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UI Design Web Design

All You Need To Know About Interaction Design

Interaction Design

Interaction design is creating quite a hype in the designing world over the last few years. The presence of interaction design can be seen in both web and graphic design. Creating a smooth, delightful user experience is key to the success of any design, and that has led to the growing popularity of interaction designs and interaction designers. Interaction design is a process in which designers use logical and thought out behaviors and actions to create engaging web interfaces. In other words, interaction design is the relationship between user and product and the services they use. The products can be software products like apps or websites.

Interaction Design

Interaction design is used to create a great user experience. That’s the reason why most of the UI disciplines require in-depth understanding and hands-on experience of interaction design principles. It involves designing for the whole interconnected system –  the device, interface, environment, context, and people. It’s a fact that there’s considerable overlap between interaction design and UX design. After all, UX design is about shaping the experience of using a product, and most of that experience involves some interaction between the user and the product. But UX design is much more than interaction design. It includes user research, creating user personas, performing user testing, usability testing, and a lot more. Let’s say that UX is a big umbrella and interaction design is something that falls under that umbrella.

Who is an interaction designer?

An interaction designer is a person who creates a design strategy based on his understanding and knowledge about meaningful relationships between people and the products. He can be a part of the design, development, creative or marketing team. He is required to create prototypes to test concepts and stay current on technology and trends that will impact users. Simply put, companies hire an interaction designer to make sure their digital applications work and function when users use it.

One can grow into an interaction designer by learning through formal design programs or may just develop the skills from hands-on experience and learning on the job. Either way, the two of the common traits of interaction designers are a curiosity – their passion for understanding how things work, and the ability to visualize and play with elements and concepts in new ways.

Interaction design examples

Here are a few fantastic examples of interaction design:

By Jony Vino – Dribble
By Tubik – Dribble
By Mykolas Puodziunas – Dribble
Android Wear by Ramotion
Nike by Owi Sixseven

Key interaction design principles

Consistency is the key

Striking consistency is vital for creating an interaction design. The design should be consistent throughout the process and between related applications. Moreover, people’s expectations must be matched through terminology, layout, and interactions. You are helping users learn more quickly by creating and maintaining consistency. You can re-apply their prior experiences from one part of an application to another to maintain consistency throughout the design. 

On the other hand, the inconsistencies can be used to indicate to users where things might not work the way they expect. It’s all about knowing exactly when to be unconventional and break the consistency.

Aim For a Minimalist Design

It would help if you cut down the possible actions for users to a bare minimum. The actions should not be more than the absolutely necessary ones. Offering too many options will spoil the users with choices, detract the primary function, and will reduce usability. Do not provide unnecessary features and functions to users. Also, you must break any complex tasks into smaller, manageable sub-tasks to improve usability. Lastly, limit the functions rather than the user experience.

Minimize Cognitive Load

Cognitive load refers to the mental effort that is required to learn new information. It is a process of thought. In UX design, cognitive load is the mental processing power needed to use a product. A good user interactive design minimizes the user’s efforts to think and complete a task. For example, while designing an interactive interface, we need to understand how much concentration a task requires to complete it. Accordingly, you can create a UI that reduces the cognitive load as much as possible.

Avoid Hidden Interactions

Interactions within interactions or hidden interactions must be avoided. They decrease the efficiency, usability, and user experience. At any given point in time, people should not have to guess or look for opportunities to interact. The interactions must be clearly presented to the users, eliminating any possibilities of guessing.

Interaction designers must create interactive designs where users can review an interface and identify the interaction points. No two users will interact with the interface in the same way. In the process of interaction design, always provide hints and indicators like buttons, icons, textures, textiles, etc. Let the user check if these visual cues can be clicked or tapped with their fingers. Always consider the usability and accessibility of the interactive media.

Create an Engaging Experience

When it comes to user experience, engagement is the extent to which the user has a positive experience with your product. And, not just enjoyable, but more comfortable and productive too. That said, do remember that engagement is subjective to the system. For instance, what appeals to teenagers might be irrelevant to their grandparents. Your design must engage with the desired audience. Apart from aligning your design for the appropriate audience, achieving and creating control is also critical.

If you wish to create some stunning interaction designs that offer brilliant user experiences, talk to our team of proficient designers.

Also, check-out our blog on top UI Trends for 2020.

Categories
Design Mobile Apps UX

5 Key Uses of Animation in Mobile App UI

Mobile App UI

The advancement of technology has led to several new improvements and trends in web and mobile designing. Animation was once a visual luxury but has now become a functional requirement. Users expect to face animations at some stage while browsing a website or an app. Animation infuses life into interfaces and makes them more rousing and visually appealing.  The proper use of animations accentuates the responsiveness of an app. In this article, we will discuss five critical applications of animation within a mobile app UI design.

Animation infuses life into interfaces and makes them more rousing and visually appealing.  The proper use of animations accentuates the responsiveness of an app. In this article, we will discuss five critical applications of animation within a mobile UI design.

1. System Status

There are plenty of tasks and processes like downloading and uploading data, calculations etc. that continuously run in the backdrop while the app is running. While these processes run in the background, users often feel that the app is frozen, as there is no activity at the front end. You must always indicate the status of all the ongoing processes through visual signs of progress. It provides a sense of control over the app to the users.

Page loading time is unavoidable, however, it is a very stressful time for users. Using animations can’t shorten the loading time, but can provide comfort to the users while they wait. Creative progress indicators can reduce a user’s perception of time. If users can watch something visually pleasing, while they wait, they are more likely to divert their mind on the animation, rather than the wait time.

Similarly, “pull down to refresh” is also a well-known system status indicator that reloads the page. Pull-to-refresh animations should match the design outline of the app. Movement and visually pleasing items naturally draw attention and create interest. Animating your notifications is a pleasant way to notify users about things, without hampering their experience.

2. Visual Feedback in Mobile App UI

Visual feedback is critically important for any user interface. It helps users to know and understand their current context in the system at any given time. User interface elements like buttons and controls should appear to be tangible, as they interact with them in the real world.

But, bridging the gap between the physical world and on the web is challenging. Visual and motion cues must immediately recognize the input and animate in ways that appear to be direct guidance. Animations enhance various points of interaction and reinforce the actions taken by a user.

3. Structuring Information

Animation allows proper structuring of information across the app. An animation draws users and shows what content to look for and where can it be found. The menu bar is one of the most common places where this can be implemented. 

There are many elements on the main screen of the app. When we activate one of them, the app should change the picture and display a whole new app section based on the selection. Animation helps users to know that it is the same element but with different form and scale.

4. Navigation & Transitions in Mobile App UI

Usually, users take the help of menu bar to navigate inside an app. A lot of apps have a complicated structure to show the list of app sections or features, which is confusing for users. Animation works as a visual navigator. 

A user should notice a changing picture on the screen while selecting or changing app sections. This lets them know that they are navigating to a different section or using a feature. Animation is a great way to transport users reasonably between navigational contexts. 

Read more about Mobile App Navigation

5. In-app Guide

Some apps have a more complex structure compared to others. If you don’t want to scare-off or irritate your app subscribers, you should clearly explain to them how an app works at the very beginning. Animation comes in handy here. A user gets brief instructions about the app in very less time via animations. Usually, an animated guide opens up when the app runs. However, users should have access to the guide whenever they need.

Animations are really pretty, but as mentioned earlier there role is no longer confined to adding beauty to an app. So make animations with purpose and use it in the app UI design to simplify user interaction with the user interface.

Let us know if you are looking for designing your new or existing mobile app. Our UI and UX team will be happy to assist. Contact Us today

Categories
Blog Design UX Web Design

Design To Delight Your First-time Users

Design To Delight
Design To Delight

Design To Delight: The world of web is getting bigger and bigger with every breath we take. There are millions of websites, apps and businesses over the internet and everyone is hustling to differentiate itself from the other. This has resulted in fierce competition. In order to cope up with competition and make a unique identity, it’s very important that you’re able to create a solid first impression when you introduce yourself to the world. No matter how good your product or solution may be, first-time users will still need a lot of reasons to stick around.

In this article, we will discuss the importance of creating a delightful first-time experience that makes users stick around. Designing to delight first-time users can help in creating a long-term association with your users.

1. Introduction and Onboarding

As stated earlier, creating a wonderful product or solution is not enough to sell it into the market. Unless the user is told about the value creation, and how he will be benefited by using your app or solution, they are not going to be around for long.

Every new user will have some basic questions, which must be answered as early as possible when they interact with your app. They would be curious and will question themselves – is this the app I want? What does it actually do? How does it work? Where should I start from? The purpose of onboarding is to offer a quick intro to your product, and it’s key features.

The best answer to these questions is a welcome screen and onboarding process that draws a user into your product’s experience right away. The first thing a user will see is your launch screen, so it shouldn’t be an afterthought during the design process. Your launch screen is also significant for first-time users because it’s where you’ll put any legal disclaimers or age restrictions that may be necessary. This transparency avoids any surprises for users.

2. Onboarding Flow

Users are usually very impatient. They’ll quit if it takes too much effort to get what they want. According to a report, an average app loses 77 percent of its daily active users within the first three days of installation. Users just want to figure out what your product is supposed to do and how to do it.

Make the learning process as smooth as possible for new users. Offer them info in chunks, which they can easily digest. Strictly avoid offering too many first choices as it will only result in a confused user.

Collect basic information from the users, like their first name, so you can add it automatically to the intro content. This will give a personal touch to the onboarding process and the user will feel much more comfortable while moving forward. You can create a virtual tour guide to step-by-step introduce users to the app. Also, it’s important to periodically let new users know how much longer it will take to get started.

3. Minimum Information Collection

In today’s world, users are not reluctant to provide their personal information. However, they provide info only when they see the value, and only to get something in return. Remember, this is the first time they are interacting with you, so go easy on them. Don’t bombard them with questions seeking too much information.

Adding more functionality to the onboarding process will also give scope to users to get acquainted with your app. It gives first-time users a chance to get comfortable with your app, before you ask for a full sign-up. Yes, this would require more coding, but the extra effort will increase the chances of your success.

4. Filler Graphics and Animation

It is possible that an app’s dashboard is set to empty when a new user first downloads it. But, this can make the users feel that the app is not personal or useful to them. To counter this situation, filler graphics should be used as they can effectively minimize emptiness.

The other way to resolve this problem is to use animation during the onboarding process. This is a great method to show the potential of your product to first-time users. For example, you can show an animated app intro about how the app will look like when friends list, message notifications and dashboards are populated. Pop-up prompts can also be used to remind new users to invite friends to download the app.

5. Outside App Interactions

The user interactions must not be restricted to the app; outside app interactions play an important role in enhancing the overall user experience. Once you have initial user info, keep your first-time users engaged with follow-up emails. If you’re offering discounts on specific paid features, let them know this. A well-designed and friendly welcome email can also encourage new users to become regular users.

Following up with the users make them feel valued and keep them well-informed about your product, its features and benefits. It increases the chances of a long-term association with your product. However, you should be very careful about the content and frequency of the follow-up emails. There is a very thin line between an informative, inquisitive email and a spammy one.

Conclusion

Adjustments and improvements is a continuous process and they can be always be done at a later stage. But that doesn’t mean you should jump in with something which is not just good enough. You must design to delight right from the word go. Remember, the majority of users will decide to stay with you or uninstall (and maybe never come back) basis their initial interaction. Therefore, try to make the first interaction unforgettable and delightful. Reach out to our design experts to discuss more on designing for user experience.