Welcome to your ultimate introduction to interaction design. Learn what interaction design is, why it’s so important, and the key principles that drive this fascinating field.
Interaction design shapes every moment of direct interaction between a user and a product. It considers the tasks the user wants to accomplish, the interactive features they need to accomplish those tasks, and how the system should behave and respond.
Interaction design ensures that technology is accessible, functional, and user-friendly. Beyond that, it provides an opportunity to delight and engage the user in unique and memorable ways.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
- What is interaction design and why is it important?
- What are some examples of interaction design?
- Interaction design vs. UX design. vs. UI design
- The 5 dimensions of interaction design
- The 6 key principles of interaction design
- Interaction design job titles and their salaries
- How to learn interaction design
- Key takeaways
Ready? Let’s start with a definition.
What is interaction design and why is it important?
Interaction design (IxD) focuses on the point of interaction between humans and digital products.
Take the example of using an app on your smartphone. Your interaction with the app is made up of many different components. You might tap on a button, type words into a form, swipe left and right through an image gallery, or use your voice to ask a question or search for something.
Each of these actions triggers some kind of response or feedback from the system—like a pop-up message, an audible beep or tone, or a change in the interface’s visual appearance.
Interaction design is about facilitating this dialogue between the end user and the system, and designing all the individual components that ensure the interaction is smooth, seamless, and efficient.
What is the main goal of interaction design?
The goal of interaction design is to make it easy and enjoyable for people to interact with technology. It’s about providing the end user with all the visual and functional elements they need to understand and navigate a product interface and complete specific tasks.
Interaction design falls under the broader umbrella of user experience (UX) design. As such, it serves the overarching goal of creating a positive user experience.
It does this by carefully crafting each and every moment of interaction between the user and the product to ensure optimal usability, functionality, emotional engagement, visual appeal, and accessibility.
Why does interaction design matter?
Interaction design has a direct impact on how people experience technology. At the most basic level, it determines whether or not a particular product is usable and accessible.
However, the importance of interaction design extends beyond basic usability. It provides an opportunity to engage, delight, and connect with the end user.
For example, an interaction designer might incorporate storytelling elements to foster an emotional connection with the user, or gamify certain interactions to motivate and engage the user on a regular basis. Even an unexpected animation can add an element of delight and surprise.
Interaction design is about creating product interfaces that not only meet the users’ functional needs but also foster a deeper sense of engagement and connection. This boosts user satisfaction—which, in turn, helps to build customer loyalty, increase conversions, and generally ensure that the product is a success.
In a nutshell: interaction design is crucial for creating products that people can use and enjoy—and for ensuring that the product drives value for the business.
What are some examples of interaction design?
If you own a smartphone or use the internet, you encounter interaction design continuously in your day-to-day life. Here are some everyday examples of interaction design that will no doubt feel familiar:
- The weather app on your smartphone. You can tap on specific days to see a more detailed forecast, use gestures like pinch-and-zoom to explore weather maps, and search for new cities to add to your weather app home screen.
- Social media apps like Instagram, TikTok, and X. When you tap the “heart” icon on Instagram, for example, you’ll notice how it turns from white to pink. This signals that you’ve successfully liked a post.
- Dating apps. Most dating apps allow users to swipe left and right through profile cards. If you swipe right on a user who has also liked your profile, you’ll get some kind of confirmation or feedback in the form of a message such as “It’s a match!”
Those are just three examples of interaction design in action. Next time you use your smartphone, browse the internet, or use software on your computer, look out for all the different instances of interaction design that make up your experience of the product.
Interaction design vs. UX design vs. UI design: What’s the difference?
We mentioned earlier that interaction design (IxD) is a branch within the broader discipline of user experience (UX) design. Then, of course, there’s user interface (UI) design.
So what exactly is the difference between these disciplines and how do they relate?
In brief, the key differences can be summarised as follows:
UX design |
UI design |
Interaction design |
|---|---|---|
|
Focuses on the entire experience a user has with a product. Considers the purpose of the product and the problem it should solve for the user. |
Focuses on just one layer of the product: the user interface. Considers how the interface looks in terms of layout, spacing, colour, typography, images, icons, buttons, and menus. |
Focuses on specific moments of interaction between the user and the product or system. Considers what the user wants to accomplish at each touchpoint (and what interactive elements they’ll need to do so). |
However, the differences—and the relationship—between the three disciplines is more nuanced than that, so let’s elaborate further.
UX design
UX design (or user experience design) encompasses the entire experience a person has with a product. It considers the purpose of the product (i.e. what particular user problem should the product address?), what kind of functionality the product should offer, and maps out the overall structure, layout, and flow of the product.
UX design involves conducting user research, creating user personas, developing user flows, determining the product’s information architecture, creating product wireframes, and conducting usability tests to validate and iterate on design solutions.
UI design
UI design (or user interface design) focuses on just one layer of the entire user experience: the product interface. The product interface refers to everything the user sees, hears, and encounters when they engage with a product—including the individual screens and pages, as well as the elements that fill those screens.
UI design considers how the product interface looks in terms of layout, spacing, color scheme, typography, imagery, icons, buttons, and menus.
However, UI design isn’t purely static. It also considers the interactivity of the product interface—for example, how each screen transitions to the next, and the actions and visual changes that are triggered when a user clicks on a button, swipes to the left, scrolls up and down, and so on.
Interaction design
Interaction design focuses specifically on the moment of interaction between a user and a product or system. It considers what the user wants to accomplish at each touchpoint and what interactive elements they’ll need to do so.
While UI design focuses on the placement and styling of those interactive elements, interaction design is more concerned with the interaction flow; that is, the chain of events that lead up to a particular outcome.
The line between the two is rather blurred—and that’s because, in reality, UI designers are often responsible for interaction design and vice versa, especially in smaller companies where it’s unlikely that you’ll have a dedicated specialist for each aspect of the product.
The same goes for UX and UI design. While they are technically two distinct disciplines with unique areas of focus, many designers specialize in both under the all-encompassing job title of UI UX designer.
It might seem confusing—and it is! But don’t get too caught up in understanding where one ends and the other begins. In the real world, there’s lots of messy overlap between UX, UI, and interaction design, and you’ll find that making a clear-cut distinction between them isn’t so necessary or relevant.
The 5 dimensions of interaction design
Gillian Crampton Smith, a pioneer in the field of interaction design, outlined four key dimensions of interaction design. UX designer Kevin Silver later added another, giving us the five dimensions of interaction design.
This is a well-known framework within the field, and it encourages interaction designers to consider all the different factors that shape a user’s interaction with a product.
- Words: Any and all information that is conveyed to the user in the form of text or language. This includes things like error messages, menu and button labels, and instructions. Words help to provide clarity and guide the user through the interaction.
- Visual representations: The graphical elements—otherwise known as UI components—that the user sees and interacts with, such as icons, imagery, and buttons. This second dimension of interaction design conveys, in visual format, what’s possible within the interface.
- Physical objects or space: This relates to the context surrounding the user as they interact with a product. It comprises factors such as the physical environment, the social and cultural context, and the device being used. If you’re designing a navigation app for delivery drivers, for example, you’ll want to facilitate hands-free interaction to accommodate for the fact that they won’t be able to use their hands while driving.
- Time: The fourth dimension relates to temporal or time-based aspects of the interaction such as animations, transitions, or a specific sequence of actions. To create a smooth and seamless flow of interactions, designers must consider the timing, responsiveness, and pace of each user action and the response or feedback it triggers.
- Behavior: How the system behaves in response to user actions. This fifth dimension of interaction design considers both user behavior—what actions can the user take and how do they take them?—and how the product responds in terms of interactivity and feedback.
The 6 key principles of interaction design
To create interactions that are intuitive, efficient, and user-friendly, interaction designers adhere to certain principles and best practices. Here are the six most important principles of interaction design.
i. Usability
The usability principle is about how easy it is for the user to engage with a product and accomplish their goals. In interaction design, you can ensure that a product is usable by creating interactions that are clear, accessible, consistent, and efficient. In fact, you’ll notice that most interaction design principles lead back to usability in one way or another.
ii. Accessibility
The accessibility principle emphasizes the importance of designing products and interactions that can be used and accessed by everybody, including people with disabilities. It involves designing interfaces that cater to diverse user needs, and providing multiple interaction options—for example, through screen readers, voice activation, and keyboard navigation.
iii. Learnability
If you want your product to score high on usability, you must make sure that it’s easy to learn and understand. Learnability is about creating intuitive interfaces and self-explanatory interactions that the user can easily figure out and pick up, even without any prior experience. Clear instructions, familiar interaction design patterns, and well-placed feedback all help to enhance learnability.
iv. Affordance
The affordance principle states that the appearance of a UI element should clearly convey its functionality. This makes it easier for users to understand what the element does and how they should interact with it. For example, you can convey that a button is clickable by making it change color when the user hovers over it.
v. Feedback
Feedback is critical in interaction design. It lets the user know that their action has been registered and provides information about the current status of the system. For example, when you fill out a form and click “Submit”, you expect to receive feedback that your form has been submitted successfully. Likewise, if you’re waiting for a page to load, it’s useful to see a progress bar to show that your desired action is underway.
vi. Consistency
Consistency helps to create user interfaces and interactions that are predictable, allowing the user to quickly learn the ‘language’ of the overall product. When designing interactions, make sure that you use a uniform set of elements, styles, and behaviors throughout. Otherwise, your users will struggle to get to grips with how the interface works and what different UI components mean.
Interaction design job titles and their salaries
If you’re reading this guide with your own career in mind, you may be curious about the kinds of jobs that are available within the field of interaction design—and how much they pay. So let’s take a look at some popular career paths that require interaction design skills, together with their salaries.
i. Interaction designer
Interaction designers specialize in designing the interactive behaviors and components of a digital product. Their role focuses specifically on the point of interaction between the end user and the product, with the goal of creating interactions that are intuitive, engaging, and contribute to an overall positive user experience.
What’s the average salary for an interaction designer?
- In India, the average yearly salary for an interaction designer is ₹9,00,000
- In the United States, the average yearly salary for an interaction designer is $115,000
- In the UK, the average yearly salary for an interaction designer is £50,938
ii. Interaction design lead
Interaction designers with extensive experience in the field can go on to become interaction design leads or managers. An interaction design lead is responsible for guiding and overseeing the interaction design process, managing and mentoring junior design professionals, and ensuring that the product aligns with the company’s strategic objectives.
What’s the average salary for an interaction design lead?
- In India, the average yearly salary for a senior interaction designer is ₹15,00,000
- In the United States, the average yearly salary for an interaction design lead is $159,000
- In the UK, the average yearly salary for an interaction design lead is £64,133
iii. UX designer
UX designers have a much broader focus in their work, but interaction design skills will set you in good stead for a UX design role.
UX designers are responsible for the end-to-end experience a user has with a product. They conduct user research to understand the target audience, define the problem the product should solve, map out the product’s information architecture, and create product wireframes and prototypes.
And, if they’re also skilled in interaction design, they may go one step further to design the product’s interactive properties, too.
What’s the average salary for a UX designer?
- In India, the average yearly salary for a UX designer is ₹9,00,000
- In the United States, the average yearly salary for a UX designer is $126,571
- In the UK, the average yearly salary for a UX designer is £44,787
For more UX designer salary data, refer to our full UX designer salary guide.
iv. UI designer
UI designers are responsible for the visual and interactive properties of the product interface. They design the various screens and pages of websites and apps, as well as the individual UI elements such as buttons, images, icons, and typography. The UI designer’s work often spans interaction design, too, considering the overall behavior of the system and all the different actions the user can take.
What’s the average salary for a UI designer?
- In India, the average yearly salary for a UI designer is ₹3,30,557
- In the United States, the average yearly salary for a UI designer is $89,841
- In the UK, the average yearly salary for a UI designer is £43,681
v. Motion designer
A motion designer creates dynamic animations and motion graphics for various digital platforms and media. They combine design principles (including interaction design), visual storytelling, and technical animation skills to bring static designs to life. Motion designers typically work in the games industry, in creative design agencies, or in marketing and advertising.
Learn more: A Complete Guide to Motion Graphic Design.
What’s the average salary for a motion designer?
- In India, the average yearly salary for a motion designer is ₹3,90,234
- In the United States, the average yearly salary for a motion designer is $85,692
- In the UK, the average yearly salary for a motion designer is £35,000
As you can see, interaction design skills open the door to a variety of exciting career paths. So how can you learn interaction design? Let’s take a look.
How to learn interaction design
There are many valuable tools and resources out there to help you learn interaction design. With a combination of self-study and professional instruction, you can build a well-rounded skill set and take the first step toward a career in the field.
Not sure where to begin? Here are some pointers.
i. Learn the fundamentals
Start by getting to grips with the fundamental principles and theories of interaction design—many of which we’ve outlined in this post. At the same time, build a thorough understanding of UX and UI design (as these are very closely related to interaction design and often overlap). The following resources provide a good starting point:
- An Introduction to the Fundamental UX Design Principles and How To Apply Them
- 10 Free UX Design Courses for Beginners
- 12 Fundamental UI Design Principles
- A Glossary of 50+ UI/UX Design Terms (And What They Mean)
ii. Practice using interaction design tools and software
Interaction designers use a variety of professional tools and software throughout their work. Practice using some of the most popular industry tools like Figma, Sketch, and Axure RP, following free tutorials to help you learn the interface and perform basic tasks. Here are some tutorials to start you off:
- How to create interactive components in Figma
- Interaction Design 101: How to animate a simple mobile onboarding screen in Figma
- Sketch Masterclass: Introduction to the interface
- How to create interactions in Axure RP
iii. Take a professional course
If you’re learning interaction design with the goal of starting a career in the field, you’ll eventually want to move from self-study to a professional course. Most UX and UI design courses cover interaction design in the curriculum—and this is a great way to learn if you also want to build up your UX and UI expertise.
A professional course has the advantage of expert instruction, a structured and industry-relevant curriculum, hands-on project work, and a community of fellow learners to support you along the way. Check out AND Academy’s professional UI UX design courses, or browse these guides comparing the best UI design courses and the best UX design courses on the market right now.
Key takeaways
That brings us to the end of our ultimate introduction to interaction design. We hope you’ve found it to be informative and useful! Before you go, let’s summarise the key takeaways:
- Interaction design, or IxD, focuses on the point of interaction between humans and computers. It belongs to the broader discipline of UX design, and has plenty of overlap with both UX and UI design.
- Interaction design is crucial for creating engaging, intuitive, and user-friendly products. It’s a high-impact role that shapes how people experience modern technology.
- There are 5 dimensions of interaction design: Words, visual representations, physical objects or space, time, and behavior. These dimensions provide a framework for interaction designers, outlining the main factors that shape the user’s interaction with a product.
- The are 6 key principles of interaction design: Usability, accessibility, learnability, affordance, feedback, and consistency. Together, these principles guide effective interaction design.
- Interaction design skills open many professional doors. Once you’ve mastered interaction design, you could find yourself working as a UX designer, a UI designer, an interaction designer, or a motion designer—to name just a few.
What next?
For further insights into the UI UX design industry and how to start your career in the field, here’s what you can do next:
- Watch this session by Shiva Viswanathan, Design Head of Ogilvy Pennywise, and Naman Singh, Product Experience Designer at RED.
- Talk to an AND Academy course advisor to discuss how you can transform your career with one of our courses.
- Pursue our UI UX Design courses- all courses are taught through live, interactive classes by industry experts, and some even offer a Job Guarantee.
- Take advantage of our scholarship and funding options to overcome any financial hurdle on the path of your career transformation.
Note: All information and/or data from external sources is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication.
