What is interaction design?

Interaction is a form of communication between 2 persons; owing to advancement in technology, it is now possible for a person to interact with his computer directly or indirectly in order to accomplish his task. In direct interaction, there is an exchange of dialogue accompanied with feedback and control throughout the performances of the task, while in indirect interaction, background or batch processing is involved. Interaction design (ID) is a branch of user experience design that focuses on the relationship between people and the interactive products they use.

Complex high-technology systems such as software, mobile devices and other electronic devices are built with interaction design acting as a backbone. As such, it lays emphasis on the behaviour of a system in response to its users. Interaction design is also used in website development, and is not just limited to animation accompanied by an audio; it can be considered as an amalgam of user control and dynamic experience.

Owing to rapid advancements in technology, an increasing number of products face threat of being too complex to be used by the common man. Interaction design aims to bridge this gap between the user and the machine, by minimizing the complexity curve and simultaneously increasing the efficiency and accuracy of a task without compromising the functionality of the product.

Interaction designers are employed by various companies to ensure usability, user performance and satisfaction. Interaction design is formulated based on a series of steps, namely; design research, concept generation, creation of scenarios or profiles, constructing flow diagrams, prototyping, finally implementation and testing of the designed software. Testing is done with varied scenarios to ensure that the designed software is versatile, crash-proof, and user friendly. If it is a commercial success, then this software can be used as a model for creating several other interactive programs.