Rob Waller

Pattern languages for information design

The pattern language approach was developed by the architect Christopher Alexander to describe a set of design solutions that have evolved in response to common problems experienced when people create towns and buildings. Pattern languages, or libraries, have become a mainstream tool for software engineers and interaction designers, but have not been widely used in information design more generally (that is, in non-electronic channels).

Using examples from several information design genres, this paper will consider Alexander’s pattern language approach as a possible direction for information design theory. It will review:

learnings from the way it has been applied in architecture, software engineering, interface design and other disciplines
how it might relate to user research, in order to verify the claims of patterns to be solutions to problems, and to verify the claims of research to be generalisable
how it might define the boundary between problem-solving space and personal creative space in the designer's task
how it might be used in design education
how it might be used in the specification of corporate document standards
how it might be used in the measurement and teaching of functional literacy.

Rob Waller is Professor of Information Design at the University of Reading. For about twenty years before joining Reading in 2007, he co-managed (with David Lewis) the design consultancy Information Design Unit, and latterly the information design team at Enterprise IG. At Reading he is director of the Simplification Centre, a new research centre dedicated to the cause of clear information. He started Information Design Journal in 1979, and was a co-founder of the Information Design Association.