TME3423/TMI3053/TMS3843/TMT3683

Human Computer Interaction

Unit 2: Interaction Design – Basic Introduction

Part 1: Introduction to Interaction
The process of interaction design
Approaches to interaction design
 Topics
 What is interaction?
 Interaction types
 The process of interaction design
 Approaches to interaction design
 Who is involved in interaction design
 Conceptualizing interaction
 Conceptual models

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Adapted from Interaction Design Beyond Human Computer Interaction 5 th Edition (Sharp et al, 2019)
The process of interaction design
 The Design Council of the United Kingdom defines the double diamond of
design as follows:

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The process of interaction design
 The phases in the double diamond of design (The Design Council of the United
Kingdom):

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 Discover – try gather insights about the problem
 Define – develop a clear brief that frames the design challenge
iterated
 Develop – create, prototype, test and iterate solutions/concepts
 Deliver – finalize, produce and launch the project

 These are common in different design disciplines e.g. interaction design,

graphic design, software design, architectural design, industrial design etc.

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The process of interaction design
 Interaction design is a process that follows the phases of the
double-diamond of design

 ID has specific activities that focus on:




Discovering requirements
Designing to fulfill the requirements discovered } Discover,
Define



Producing prototype(s) according to the design
Evaluating the prototype(s) } Develop,
Deliver

 Interaction design focuses on users and their goals, and involves

trade-offs to balance conflicting requirements

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The process of interaction design
 Discovering requirements
 To understand the target users and the support that the product could provide
 Forms the basis of the product’s requirements
 Supports the design and development
 Get from data gathering and analysis (to be discussed in Unit 3)

 Designing to fulfill the requirements discovered

 To propose ideas (called alternatives) to meet the requirements
 Involves conceptual design and concrete design

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The process of interaction design
 Producing prototype(s) according to the design
 To communicate the designs and potential solutions to users and others involved
 The designs are captured and expressed in forms that can be reviewed, revised and
improved
 An example of these forms is the prototype (a limited version of the final product)

 Evaluating the prototypes

 To determine the usability and acceptability in terms of a variety of criteria
 Evaluation complements and enhances quality assurance and testing to make sure
the final product is fit for its intended purpose

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The process of interaction design
 The classic simple lifecycle model of ID shows how the four activities of ID are
related

 It incorporates the principles of user-centered design

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Approaches to interaction design
 There are 4 main approaches to interaction design (Saffer, 2010):
* this is the approach that will be used in this course

User- Activity-
centered centered
design* design

Systems Genius
design design

 The selected approach must be chosen with the design problem taken into
consideration (must fit the design problem)
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Approaches to ID – user-centered design
 User-centered design
 User is the guide to the designer
 The designer’s role is to translate the users’ needs and goals into a design solution
 “User knows best”
 Users and their goals are the driving force behind product development
 3 principles that form the basis of user-centered approach, by Gould & Lewis
(1985) for “useful and easy to use computer systems”:
 Early focus on users and tasks
 Empirical measurement
 Iterative design

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Approaches to ID – user-centered design
 User-centered design – Early focus on users and tasks
 First, understand who the users will be
 5 principles:
 Users’ task and goals are the driving force behind the development
 Users’ behaviours and context of use are studied, and the system is designed
to support them
 Users’ characteristics are captured and designed for
 Users are consulted throughout development from earliest phases to the latest
 All design decisions are taken within the context of the users, their activities,
and their environment

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Approaches to ID – user-centered design
 Empirical measurement
 Specific usability and UX goals should be identified, clearly documented, and
agreed upon at the beginning of the project
 Help designers to choose between alternative designs and check on the progress as
the product is developed
 The goals will allow the product to be empirically evaluated at regular stages
throughout development

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Approaches to ID – user-centered design
 Iterative design
 Allows designs to be refined based on feedback
 As users and designers discuss, what is needed, what will help, and what is feasible
will emerge
 Activities to inform each other and to be repeated
 Ideas will need to be revised in light of feedback, likely several times
 The solution is rarely gotten right the first time

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Approaches to ID – others
 Activity-centered design
 Focuses on user behaviour surrounding particular tasks
 User behaviour is more important than their needs and goals

 Systems design
 Structured, rigorous and holistic design approach that focuses on context
 The system (people, computers, objects, devices etc.) is the center of attention
 Users’ role: set the goals of the system

 Genius design
 Relies largely on the experience and creative flair of the designer
 Users’ role: validate the ideas generated by the designer
 Users are not involved during the process itself

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Who is involved in interaction design?

Source: https://bootcamp.du.edu/blog/ux-designer-career-path/

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Who is involved in interaction design?
 Ideally carried out by multidisciplinary teams
 Engineers, designers, programmers, psychologists, marketing people, artists, product
managers etc.

 It is rarely the case a design team would have all these professionals

 Who to include in a team depends on factors:

 Company’s design philosophy, size, purpose, product line

 Benefits: more ideas generated, more methods developed, more creative and
original designs produced, more perspectives

 Downside: costs, different perspectives, communication, confusion,

misunderstanding, integration

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Summary
 What is interaction?
 Interaction types
 The process of interaction design
 Approaches to interaction design
 Who is involved in interaction design
 Conceptualizing interaction
 Conceptual models

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