Design patterns aren’t just academic trivia—they’re practical tools to tame complexity, improve maintainability, and keep code resilient over time. In this talk, we’ll learn how to spot the moments when a pattern actually helps, using the Strategy Pattern as our hands-on example. We’ll start from a real case: managing dynamic behavior (e.g., rendering buttons based on an object’s state) that devolved into a tangle of if/else. Step by step, we’ll refactor to an elegant, scalable Strategy-based solution. You’ll see how to identify code smells that signal the need for a pattern, when not to use one, and how to keep your design flexible without over-engineering. Expect clear before/after comparisons, testable seams, and a lightweight checklist you can apply on Monday.