“The practice of designing interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services to support user interactions and behaviors”.
Some objectives:
Greater productivity and avoiding errors (traditional theories in human-computer interaction (HCI), human factors and ergonomics)
Better collaboration (sociotechnical system design, computer supported cooperative work (CSCW))
Better “feel” and aesthetic appeal (user experience (UX))
Better accessibility
Great use of design and aesthetic principles to help users interact well. For example, designers usually pay attention to elements of visual aesthetics:
size of components;
colors;
spacing and alignment;
typography;
layout
Lots of details, courses and reference can be found at the Interaction Design Foundation](https://www.interaction-design.org/)
The IxD typical process
Ideation and user research: understand the idea, its target users (for example: creating personas), etc.
Sketching: drawing rough, low-fidelity sketches by hand to visualize layout, content placement, and basic interactions. Usually pen and paper!
Wireframing: more detailed and structured approach - typically created using digital tools and represent a higher fidelity than sketches. They outline the placement of elements such as navigation, content areas, and interactive components without focusing on visual design details like colors and fonts
Prototyping: creating a functional, interactive representation of a design concept, be it low-fidelity (simple click-through prototypes) to high-fidelity (closely resembling the final product in terms of design and functionality)
Usability tests: involve participants interacting with a prototype while we collect data in order to identify any usability problems, understand the experience better and explore alternatives.
