In reply to Andrew.

I really think block patterns are that stepping stone that theme authors need to offer for users. When users can insert pretty much any layout they need at the click of a button, it makes it so much easier.

Imagine, as a user, being able to insert this entire homepage design by simply selecting it from the patterns inserter. Then, just customizing the content bits. The user experience time goes from a couple hours down to minutes.

Without more theme authors leading the way with patterns, it's a hard sell to get more users to take that next step.