Do you do “interaction design”?
Interaction design is about taking into account how users interact with the design. Because all web pages allow users to interact with them, it is impossible to design for the web without considering user interaction.
For content/informational sites, we focus more on how users navigate the site to find the information they need. We ask questions like:
- How will users “crabwalk” to another section?
- How will users “pogostick” up to the parent section?
- What if the user clicks on their browser buttons instead?
- How will users get to related content in a completely different section?
- What if users search and can’t find what they want?
For transaction sites, interaction design plays a different role. It looks at how users proceed through a transaction. The design needs to take into consideration all the unpredictable things a user might do. In designing, we have to ask ourselves:
- What if users clicked on the wrong button?
- What if users want to change what they have submitted?
- What if users used the “back button”?
- What if users want to select several items?
- What if users want to remove several items?