterns, by clarifying what patterns exist, why they are useful, and how they can be applied. A multi-stage research process was undertaken to develop the design space. First, a literature review of nine academic and online sources was conducted to consolidate a fragmented knowledge base. This review resulted in a selected catalogue of 49 design patterns, which served as the foundation for the design space. Next, two preliminary studies: open and hybrid card sorting, were carried out to identify categories and usercentered criteria for structuring the patterns. Drawing on these insights, design space was developed with three dimensions: What, Why, and How, capturing functions, heuristics, and interaction types. The design space was evaluated through closed card sorting and tree testing with representative participants. The results indicate that the What and How dimensions are intuitive and aligned with user expectations, the Why dimension, based on heuristics, is more difficult to interpret due to overlaps and abstraction. These findings confirm the value of the What–Why–How framework while highlighting the need to refine heuristic-driven facets with clearer labels and examples. The thesis thereby establishes a conceptual and empirical foundation for a design space of design patterns and points to future opportunities for refinement and application.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	English
Supervisor	Mandy Keck (Supervisor)