interaction design
Interaction Design is the process focused on discovering requirements, designing to fulfil requirements, producing prototypes and evaluating them Focused on users and their goals. Involves trade-offs to balance conflicting requirements
Goals of interaction design
- Develop usable products– Usability means easy to learn, effective to use
and provides an enjoyable experience - Involve users in the design process– > User Centred Design
The User Experience (UX)
- How a product behaves and is used by people in
the real world
– the way people feel about it and their pleasure and satisfaction
when using it, looking at it, holding it, and opening or closing it
– “every product that is used by someone has a user experience:
newspapers, ketchup bottles, reclining armchairs, cardigan
sweaters.” (Garrett, 2010)
– “all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its
services, and its products. (Nielsen and Norman, 2014)
Core characteristics of interaction
design
- Users should be involved through the
development of the project - Iteration is needed through the core activities
- Specific usability and user experience goals
need to be identified, clearly documented and
agreed at the beginning of the project
Accessibility
Accessibility refers to how easily people, especially those with disabilities, can use a product or service. The goal is to ensure that as many people as possible can access and use it. For example, Android devices include features like hearing aid compatibility and screen readers, making them usable for people with hearing or visual impairments.
Inclusiveness
Inclusiveness means designing products and services that work for the largest number of people, regardless of their background, ability, or other factors like age, education, or income. For example, smartphones are designed to be user-friendly for everyone, including people with disabilities. However, sometimes, products might not perform equally for everyone—for instance, studies have shown that smart speakers may understand men better than women.
Usability goals
- Effective to use (effectiveness)– Does it do the job well?
- Efficient to use (efficiency)– Shortcuts e.g. Amazon one-click checkout
- Safe to use (safety)– Not just safety critical systems e.g. are you sure you want
to delete this folder? - Have good utility (utility)– E.g. are the desired functionalities available?
- Easy to learn (learnability)
- Easy to remember how to use (memorability)
User experience goals
User experience (UX) goals, on the other hand, focus on the emotional and experiential side of interacting with the product. These goals are about how a product makes the user feel, such as:
Enjoyment: Is the product fun or satisfying to use?
Engagement: Does the product keep the user’s attention?
Aesthetics: Is the product visually appealing?
Usability and user experience goals
Differences and Trade-offs:
Usability goals aim for practical effectiveness (e.g., a product being safe or easy to use), while UX goals focus on emotions and experiences (e.g., a product being fun or enjoyable).
Sometimes, these goals can conflict or require trade-offs. For instance, a product designed to be fun might sacrifice some safety features, or a highly efficient product might not be very engaging.
Measuring Usability vs. UX:
Usability goals are generally easier to measure because they rely on objective metrics like task completion time, error rates, and ease of learning.
User experience goals are more subjective and harder to quantify because they deal with emotions, which vary from person to person. Surveys, interviews, and observation of user behavior are common ways to measure UX.
Design principles
Visibility - Making commonly used functions more visible means less frustration for the user!
Feedback - Sending information back to the user about what has
been done. Includes sound, highlighting, animation and combinations of these.
Constraints - Restricting the possible actions that can be
performed. Helps prevent user from selecting incorrect options. Physical objects can be designed to constrain things.
Consistency - Design interfaces to have similar operations and use similar elements for similar tasks. Main benefit is consistent interfaces are easier to learn and use.
Affordances - Refers to an attribute of an object that allows people to
know how to use it
Internal and external consistency (Design principles)
Internal consistency means making sure that everything within a single application behaves the same way. For example, if you swipe left to delete an email in one part of an app, that same action should work in other parts of the app too. This consistency helps users learn and navigate the app more easily. However, it can be hard to achieve if the app is very complex.
External consistency means making sure that different applications or devices use similar design elements and actions. For instance, common icons like the “trash can” for deleting or the “gear” for settings are often used across many apps. This helps users feel familiar with new apps because some things look or work the same. However, external consistency is harder to maintain because different designers may have different styles or preferences.
Four approaches to interaction
design
- User-centred design– Users needs and goals take centre stage
- Activity-centred design– Focus on behaviour surrounding a task – less about users
needs/goals - Systems design– Holistic design approach, focus on people, computers, objects,
devices etc…– Good for complex problems - Genius design– Relies on creativity of the designer
Why is it important to involve users
- Help you to better understand users’ needs
- Helps with expectation management
– Making sure users’ have realistic expectations of a product
– No surprises, no disappointments
– Timely training
– Communication, but no hype - Helps develop ownership
– Make the users active stakeholders
– More likely to forgive or accept problems
– Can make a big difference to acceptance and success of product
Degrees of user involvement
- Member of the design team
- Face-to-face group or individual activities
- Online contributions from thousands of users
- User involvement after product is released
user-centred approach
user-centered approach focuses on designing a product by prioritizing the users’ needs, behaviors, and preferences. It involves three key elements:
Early focus on users and tasks:
Designers study the users directly, looking at their cognitive (how they think), behavioral (how they act), and attitudinal (how they feel) characteristics to understand their needs and how they will use the product.
Empirical measurement:
The users’ reactions and performance are tested using scenarios, manuals, simulations, or prototypes. These interactions are observed, recorded, and analyzed to see what works and what doesn’t.
Iterative design:
When problems are found during testing, the design is adjusted and tested again. This cycle repeats until the product is improved. It’s rare to get everything perfect on the first try, so multiple rounds of testing and fixing are common.
Four basic activities in
Interaction Design
- Discovering requirements
- Designing alternatives
- Prototyping alternative designs
- Evaluating product and its user experience
throughout
How to choose among alternatives
- Focus on what users see and do: Interaction design is all about how users interact with the product. While it’s important to understand how the system works behind the scenes, you should prioritize what users can see and experience.
- Check if it’s technically possible: Some ideas might sound good, but they might not be possible to implement with the technology available. Make sure to assess what can realistically be built.
- Test with users or colleagues: Get feedback by showing prototypes (simple versions of your design) to users or by doing A/B testing (comparing two different designs to see which one users prefer). This helps you see how well your ideas work in practice.
- Consider quality expectations: Different groups (like users, managers, or developers) may have different standards for what they consider “good quality.” Understand these expectations and make sure your design meets the necessary usability and user experience goals for each group.
Assumptions and claims (conceptual design)
- Write down your assumptions and claims when
coming up with a new design - Try to defend and support them by what they will
provide - Those that are difficult to articulate– Can highlight what ideas are vague or unrealistic– Identify human activities and interactivities that
are problematic - Iteratively work out how the design ideas might
be improved
Benefits of conceptualising
- Orientation (of viewpoint)
Seeing from the user’s perspective: Conceptualizing helps the design team understand how users will view and interact with the product. By keeping the users in mind, the team can ask important questions about how users will perceive the design and what their needs are. - Open-mindedness
Encouraging creativity: This process helps the design team stay open to new ideas and possibilities. If the team becomes too focused on one solution too early, they might miss out on other creative approaches that could be more effective. Conceptualizing allows for exploration and innovation. - Common ground
Establishing shared understanding: By discussing concepts and agreeing on common terms, the design team can avoid misunderstandings or conflicts later on. Having a shared language and understanding helps everyone stay aligned throughout the design process.
Conceptual Model
What is a Conceptual Model?
Definition: A conceptual model is a high-level description of how a system is organized and operates. It acts like a blueprint that outlines the key components and their relationships within the system.
Formats: It can be represented in different ways, such as:
Textual Description: Written explanations that describe the system’s functions and organization.
Diagrammatic Form: Visual representations, like flowcharts or diagrams, that illustrate how different parts of the system interact.
Core components of a conceptual
model
- Metaphorsand analogies– understand what a product is for and how to use it for an activity,– e.g. browsing, bookmarking
- Conceptsthat people are exposed to through the product– task–domain objects (e.g. files and folders), their attributes, and operations
that can be performed on objects (e.g. saving, revisiting, organizing) - Relationship and mappings between these concepts– Can an object contain another? Does an action on one affect the other?
How are the different parts related?
Interaction types
5 main types:
* Instructing– issuing commands and selecting options
* Conversing– interacting with a system as if having a conversation
* Manipulating– interacting with objects in a virtual or physical space by manipulating them
* Exploring– moving through a virtual environment or a physical space
* Responding– The system initiates the interaction and the user chooses whether to respond
What are Interface Metaphors?
Definition: Interface metaphors use familiar concepts to help users understand new or unfamiliar technology.
evaluation
- System usability– E.g. How easy is it to use? Is it intuitive? Is it easy
to learn how to use? Does it meet the user
requirements? Is it effective? - User experience– E.g. Is it satisfying/enjoyable to use? Or frustrating
and de-motivating?
