Deliverable Pages

A page pattern is a predefined combination of shapes (rectangles, annotation markers, etc) and placeholder text added to a layout to enable designers to place artwork (e.g., wireframe) and compose annotations in a consistent, effective deliverable page.

Page patterns are available for documenting:

• Comps
• Competitive analysis
• Content
• Document metadata
• Planning
• Research
• Specs
• Style guide
• Wireframes

Available Page Patterns, Circa December 2009

Nathan Curtis presented the poster “Instant Deliverable Mix” on deliverable page pattern starting points at the IA Summit 2008 in Miami, FL. Got a page that you’d like added to the library? Email a PDF of your suggested layout to unify@eightshapes.com for consideration.

Where

/deliverables/_pages/

How

To use a deliverable page pattern:

1. Find the snippet of interest by navigating the /deliverables/_pages/ directories.
2. Place the snippet by either:
3. Selecting File > Place and selecting the snippet of interest
4. Dragging the snippet from Adobe Bridge or your files window (Windows Explorer or Mac Finder) into an InDesign document.
5. Orient the embedded content (text, objects, etc) to be left-upper aligned with page layout’s guidelines.
6. Ungroup the embedded content if necessary to customize your layout.

NOTE: You cannot open a page snippet file independently of an InDesign document (.indd) file; the snippet must be placed into a document.

When

Place a page pattern onto your deliverable page at the outset of authoring content for that page. Better yet, use page patterns to plan your deliverable, aligning them with an outline of your document and clarifying what you’ll deliver to your readers.

Why

Page patterns enable you to:

• Build common layouts must faster instead of building each page from scratch every time
• Create consistent, predictable deliverable page structures
• Share common layouts with peers
• Establish expectations for deliverable content and detail before authoring

The baseline deliverable document templates are intentionally lightweight and flexibly used for many different types of deliverables, from style guides to wireframe specs, design strategy to competitive analyses. Therefore, page layouts specific to a deliverable type are modularly separate from the template itself, enabling easier maintenance and much lighter document templates.

Page patterns are not suitable for use on a master. A master enables you to utilize the same structure, document metadata, and page elements across multiple pages. However, a master isn’t meant to be extensively customized on each and every page, and you wouldn’t want a template with 100+ masters to choose from. Page patterns – once placed – are meant for page specific editing.

How Much

You can use as many deliverable page snippets as you want across a multi-page document, one per page.

Who & What’s New

The following submissions and additions have been made by members of the user experience community since we launched EightShapes Unify:

• Will Evans’ Personas
• Yvonne Shek’s Scenario Description Swimlane
• Russ Unger’s Page Design Review
• Sketching Design Studio Plans, Teams, Scenarios, and Sketching Sheets