Interaction design: intersection between interface and UX

Interaction design goes beyond simple interactions on a website. It is the invisible link that connects our digital world with our needs. But what exactly does interaction design actually mean?

The typical response to this question is often a deep breath, followed by a hesitant ‘um’ and a big question mark over your head. This suggests that most people find it difficult to form a clear idea.

‘Maybe something to do with clicking?’ or ‘Something to do with web design?’ are common answers, but they only describe very superficially what is actually involved in interaction design. So it's worth digging a little deeper and turning the big question mark into an aha moment.
 

Interaction design is the interface between the user interface and the user experience. It is about designing digital products in such a way that they are intuitive to use and help users to achieve their goals efficiently. But how does this relate to our everyday lives?

In a world where time is precious, smooth interaction with digital products is essential. From personalising your cappuccino at the coffee machine to seamless online shopping on your mobile phone, interaction design ensures that we can navigate and operate in the digital world with ease.

We are in a digital age in which aesthetic colours, eye-catching fonts and a clean layout alone are no longer enough to satisfy us. Rather, it is aspects such as targeted content tailored to the needs of users, clear content structures and supporting elements that quickly provide us with the answers to our questions. These aspects are crucial to efficiently fulfil our needs and save time.

But how can complex interactions be realised in a simple, intuitive way? The key lies in understanding users and their needs. From various analyses to the creation of basic frameworks and clickable prototypes through to user testing - interaction design goes through various phases to ensure that the solutions developed meet the needs of the users.

The aforementioned user testing in particular plays a central role. First of all, clear objectives are defined as to which findings are to be collected. Subsequently, possible user scenarios are created in a clickable prototype, which are completed together with selected test persons. Particular attention is paid to ensuring that these people reflect the future target group as closely as possible. By directly involving users in the development process, we can identify weaknesses and ambiguities and make targeted improvements. This also serves to ensure that the end product not only meets the expectations of the users, but also fulfils their needs effectively.

So to come back to the question from the beginning: What exactly does interaction design mean? In a nutshell: Interaction design aims to ensure a consistently positive user experience from A to Z and to promote the success of digital products. Ultimately, this is the key to a successful interface between people and technology.

Or as Martin LeBlanc, founder of Iconfinder, puts it so well: 
‘A user interface is like a joke. If you have to explain it, it's not that good.’