What is Interaction Design (IxD)?

Interaction Design (IxD) is the design of interactive products and services in which a designer’s
focus goes beyond the item in development to include the way users will interact with it. Thus,
close scrutiny of users’ needs, limitations and contexts, etc. empowers designers to customize
output to suit precise demands.

“Interaction Design is the creation of a dialogue between a person and a product, system, or
service. This dialogue is both physical and emotional in nature and is manifested in the interplay
between form, function, and technology as experienced over time.”

Five dimensions of interaction designs

The dimensions represent the aspects an interaction designer considers when designing
interactions:

 Words (1D) encompass text, such as button labels, which help give users the right amount of
information.
 Visual representations (2D) are graphical elements such as images, typography and icons that
aid in user interaction.
 Physical objects/space (3D) refers to the medium through which users interact with the product
or service—for instance, a laptop via a mouse, or a mobile phone via fingers.
 Time (4D) relates to media that changes with time, such as animations, videos and sounds.
 Behavior (5D) is concerned with how the previous four dimensions define the interactions a
product affords—for instance, how users can perform actions on a website, or how users can
operate a car. Behavior also refers to how the product reacts to the users’ inputs and provides
feedback.
Interaction designers utilize all five dimensions to consider the interactions between a user and a
product or service in a holistic way. Specifically, we use them to help envision the real-world
demands of a usership in relation to a design not yet introduced. For example, designers of an
app that must process data at high speed in order to find results inside a mass-transit system (a
subway/metro) will face accommodating the constraints of underground commuters

The six steps to designing interaction

One of the interaction designer's main fields of action is to design the interface of a product,
which must be appealing in order to capture and hold the user's attention.
As Usability.gov specifies, six steps can be followed to design interaction:

1. Define the user's interaction with the interface. To do this, it may be useful to ask what
a user can do with the mouse (or finger in the case of a touch screen) and what commands
he or she can give.
 2. Provide users with clues as to the possible behaviours to be undertaken, paying attention
to the appearance of the interface (colour, shape and size) and information on what will
happen if the interaction continues.
3. Anticipate and resolve errors by preparing error messages that allow the user to
understand the problem and provide concrete solutions for correction.
4. Pay attention to the system's response time: the responsiveness between an action and
the product's response time should be quick and the user should get adequate feedback;
5. Think about each element of the interface, trying to see if they all have an effective
interaction dimension, making them large enough for the user to select. Borders and
corners are also important, as they can usually be used to accommodate interactive
elements such as drop-down menus.
6. Simplify learning by providing little information at a time, removing any complex steps
and using standard formats familiar to the user.

What does an interaction designer do?

An interaction designer crafts the experiences users have with products, focusing on optimizing
user interaction and functionality. They utilize various elements like aesthetics, motion, sound,
and space, ensuring that products are user-friendly and meet user needs effectively. They
consider the Five Dimensions of Interaction Design: words, visual representations, physical
objects, time, and behavior, to create meaningful interactions.

The interaction designer also works with design strategies, wireframes, prototyping and
sometimes conducts user research to understand user goals better. For more insights on what
interaction designers do, watch our video, which comprehensively explains the role and
components of interaction design in detail.

How can you design interactions for different devices

1Understand the context

The first step to design interactions for different devices is to understand the context of use. This
means considering how, where, when, and why users interact with your product or service on
different devices. For example, a user might use a smartphone to check their email on the go, a
tablet to browse a website at home, and a laptop to work on a document at the office. Each
device has its own affordances, limitations, and expectations that affect how users interact with
them. You need to research and empathize with your users to understand their goals, needs,
preferences, and behaviors on different devices.
2Define the core interactions

The next step is to define the core interactions that your product or service offers on different
devices. These are the essential tasks and features that users need to accomplish their goals and
that provide value to them. You need to prioritize and simplify these core interactions to make
them clear, easy, and satisfying for users on different devices.

3Adapt the interface

The third step is to adapt the interface to suit the characteristics and constraints of different
devices. This means adjusting the layout, navigation, content, and feedback of your interface to
optimize the user experience on different screen sizes, orientations, resolutions, and input
methods. You need to follow the best practices and standards for responsive design, such as
using fluid grids, flexible images, media queries, and breakpoints.

4Test and iterate

The final step is to test and iterate your interactions on different devices. This means evaluating
the performance, functionality, and usability of your interactions on real devices and with real
users. You need to collect and analyze feedback from users and stakeholders to identify and fix
any issues or gaps in your interactions.

Useful tips

To facilitate access to an e-learning course and make it easier for the user to complete the
lessons, it is important to act on the interface, the content and the experience. But what to do in
concrete terms? Here are some useful tips:

1. Use graphics that make it intuitive and easy to understand the use of the panel,
highlighting the available online courses, materials and the user's progress;
2. Structure the content in such a way that it has a logical thread, to help keep the attention
and learning curve high, and that it allows you to move smoothly from one lesson to the
next.
3. Do not take anything for granted and design the interface bearing in mind that not all
users will be able to move skillfully within the platform. Therefore, it is necessary to
make the product user-friendly by providing all the necessary information.
4. Develop a consistent interface, maintaining the same operating mechanisms, graphics
and methods of use in each section. In particular, the logo, menu, search field, user access
and the list of courses should always be in the same place, to facilitate the user's search
for these elements. The coherence of the product makes it uniform, simplifying the way
the student learns.
5. Create an engaging environment, whose presence is linked to enhancing student
learning. If the user is allowed to interact with the product through interactive content
that, in addition to being educational, entertains or stimulates the user's emotional side,
learning will be positively affected.
6. Provide user support by including FAQs, i.e. questions and answers on common
problems, in the platform to simplify the use of the product.