Skip to main content
  1. Blog
  2. Article

Canonical
on 4 August 2016

App Design Guides phase 2 release: Patterns


Last week we released phase 1 of the new App Design Guides, which included Get started and Building blocks. Now we have just released phase 2: Patterns. This includes handy guidance on gestures, navigation and layout possibilities to provide a great user experience in your app.

Navigation: user journeys

Find guidance for utilizing components for effective and natural user journeys within your UI.

Layouts: using Grid Units

Use the Grid Unit System to help visualise how much space you have in order to create a consistent and proportionate UI.

More to come…

More sections will be added to patterns in the future, such as search, accessibility and communication.

Up next is phase 3: System integration; which includes the number of a touchpoints your app can plug into inside the Ubuntu operating system shell, such as the launcher, notifications and indicators.

If you want to help us improve these guides, join our mailing list. We’d love to hear from you!

Related posts


Johann Wolf
27 April 2026

Why Web Engineering is great

Ubuntu Article

Like many software engineers, one of my first software development experiences started with creating my own web page. Since that time 20+ years ago, a lot has changed in the web landscape. Having worked a lot in web since then, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on what I think makes web great! ...


Miguel Divo
13 February 2026

From inspiration to impact: design students from Regent’s University London explore open design for their dissertation projects

Design Article

Last year, we had the opportunity to speak at Regent’s UX Conference (Regent’s University London’s conference to showcase UX work by staff, students, and alumni), where we engaged with students to make them aware of open design and their ability to contribute design skills to open source projects. The talk sparked great discussion, and we ...


Miguel Divo
19 January 2026

Showcasing open design in action: Loughborough University design students explore open source projects

Design Article

Last year, we collaborated with two design student teams from Loughborough University in the UK. These students were challenged to work on open source project briefs. Team 1 focused on non-code contributions, while Team 2’s brief was to create a unified documentation experience, giving them a chance to apply their design skills to real-wo ...