Self-Services User Interface Pattern 

Definition

Every self-service application is built upon the foundation of the self-service and follows a generic user interface pattern.

A user interface (UI) pattern, in turn, is defined as an archetypal or generic design solution to an interaction problem in the context of a user task.

UI patterns can be defined at various levels of granularity. At the highest level, single screen elements or their compositions can be described as patterns, for example a table control or an application roadmap. At the next level, aggregates of these screen elements form patterns, such as a screen area, to change the values of a table entry (object manipulation pattern) or a group of buttons to proceed or step back in the application. The lowest level of granularity is an application pattern. This pattern describes the commonality of applications designed for a specific task or, more often, for a specific group of intended users.

Use

Any self-service application uses various User Interface Patterns. Most of these patterns are determined by the requirements of the application, that is, whether a certain pattern for a collection of data is used (usually realized by a table control) or a pattern for setting a value from a set of alternatives. Two patterns, however, are part of nearly every self-service application:

●     The Roadmap Pattern (ROP)

●     The Context Assistance Pattern (CAP)

These patterns ensure that the application offers user guidance and context-sensitive assistance to the user.

The Roadmap Pattern (ROP)

The Roadmap Pattern is the most prominent of the user interface patterns used in self-service applications, given its high level of rerecognition of the pattern and the extreme growth in usability it provides.

The standard implementation of the Roadmap Pattern consists of the Roadmap control on top of the screen and a row of navigation buttons at the bottom.

A Roadmap Pattern

The Context Assistance Pattern (CAP)

This is another widely-used pattern in self-service applications. The purpose of this pattern is to offer context-related information to the user.

The visual realization of a Context Assistance Pattern is a list of ‘link-style’ text labels, which in fact are small UI controls that open or close the corresponding screen area. In the diagram below, the view area ‘Time Accounts’ is currently open. By clicking the label ‘Time Accounts’ once more, the CAP would be minimized and only the list of labels remains visible.

Context Assistance Pattern