What Is Interaction Design?

Do you ever wonder if your users get lost or confused on your app or website? 

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We bet you want to make sure that your platforms speak clearly to them, leading the way to complete their tasks. Maybe two or three unclear options should transform into one, or maybe the menu should be made more visible. Interaction design helps your users have a good experience with your digital product and successfully complete their actions. 

Simply put, it's part of UX design. It refers to how people interact with digital products and ensures their experience is easy and enjoyable. You can think of interaction design like creating a dialogue between a human and a computer. This conversation is made to feel human-like. Interaction design is incorporated in web or app design, and it ensures they will be intuitive and efficient.

Considered to be one of the most challenging parts of UX design, interaction designers need to have a strategic approach. Why is it so challenging, though?

Well, they use suited interaction elements, like animations, transitions, and microinteractions, but don’t lose focus on colors, text, visuals, and layout. They are also in charge of, for instance, how the page reacts to something as little as pressing a button. 

For differentiating interaction design from interface design, we need to understand that the first focuses more on movement and interaction - what happens if we hover a button, while the second is about visual appearance and aesthetics - how the button looks.

Overall, the outcome of interaction design is a favorable user experience. Users who access interactive platforms have a greater satisfaction with the product. They learn faster and understand better how to use the app or website.

Beyond this, they can create a deeper personal connection and are more likely to return and use it again.

Think about it! Duolingo is one of the best examples out there when it comes to interaction design. Their subtle, yet extremely powerful micro-interactions contribute to their gamification strategy, making people addicted to the “ding”.

Whether in web design or app design, well-implemented interactivity turns a passive experience into an active one. In time, this leads to stronger brand loyalty and a more memorable digital experience.

As Interactive Design Foundation mentions, the five dimensions of interaction design were first outlined by a senior interaction designer, Kevin Silver, and a professor at London’s Royal College of Art, Gillian Crampton Smith. 

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• 1st Dimension: words - comprising button labels and other text that helps users get the proper amount of information.

• 2nd Dimension: graphical components - including pictures, typography, and icons that facilitate user engagement, or, more generally, visual representations

• 3rd Dimension: physical objects/space - the means by which consumers engage with a product or service. 

• 4th Dimension: time - involves elements that unfold or change over time, like animations, films, and audio.

• 5th Dimension: behavior - focuses on what the product does in response to the user's actions and how they carry out their actions on a website.

To start an interactive web or app design, you must develop a strategy. Make sure you know who your users are and what their behaviour is by conducting market research. Also, ask yourself the right questions:

‍Does the appearance suggest how the website or app functions? 

Take a look at the elements that the user can access and make sure they are intuitive. He needs to know what will happen before performing an action. Even more so, are interactive items being placed appropriately? Do they convey easy and concise information?

Details should not be left aside. If an error message appears, it should offer an explanation and a way to correct the problem. Also, the time between an action and the response should be reasonable. Have in mind the two-second rule, knowing users will lose patience if they wait longer. Unfortunately, we've all become iPad kids a bit.

If you want a starting point for your UX design, check out this guide series.

1. Clear visual hierarchy. That means showing users what is important and what is secondary, like using different colors, shapes, or layout styles to guide their attention. It helps them move around the interface without getting lost.

2. Consistency. If your buttons, menus, and layouts stay the same across the whole app or site, people won’t have to figure things out all over again on each page.

3. Don’t forget about Feedback: little responses like a button changing color or a pop-up appearing right after an action. These signals show users that things are working as expected, making the experience feel smooth.

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So, what is interaction design?

It’s an approach that focuses on how users interact with a digital product. It isn't just about making things look good. It’s about creating experiences that feel natural and helpful. Whether you are working on a website or an app, focusing on how users interact with your design can make all the difference. 

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Pro Tip: Keep things clear, consistent, and responsive, and your users will thank you by coming back.

We at uinkits understand the importance of great user experiences and creating amazing UI designs. That’s why we’ve developed a Figma UI Kit with design components that include these essential UI elements that enable you to design intuitive and user-friendly interfaces effortlessly.

“You press the button, we do the rest.” – Kodak.

Inspired by this iconic tagline from Kodak, we believe in simplifying the design process for you. Our Figma UI Kit, uinkits, is a complete design system with UI components that allows you, as a UI UX designer, to create your products as quickly as pressing a button.

Our design system includes UI components, icons, variables, cards, buttons and everything you need for your design process. All you have to do is take your UI design component needed, and you’re ready to use it in your designs!