Which term describes methods that bring high-level guidelines into tangible forms?

The correct term that describes methods bringing high-level guidelines into tangible forms is design patterns. Design patterns serve as reusable solutions to common problems in design and development, effectively translating abstract concepts into concrete implementations. They provide a framework or blueprint for how to approach various design challenges and ensure consistency across a product or system.

By utilizing design patterns, designers can communicate ideas more clearly with team members and stakeholders, as these patterns often include standard notations or references that make them easily understandable. This allows for a more efficient design process, as it reduces the time spent reinventing solutions and enables teams to apply proven strategies effectively.

In contrast, design principles are broader, overarching philosophies guiding overall design strategy, but they do not provide the specific, repeatable solutions that design patterns do. Micro rules, while they might define limited guiding aspects of a design context, do not generally describe widely applicable reusable solutions. Affordances refer to the properties of an object that indicate how it can be used, focusing on interaction cues rather than overarching design methods.