User interface patterns

I've not tried to work through the differences between Jenifer Tidwell's two UI patterns sites, Common Ground and UI Patterns and Techniques. Some of the newer site seems to be rewriting, expanding and illustrating the Common Ground patterns, other bits seem entirely new. From a first glance at the newer site, I marginally prefer Common Ground because of its more generalised, "patterny" language, but this is probably because I have been corrupted by evil techie developerspeak; I can certainly see how the simpler language and visual examples will make the patterns concrete for a non-academic, non-developer audience.

Anyway, Tidwell's work has now been picked up by O'Reilly and will be published in dead tree format in October. For my money, this will be a must-buy. A pattern catalogue really hits the sweet spot between HIG-level specifics like "Buttons will be 120 pixels wide" detail and wise but unhelpful generalities like "Think how a digital device will be held and carried." UI designers do deal with the same problems in application after application, site after site, and patterns are a superb technique for capturing these kinds of common problems along with their solutions. And even ignoring the cookbook aspect, a pattern catalogue gives us a common vocabulary for describing and debating UI solutions, much as developers now find Observer, Decorator and their ilk to be handy shorthands for explaining technical designs. "Hey, why not combine the four filter boxes and use a Forgiving Format instead?"

By the way, I particularly like the intro to the newer site. "There's nothing new here." In our industry, it takes a brave writer to make that her hook.