Interaction design – a designing discipline

Interaction design is a professional discipline, symbolically known as IxD. It practices the designing of interactive digital systems, electronic products, technological environments and sophisticated services. In other words, it is a discipline like other designing disciplines that are concerned with electronic machineries and gadgets.

Interaction design is a design discipline which is moderately different from science and engineering in the sense that science and engineering focus on constructing electronic devices, whereas interaction design make the process simple for users to handle the devices.

Digital products are capable of handling thousands of processes while the mechanical devices handle several dozens of visible states. It is quite impossible to keep track of such long processes since the mechanisms linked with such actions are very much complex. The complexity of these digital products and mechanical devices can sometimes turn out to be a nightmare for both the designers and the users. The best way to over come this complexity is to deal with the process rationally. Interaction design works in a rational approach which makes life easier for the users and the designers.

According to Gestalt Theory, humans recognize most things as a collection of individual features. They search relationship of surrounding things and form a unified object. Interaction design works in the same way. They form the unified object. Once the design starts to work in full flow, the users need not know how actions are being read by the system. Thus interaction design helps the users and the designers to keep track and effectively handle the device.

The work of IxD is to make this complex behavior look simple, and with its unique methods and practices allows the user to understand and implement these behaviors into simple terms. With the objective to make products and machineries more useful, usable and desirable, the contribution of IxD is available from mobile phones to TVs to video games to music systems to vehicles to military vessels.

Interaction design – history

In the late 1980s, Bill Moggridge and Bill Verplank first proposed the tern interactive design. Verplank explained it to the industrial design professions as an altered phrase of the computer science terminology ‘user interface design’. On the other hand, to Moggridge it was an up-gradation process over the then than ‘soft-face’ design.

Interaction design can be defined as the internal behaviors of interactive products. It explains how the functionality of such products interacts with its users. In other words, it describes the behavior of products and systems a user interacts with namely mobile devices, iPods and other electronic gadgets. Nonetheless, it is also applicable even to organizations.

Interaction design also known as IxD, characterizes the behaviors and structure of interactive products and services; and also defines user interactions with those products and services.

The world today is full of omnipresent technology. With the implications of gadgets, electronic devices and machineries everyday life has become easier and simpler. The process that takes place for these devices to work are quite complex. Interaction design makes these complex tasks simple by creating a user friendly outface, otherwise to deal with such number of processes, users would be lost.

The usability and features of an system is improved by first understanding through research the needs of the users and then design in a way so that the needs are met. It is possible for businesses to increase revenue, reduce development costs and satisfy, attract and retain customers with the help of well executed interaction design. The designing of user interface design starts from understanding the requirements of the business, its customers and their needs.

In simple words user interface design is the design of computers, appliances, machines, mobile communication devices, software and websites focusing on the user’s needs, experience and interaction. The primary goal of a user interface design is to make the interaction of the user’s as intuitive as possible.

In summary, interaction design helps to avoid repeated errors, accustom new designers with the existing interaction systems and educate and train the designers.

Interaction design – internal behaviors of interactive products

Interaction design, symbolically known as IxD is a professional discipline. It defines internal behaviors of interactive products such as digital gadgets and electronic devices. Additionally, it explains how such products interact their functionality to the users.

Interaction design has a large scope of operation. It is available from computer software to radios to TVs to cars to ships to airplanes. Its objective is to make such products and machineries more useful, usable, and desirable so that the users do not face difficulties in handling them.

Today’s world is full of ubiquitous technology. Things are becoming more complicated, thanks to creative scientists. The implications of electronic devices, gadgets and machineries are making everyday life, easier and simpler to live. The process, in which these devices work are not so simple though. To be precise, the process that goes inside the devices is quite complex. Users will be lost if they have to deal with such large number of processes. Interaction design make things simple by creating some user friendly outface. As a consequence, users do not have to worry much with the process and can take benefit from the devices by just pushing few knobs and buttons.

Interaction designs are not only helpful to the regular day users. These days, businesses, government agencies and NGOs are taking benefits of well executed interaction designs. Effective interaction design increases their revenues and reduces development costs. Moreover, it attracts and satisfies a large number of customer groups.

The manufactures understand that products need to be developed in such a way that the users can make best use of them with simple operating features; otherwise a large portion of the customers will seek different brands. Therefore, manufactures include interaction design in each product they develop.

In summary, interaction design structurally defines behaviors of interactive products and services so that the interactivity and functionality of electronic devices, machineries and other gadgets increases.

Interaction design – an intrinsically humanistic endeavor

Interaction design is an intrinsically humanistic endeavor. It mostly concerns in satisfying the needs and desires of the people who interacts with digital products regularly.

In general terms, digital products are capable of handling thousands of processes while mechanical devices are capable of handling over several dozens of visible states. In the contrary, users can not keep track of such a long processes. As humans, it is actually not possible to follow thousands or hundreds of such processes.  Interaction designs help the users, and the designers in some cases, to handle the devices in an effective way and help them to be in track. Therefore the implication of interactive design is huge to the home users; who constantly deal with dozens of digital products and electronic devices in daily life.

To understand the concept of interaction design, it is better to understand the Gestalt Theory first. According to Gestalt Theory, humans recognize most things as a collection of individual features. They search relationship of surrounding things and form a unified object. Interaction design works in forming the unified object. When interaction design works in full flow, users do not have to understand, how the actions are being read by the system.

It is true that mechanisms those are linked with actions of a product device is rather complex. Moreover, the complexity in digital products and mechanical devices can emerge as a nightmare for designers and users. To come out from the complexity, it is best to deal the process in a rational approach. Interaction design is the solution. It works as the rational approach and make things easier for the users.

Interaction design however is not totally hassle free. One fearing thing about interactive designed product is, in times, it can turn into a very complex process. As consequences, the designers and users find it tough to deal with the process.

Nevertheless, the emergence of interaction design is a blessing for regular users of digital products and mechanical devices.

Interaction design – practice of designing interactive digital systems

Interaction design is the practice of designing interactive digital systems, electronic products, technological environments, and sophisticated services. Like many other design disciplines, interaction design is strongly concerned with the form of electronic machineries and gadgets. However, interaction design focuses on design of the behavior, unlike the other traditional design disciplines.

Interaction design affects human behavior and its relation with the device been used. For instance, architectural setup is concerned with how people use physical space of devices and gadgets. Therefore, graphic designs often attempt to motivate or facilitate a response through interactive design.

To understand the implication of interaction design, take something as basic as a refrigerator. Before the emergence of modern science, the maneuver of refrigerator was quite simple; turning a single bulge did the work. There was one position for off, and one position to on and control the temperature. The refrigerator obeyed the orders according to the activities on the knob. To the designers and makers, this process is called behavior. Now, if you focus on the behavior, you will realize, that was certainly quite a simple and mechanistic behavior. In present circumstances, there are a lot of buttons and knobs build-in a refrigerator. Pressing the buttons means, the system goes through a lot of actions before carrying out the orders. This is actually called a complex behavior. Throughout the history of modern science, complex behavior took its stand in all the electronic devices. Work of Interaction design is to make the complex behavior look simple. With its unique methods and practices, interaction designs allow the users to understand and implement the complex behaviors into simple terms.

Interaction design is very much a design discipline, quite different from science and engineering. While science and engineering creates electronic devices and digital products; interaction designs make the process simple for the users.