Interaction Design Fundamentals

Interaction Design Lecture Notes

• The interaction design process has three key components: User Research, Design, and Evaluation.
• User research is not based on guessing user needs, but on gathering factual data.
• User-centric design focuses on user needs at every stage of the design process.
• Bloatware refers to software that is too complex and not easy to use.
• Task-oriented design is a design approach focused on completing tasks.
• An example of an invisible interface is a design without a menu-heavy structure.
• User feedback is a crucial part of user research for effective design.
• The 2003 Microsoft Office redesign heavily relied on user feedback.
• Truckers often had big hands and gloves, a key finding during Qualcomm's user research.
• Adding more features to software does not always improve its usability.
• Adaptive menus in Office 2000 reduced the perception of bloatware.
• User research is essential for interaction design to avoid incorrect assumptions. Interaction design cannot be effective without understanding user needs and capabilities.
• User research considers factors including user skills, environmental distractions, special needs.
• Interaction design does not end with creating the prototype.
• Overloaded user interfaces are described as bloatware.
• Early Qualcomm devices lacked large touchscreens, and the early design of the interfaces did not cater to the need for large screens.
• Involving users in the design process is vital to create designs based on real-world needs.
• User research is an essential part of the design process.
• Ignoring the user research process directly impacts the design output in a negative way as designs are based on assumptions rather than real needs

Lecture 3 Questions: User-Centered Design C Research Categories

• User research is a critical and essential component of the design process
• The primary purpose of user-centered design is to address user needs at each step of the process.
• Ignoring user research is a common practice in software development.
• The first phase in Joyner's design life cycle is need findings.
• The Google user-centered design process includes user research as a separate component.
• User understanding is not just about user needs but also identifying limitations

Lecture 4 Questions: User Research Methods

• Primary research is research you conduct yourself.
• Secondary research is research completed by others.
• Secondary research is helpful in the early design stages to save time and resources.
• Qualitative research focuses on "why" and "how" things happen, while quantitative research focuses on numerical data.
• User research is crucial for preventing assumptions from impacting design choices.

Lecture 5: Prototyping Questions: Interaction Design

• The primary goal of prototyping in HCI is to test and evaluate ideas.
• Prototyping should not be solely about visual appeal while taking into account actual user needs.
• Low-fidelity prototyping is often more cost-effective and encourages creativity.
• The ability to iterate quickly and inexpensively is a significant advantage of low-fidelity prototyping.
• It's essential to start with a simple prototype that allows for effective testing.
• High-fidelity prototypes are commonly developed using design software for better accuracy, while it takes more time and resources to create better prototypes.

Lecture 6: UX Research Methods

• UX research is a method used to gather insights about users' behaviours, needs, and how users interact with products.
• Quantitative research focuses on gathering and analyzing numerical data, such as conducting surveys, and statistical analysis.
• Usability testing is an essential technique to test and improve designs.
• Attitudinal research focuses on measuring user behaviour and reactions.
• Generative research is essential to generate new ideas and insights.
• Debugging processes are often validated by testing
• Various methods like card sorting, surveys, and eye-tracking are used in UX research.

Lecture 7 (Validation Testing)

• Validation and testing are important steps in the software development process to reduce project duration by addressing issues early.
• A key benefit of validation and testing is improved user satisfaction.
• Thorough testing significantly affects user frustration levels and adoption rates, also the development team's salaries.
• Unit testing is a process focused in validating individual components and units of code.
• Integration testing in validation is crucial to ensure communication and compatibility between code components.
• System testing is about functionality, performance and security parameters that need to be evaluated.
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT) focuses on user-perspective and needs to successfully meet user requirements.
• Continuous testing significantly improves the feedback process, and frequently delivers updates