Interaction design is the study and implementation of the behavior and structure of interactive systems to generate usable digital products. In other words, interaction design refers to the relationship between the consumer and the products and services they use.
The finest websites are created with the user in mind. User-centered design is very effective on interactive websites. They are not only customized and entertaining; they also provide consumers control over their experience and assist in directing them to the information they want.
Interactive digital products that successfully build this “human” connection result in pleasant user experiences, including
- Better satisfaction with the product.
- A better understanding of how things work.
- Learn more efficiently.
- A deeper personal connection.
- Probability of future use increases.
7 Most Effective Interaction Design Principles
Today, we will discuss seven design principles in detail that will help you understand the benefits of and how to develop one!
1. Cognition
Cognition is what happens in people’s minds when they do everyday things like think, remember, learn, and make decisions. By looking at how these people think, the people who make interaction systems can learn more about what people are like as people. Designers must make a high-quality interaction system that makes it easier and more effective for users to operate so that they don’t end up crying like in the image above.
Here are a few of the many causes that contribute to the rise in Cognitive load:
- Images and typography that are irrelevant increase cognitive load.
- If there is a lack of clarity and the user reaches their goal after multiple unnecessary clicks.
- A lengthy form must be filled out, with the majority of fields being required.
- If there are multiple options, one must be selected.
- When users do not receive the expected results.
The cognition usually follows psychological theory, which helps to create better user-friendly websites.
The theories are:
- Gestalt principles are about how the brain interprets visual information to make familiar patterns.
- The Von Restorff effect asserts that when you look at a group of things, the one that is different will stand out or be the one you remember most.
- Hick’s Law claims that the more options you give someone, the longer it will take for them to choose.
- The Principle of Least Effort declares that individuals will choose or do things that require the least effort.
- The Serial Positioning Effect asserts that individuals are more inclined to remember the first (primacy effect) and last (recency effect) things in a list, sentence, or piece of content.
- The Principle of Perpetual Habit states that people depend on their routines and habits, which is why it’s important to use universal design patterns.
- The Principle of Emotional Contagion suggests that people, animals, and even animations will imitate or understand the emotions and actions of others. Faces, even emojis, are used by designers to show feelings and emotions.
- Fitts’s Law dictates that the time required to move to a target area depends on how far away it is and how big it is.
2. Affordance
Affordance is a trait or feature of an object that indicates what can be done with it. In a nutshell, affordances are indications that indicate how users may engage with something, whether physical or digital. For example, when you see a door handle, it is a hint that you can use it to open the door.
Similarly, in UX, like in the picture above, you can see you can go back if you press that button. Affordances make our lives easier by facilitating our successful interactions with the actual and virtual worlds.
When you try to imply affordance in your design, you may incorporate signifiers with it. A mark, a sound, or a label can be a signifier. It shows that an affordance is there. Like in the picture, the words written on the buttons are signifiers. They will tell you what will happen if you press those buttons.
How to create the maximum affordances on your website?
When properly implemented, affordances decrease user errors and cognitive strain, enhance user experience, and boost conversions. Here are some guidelines for designing the most effective affordances.
- Always prioritize the user by understanding their needs and context. This data will assist you in designing favorable affordances for your users.
- Create reasonable and straightforward affordances so consumers can naturally grasp them.
- Utilize signifiers to offer users additional information about the affordances you’ve designed. You can make affordances evident by utilizing text labels, highlights, color, and shadows.
- Follow standard design principles to facilitate user comprehension of your affordances.
- Use size to indicate which affordances your users should prioritize.
3. Consistency
According to Jakob’s Law, people spend the majority of their time consuming digital items. Their expectations are based on their previous experiences with similar products. Inconsistency may increase the user’s cognitive load by requiring them to learn something new.
In web design, consistency is essential for both visual aspects and functionality. Consistency guarantees that your website’s many features look and function harmoniously, including headers, footers, sidebars, fonts, page layouts, icons, and navigation bars.
Designers must not only make user interfaces and interactions that are consistent, but they must also make sure that they are consistent across different screen sizes and devices.
Inconsistency can lead to user confusion and usability concerns. It should not be necessary for users to question if different words, contexts, or actions have the same meaning.
Organizations build a design system or use an open-source library of components to make sure that authorized user interface patterns and interactions are used in the same way everywhere. When designers do not have to consider these options, they can concentrate on the user experience and apply the proper pattern to assist users in achieving the desired outcome.
4. Error prevention
It is essential to have clear error notifications, but the most effective systems actively seek to eliminate the possibility of errors occurring in the first place. Either get rid of conditions that are likely to cause mistakes or check for them and give users a chance to confirm before they take action.
Slips and mistakes are the two kinds of mistakes. Slips are accidents that happen when you aren’t paying attention. Mistakes are deliberate mistakes that happen when the user’s mental model and the design don’t match up.
Error messages should be written in clear language (no error codes), explain exactly what went wrong, and suggest a way to fix it. These error messages should also be shown to make them easier for users to see and understand.
5. Minimalist Design
This rule of thumb doesn’t mean you have to use a flat design. Instead, it means you should make sure the content and visual design are focused on what’s most important. Make sure that the interface’s visual elements support the user’s main goals.
Four Practices to Make a Minimalist Design
Interfaces shouldn’t have details that aren’t needed or aren’t important. Every new piece of information in an interface competes with the important pieces and makes them less noticeable.
Make Use of White Space and Other Negative Space
The importance of white space lies in the fact that it creates proper distance between each component, allowing for a better concentration of such components across the page.
Less Colour
A color scheme for a minimalist design uses a set number of colors. You don’t have to choose only black and white colors because of this. You can also use bold colors and colors with a gradient to make your elements stand out right away.
Establish a Typography Hierarchy
Through the visual hierarchy, typography plays an important part in developing a minimalist design. In layman’s terms, visual hierarchy is the process of organizing and ordering things to emphasize their importance.
Get Rid of Unnecessary Elements
Prioritize the elements and keep an eye out for their functionality. Non-functional components on product design pages should be deleted. The entire concept of minimalist design is around employing only the elements that your users require. Images inserted for decorative purposes, for example, can be removed.
6. Functional Design
A visually appealing interface will not only satisfy the user but will also reflect the product’s update iterations. But it should be clear that in product design, function is more important than appearance. We cannot compromise the core operation in order to attain needless beauty. The majority of the time, we should follow basic routine operation guidelines.
The maxim “Less is More” is an expression of the Minimalism ideology, and it is rapidly becoming the new way of thinking to advertise products that are simple, elegant, and functional.
The number of possible actions should be limited to the absolute minimum. By providing too many options, you will detract from the primary function and impair usability by confusing the user.
Aesthetics are obviously required; they bring designs to life. And we humans have a weakness for aesthetics.
You should do the following to achieve functional minimalism:
- Avoid features and functions that aren’t absolutely necessary.
- Divide large tasks into manageable subtasks.
- Limit functions instead of the user experience.
7. Visible Feedback on Operations
Users should always know what’s going on because the design should give them feedback in a reasonable amount of time.
When interacting with a system, users need to know if what they did worked or not. Did that button press get picked up by the system, or was it doing something else and didn’t notice? Did you add the item to your cart? Did you get what you asked for?
Getting the right response to a user’s action is one of the most basic user interface design rules. It lets users know what’s going on and lets them steer the interaction in the right direction without having to try too hard.
When users know the current system status, they can see how their previous actions turned out and decide what to do next. When interactions are predictable, people are more likely to trust both the product and the brand.
This kind of feedback can be as simple as a change in color after the user clicks a button or a progress bar when a process is taking longer than expected to finish. These signs show that the system is working and reduce doubt, so users don’t keep tapping the same button because they aren’t sure if the first time worked or not.
When interactive events give immediate feedback, users can quickly figure out where mistakes came from and fix them as soon as they happen. This gives users more control over how the functions work, which is one of the key principles behind making designs user-friendly.
Source – Medium.com
Conclusion
Basic user interface design principles should be combined with interaction design driven by goals to achieve great user experience design. An effective interaction design makes use of uncomplicated, well-defined goals, a powerful purpose, and an intuitive user interface (UI).
The goal-driven interaction design aims to make user interactions as straightforward and uncomplicated as possible by presenting users with no more information than is absolutely necessary for them to complete a particular task. These 7 Interaction design principles will help you create an interactive website that keeps users engaged and gives a smooth experience.