Chapter 5. Patterns, Properties, and Principles of Good UX Design

"Patterns can exist in the world, only to the extent that it is supported by other patterns…When you build a thing you cannot merely build that thing in isolation, but must also repair the world around it, and within it, so that the larger world at that one place becomes more coherent, and more whole; and the thing which you make takes its place in the web of nature, as you make it."

This quote, written by architect and educator Christopher Alexander, comes from his highly influential book, entitled A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. In the book, Alexander posited that good design communicates to us on a subconscious level using a language of its own. This is not a spoken language. It is the language of patterns, which are communicated through the connection we feel when we are in their presence.

"There is a central quality which is the root criterion of life and spirit...