This is where Quince comes in. It is a pattern library that you can browse and customise. It also offers lots of potential to collaborate by way of exchanging ideas and in guiding the team to a unified solution.

You can search for patterns or browse them based on a number of different categorisations. The patterns range from the simple and general to the more complex and extremely specific. As well as a formal description of the pattern you can also see at least one example of it in action.

Patterns organised as a tag cloud

You can comment on patterns or simply click a button to add the fact that you have used it - so providing and indication of how commonly encountered any given pattern is. You can also join in community conversations about patterns and propose new public patterns.

The second aspect of Quince is its collaboration facilities. You can create additional users and give them access rights to your private design libraries. You can pin examples of designs on your "corkboard" area - yes Quince itself has quite a well thought out and impressive UI. 

My corkboard - the Jeep is a design icon

You can create private pattern libraries that you can keep to yourself.or share with others in a controlled way.  Example and patterns can be annotated by users and you can import a range of different types of resource - Urls, CSS and so on.  Annotations can be simple text or you can use tools to draw on the screenshots for example.

Editing a corkboard item

The virtual workspace scrolls to provide any amount of space that you need.If you need hard copy then no problem - you can even export to PDF if you need to keep an archive copy.

You can do the same job without using Quince but be prepared to keep lots of sheets of paper in lots of folders and invest in sticky note shares. An online approach to style guides and UI patterns is so much more logical - after all we are in the computer business.

The online aspect also means that as well as not having to cut down trees to record your designs you can share them without cutting down even more trees and shipping the resulting copies to remote parts. Now design teams can be distributed and can include in the conversation any personnel involved in the project without the need to schedule meetings.

Slowly you build up a set of resources that you can easily reuse in new projects. Invest in the future - use an online system like Quince.

For more information and to sign up to Qunice visit : Infragistics

If you would like to be informed about new articles on I Programmer you can either follow us on Twitter, on Facebook , on Digg or you can subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

<ASIN:0596516258>

<ASIN:0120884364>

<ASIN:0123735580>

<ASIN:0470185481>