UI Patterns

The user interface, or UI, of a device is the look and feel of the on-screen menu system. How it works, its color scheme, how it responds to button presses, all of these things are part of the user interface.

Why mobile UI design is Important?

Mobile user interface (UI) technology is in the midst of its evolutionary phase. Phones and tablets that use Apple's iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad), Google's Android archictecture, Blackberry's operating system, HP's webOS, and Windows® Phone 7 mobile operating system all offer diverse UI design approaches. 

Each Mobile vendor has their own interface UI design according to branding, Target users and budget purposes. Therefore Mobile UI patterns can be applied in different UI designs according to user requirements and vendor standards. Yet Mobile UI focus on giving a user friendly experience to the user and to enhance the navigation, accessibility and rich content in a limited space which is a challenge compared to designing UI in Software Engineering.

Mobile UI is important because it must enable users to access the same content in a smaller window with the same user satisfaction where the user must get the same look and feel as they are using a bigger screen.So Mobile UI is important and concerned with a range of features that vary from position of a single button to tapping on the screen.

Mobile UI design best practices:A pattern must be a best practice, and common enough to be recognized or encountered!

UI design patterns:

A design pattern refers to a reusable and applicable solution to general real-world problems.

Therefore UI design patterns are used to address a real world problem that is accompanied with a mobile UI  which could rise while users are working on a mobile UI. When presenting a mobile UI pattern, there  is a particular set of standards/ framework which needs to be  followed;

Composition 

Composition of a Page :

• Has to do with the assembly of components, concepts, content and other elements to build up the final design
• consistency is important so these elements are not place arbitrarily on the page

Composition patterns 

1. Scroll
2. Annunciator row
3. Notifications
4. Titles
5. Revealable Menu
6. Fixed Menu
7. Home & Idle Screens
8. Lock Screen 
9. Intersitial Screen
10. Advertising

Components


Components display a range of information types -images, ordered data, expandable list, notifications, etc. 
Allow the user to interact with the systems in some significant, primary manner.

• Display information
• Control and confirmation
• Revealing more information

Widgets

• Lateral Access
• Drilldown
• Labels and Indicators
• Information Controls

Input and Output

• Text and Character Input
• General Interactive Controls
• Input and Selection
• Audio and Vibration
• Screen, Lights and Sensors