Mobile User Interaction Design Patterns: A Systematic Mapping Study

Abstract

Interaction design patterns have evolved as a resource that facilitates documentation and the reuse of proven solutions. They provide a structured and understandable mechanism for what to do in the design. Mobile devices have characteristics, configurations, and restrictions that make the construction of their interfaces full of particularities to this environment, and problems that are often common to designers and developers. This study presented a systematic mapping of the state-of-the-art regarding interaction design patterns for mobile devices. A total of 23 studies that include articles and books met the selection criteria in this mapping, examining relevant scientific databases and books that were cited in relevant articles. As a main result, 336 patterns were compiled, with 261 of these problems and solutions being dissimilar from each other. The paper describes patterns in 18 categories covering different interaction aspects. Pattern structural elements with mentions in more than five papers included: Name, Solution, Problem, Context, Examples, Related Patterns, Forces, Consequences and Figure. Four studies reported empirical evaluation of the patterns with a limited number of users. The paper contributed with a categorization of existing patterns and the challenges for uniformization of structure and empirical evidence with user evaluation.