Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction (5th Edition)

A set of practice flashcards covering key concepts from the provided lecture notes on Interaction Design.

What is interaction design?

Designing interactive products to support the way people communicate and interact in their everyday and working lives.

What is the umbrella term that covers user interface design, software design, user-centered design, product design, web design, and UX?

Interaction design.

What are the three core goals of interaction design?

Develop usable products; usability means easy to learn, effective to use, and enjoyable; involve users in the design process.

How is usability defined?

Easy to learn, easy to use, effective, and enjoyable.

What factors should be considered when designing interactions?

Who the users are; what activities are being carried out; where interaction takes place; optimize to match users’ activities and needs.

Name three interaction options discussed for smart TVs.

Grid keyboard via a remote; a touchpad on a remote; voice control via remote or smart speaker.

Name some academic disciplines contributing to interaction design.

Psychology; Social sciences; Computing sciences; Engineering; Ergonomics; Informatics.

Name some design practices contributing to interaction design.

Graphic design; Product design; Artist-design; Industrial design; Film industry.

List interdisciplinary fields that do interaction design.

HCI; Ubiquitous Computing; Human Factors; Cognitive Engineering; Cognitive Ergonomics; CSCW; Information Systems.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of working in multidisciplinary teams?

Benefits: more ideas and perspectives; Disadvantages: difficult communication and progress.

Name three ID consultancies and their described focus.

Nielsen Norman Group: human-centered products and services; Cooper: research to goal-related design; IDEO: products, services, and environments that create value.

What are the two aspects of Hassenzahl’s user experience model?

Pragmatic (ease of achieving goals) and Hedonic (evocative/stimulating).

Can you design a user experience itself, or only design for a user experience?

You cannot design a user experience itself—you design for a user experience.

Why was the iPod’s user experience considered a success?

Quality user experience from the start; simple, elegant brand; pleasurable, must-have fashion item; memorable names.

What are the core characteristics of interaction design?

Involve users throughout development; identify and agree on usability/UX goals at the start; iterative development through core activities.

Why is it important to consider different user groups in design?

One size does not fit all; users differ in needs, capabilities, and contexts; avoid incorrect assumptions and account for sensitivities.

What is the difference between accessibility and inclusiveness?

Accessibility focuses on people with disabilities; inclusiveness aims to accommodate the widest possible number of people.

What are the three broad types of disabilities, and how can impairments vary?

Sensory, physical, and cognitive impairments; impairments can be permanent, temporary, or situational.

What does the phrase “wearing their wheels” refer to?

Prosthetics designed to be desirable and fashionable, not just functional.

What is an example of external inconsistency in keypad layouts?

Keypad layouts differ between devices (e.g., phones/remotes vs calculators), creating confusion.

What is an affordance?

An attribute of an object that hints at how it can be used (e.g., a mouse button invites pushing, a door handle invites pulling).

Why don’t interfaces have physical affordances, and what replaces them?

Interfaces are virtual; they lack real affordances, so we rely on perceived affordances via learned mappings.

What are perceived affordances?

Learned conventions of action–effect mappings at the interface; some mappings are better than others.

What is a common visibility problem in interfaces, as illustrated by the elevator panel example?

Users don’t know how to operate or what to do because the interface does not reveal the required actions.

How can visibility be improved in a poor interface (e.g., card reader scenario)?

Make the card reader obvious, provide auditory instructions, use a big label that flashes, and make relevant parts visible.

What is feedback in interaction design?

Information back to the user about what has been done, via sound, highlighting, animation, etc.

What are constraints in design?

Restrictions that limit possible actions to prevent incorrect options; physical examples exist (e.g., lock mechanisms).

What is the difference between direct adjacent mapping and color coding in design?

Direct adjacent mapping links a function to a nearby icon; color coding associates icons with related labels or functions.

What is internal consistency?

Operations behave the same within an application.

What is external consistency?

Operations, interfaces, and so on are the same across applications and devices; rarely achieved.

Give an example of external inconsistency from keypad layouts.

Phones/remotes and calculators/keypads use different layouts for numbers (1-9, 0) across devices.

Summarize the key points of what makes good interaction design.

ID designs interactive products to support everyday and working life; aims for quality user experiences; multidisciplinary; consider context, activities, UX goals, accessibility, culture, and user groups; use principles like feedback and simplicity.