What does interaction design mean?

Interaction design is about creating useful products for people so that people can achieve their goals. To do this, interaction designers need to be able to understand business goals, as well as users goals and how they will work with the product (which they cannot always describe upfront). So in all likelihood, on a daily basis an interaction designer will meet customers or potential customers, usability test their products or competitors’ products, sketch out ideas and collaborate with other designers and developers.

Interaction design is a growing field within UX, and involves making deliberate decisions about how a product looks, feels, and behaves. This article explains this better with examples of Interaction Design models.

A simple and meaningful understanding of the design of the interaction.

Interaction design is the design of the interaction between users and products. An interaction designer focuses on creating engaging user experiences with thoughtful, efficient and useful interactions. The goal of interaction design is to create products that enable the user to achieve their objective(s) in the best way possible.

?The field of product design is broad, by nature, and spans over many disciplines. It is a multidisciplinary field that involves aspects such as engineering, ergonomics, aesthetics, psychology, industrial design and much more. The interactions between people and products create an experience or an atmosphere which goes far beyond the actual usability of a product.

Following the concepts from interaction design, UX designers create wireframes and prototypes to flesh out how users would reach their goals within the product or website at hand. The goal of a UX designer is to meet the goals of a user in an efficient, intuitive way while also meeting business requirements, as well. Wireframes are created with graphics software such as Sketch or Adobe Illustrator, while user testing is performed using tools and prototypes like Adobe XD, Webflow, and Origami.

UX design is the process by which you (the designer) create a product (e.g., website, app, service experience) that is both useful and pleasurable to use. Most people in the world of digital product development use the term User Experience to refer to this creation process, and at Froont we tend to use it to distinguish between UX design and visual design.

The 4- dimensional interaction design.

The 4 dimensions of interaction design explains the role of interaction design and the core areas that an interaction designer needs to pay close attention to. Gilian Crampton Smith, interaction design academic, introduces her way of thinking about interaction design. In particular, she outlines the core elements in an interaction that must be addressed by any good designer:

Number 1– Words

Clear, simple, and informative words keep the user in control by giving them just enough information to confidently complete their task. Overly-technical or vague language can be confusing and leave the user unsure of what action to take.

Number 2– Visual representations

Visual design elements like color, shape and texture communicate information that helps users understand and interact with your voice app.

Graphical elements, like images, typography, and icons make it easier for users to digest information without strictly relying on words.

Number 3– Physical objects or space

Every physical object, no matter how small or unimportant it may seem at first, is a medium of some sort. Every object has an effect on the user’s behavior, whether we intend it to or not. The same thing goes for the spaces that contain these objects. Any physical space where our product occurs is a part of the interaction between the user and the product.

The biggest difference between web interfaces and native mobile app ones is the device used to interact with each; a smartphone or tablet, compared to a laptop or desktop. While both types of interfaces have touch-based interactions, such as gestures or tapping, etc., they differ greatly in other aspects, like screen size and shape (portrait or landscape), typing via keyboard or touchscreen, the input speed of typing into forms, etc. These aspects are major factors in the best way to design for each interface.

Number 4– Time

As an integrated service with constant updates, incorporating motion and sound is critical to our company's success. Motion and sounds play a crucial role in giving visual and audio feedback to users’ interactions. This feedback can increase their confidence in the product and decrease any anxiety they may have about their progress. We also take into account the amount of time a user spends interacting with the product: can users track their progress, or resume their interaction some time later?

Important questions that interacting designers ask.

In order to design a successful user experience, interaction designers ask a variety of questions about their target audience, the product, and its context.?

These questions include:?

1. Who will be using the product??
2. What are they trying to accomplish??
3. What are the most important scenarios or use cases?

Then what do interactive designers do?

Interaction designers focus on making the interaction between the user and a product or service as intuitive and meaningful as possible. The design of for example a website or phone app should be easy to use, but also enjoyable and engaging at the same time. This is all part of creating a positive experience for the user.?

In many companies, Interaction Design (IxD) focuses on the experience after a user gets to the site or app. IxD is a branch of UX design that focuses on how users will interact with a site or app. It’s about thinking about what will happen when you click on a button and making sure that the system responds as you’d expect, by giving visual feedback.

Design strategy

Interaction design is a key component of the user experience design process. It focuses on how to optimise the interface between two (or more) humans and a product, service or system.

Interaction design (IxD) is often associated with the concept of a user interface, or the way in which a human interacts with a device, website, or computer application. While that is certainly one aspect of interaction design, it knows no bounds. IxD also concerns itself with how devices interact with one another.

Wireframes & prototypes

?Wireframes and prototypes are an added challenge to this job description. Interaction designers need to be aware of constraints and behavioral patterns of users, coming up with ideas on how to make the user experience easier.

Thanks you

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