Connecting with your customers and interacting with them to understand and serve their needs is essential for businesses. In recent times, it is interaction designs that express all of the digital conversations. What’s best about this is that interaction design principles do not limit just words through text.

The processes involved begin with understanding the client’s perspective, research, planning, implementation, and delivering with efficiency. The purpose of UI UX design principles is to encourage positive and user-friendly experiences. Hence, learning the principles of good interaction design through academic practice and experience comes in handy. If you are a design enthusiast looking forth to delving into this aspect of designing and development, you are at the perfect beginning of a learning journey. As a beginner, you might be wondering – what is interaction design? So, let’s begin with the basics!

What are Interaction Design Principles?

The first step in this learning process is to understand the interaction design meaning and its principles. Interaction design is also commonly called IxD and is a humanistic approach to computing designs.

Today, handling UX interaction design is a very professional responsibility as designers establish meaningful connections among people and products.

Moving forward towards mastering principles of good interaction design begins with comprehensive guidance and practice with time and dedication. Moreover, you need to be updated with the skills required in today’s world of UI/UX design.

A firm grasp of IxD principles and consistently enhancing UX design basics is the key to acing this industry. If you think the modern design world is your career calling, you have several opportunities lined up.

Interaction Design Principles by Don Norman

An excellent step into this field is to familiarise yourself with the works of design expert and researcher – Don Norman. Get hold of Don Norman’s most popular studies about design in his book ‘The Design of Everyday Things.’

Norman essentially throws light on the humanistic approach to impactful design that is simplistic but intuitive. With his observations, he came up with 6 ideal interactional design principles. Take a look at Norman’s principles of interaction design.

1) Visibility

One of the key features of a product’s design must enhance its visibility. The more direct visibility will guide a user to understand and access the product for usage. You need to prioritise the most important information and offer it more dimension than others to present a clutter-free space. Visibility is most challenging on mobile screens because of the limited space frame.

2) Feedback

Feedback in IxD ensures the user they are moving in the right direction after each step or not. This guides action and clarifies upon accomplishing these actions. The main motto behind this is no let the user be ambiguous about their actions being successful not.

3) Constraints

Here, constraints aim to limit the interaction range of the user in order to simplify the guidance to the next action. Despite the presence of conversational interfaces these days, users can get confused due to the limitless possibilities that overwhelm them.

4) Mapping

Basically, mapping works on the principle that a good design works how its effect appears. This is another way to simplify directions in the site or app to guide actions. Controls like scroll bars, buttons, switches, knobs, etc., primarily need this principle.

5)  Affordance

Similar to mapping, affordance also links the usage of objects to like appearance. In real-life, Interaction design examples of affordance can be how coffee mug handles guide where the hand holds. The digital interface also must have a strong affordance to direct clear action based on appearance.

6) Consistency

Consistency in patterns allows recognising one particular action denoted by similar design elements. If a website has a CTA button as a blue rectangular box, all the CTA buttons must follow the same design. On the other hand, different styles for similar actions may confuse and frustrate the user.

Interaction Design Principles of Dimension

The dimension principles of IxD provide a foundational definition of the relationship a user has with the screen. It addresses five different dimensions, as follows:

• 1D – 1D refers to the most basic element, that is, words. Essentially, words must be clear, concise, and easily communicable so that the user gets quick information.
• 2D – 2D stands for all graphics besides text. For instance, visual elements like images, icons, buttons, etc. As per research, these must be balanced in design to make the appearance clean and simple.
• 3D – 3D brings a focus on the object or space that the users use, such as mobiles, mouse, keys, etc.
• 4D – 4D talks of the time duration that the user engages with the above-mentioned three dimensions.
• 5D – 5D concentrates on what emotions arise within the users while they interact with the site or system. It is a culmination of responses triggered in response to the above four dimensions.

Acing Interaction Design Principles

With an idea about the principles of good interaction design, you must be eager to know how to achieve them. Well, here are some beginner interaction design best practices you can refer to:

• Always ensure easy direction to actions
• Present information in a systematic order
• Allow undo and redo actions for users
• Follow up with constant feedback to keep the users informed
• Maintain consistency in design elements
• Keep previous options visible so that users do not have to remember them
• Provide context to action and connect it to the next step
• Keep the space clutter-free
• Remove distractions
• Use simple language and avoid jargon
• Prevent frequent conversational obstacles
• Keep only a few options to avoid a choice dilemma
• Stick to some popular default designs for everyday functions
• Focus on creating a lasting first impression

Summing Up

Today, businesses in digital spaces offer human connection to users and sell experiences before they sell a product/service. Well, the first impression is what establishes how the user would connect and consequently take action. Hence, a lot goes into designing a credible and creative experience.

Over time, design has made its way through graphically and visually creative forms of expression to convey values to customers. This is achieved by mastering interaction design principles, which is pretty much the core of the field.

An interaction designer in India has boundless growth opportunities and earns as high as INR 20.9 LPA, as per AmbitionBox. If you are interested in this field, now might be a great time to begin learning. Learn interaction design with the interdisciplinary course at the JD School of Design. Explore the vast field and empower your design abilities to progress into the transformational career endeavours of tomorrow.