What Is Interactive Design?

As the name states, Interactive design is the “designing of interactions”. “Interaction” is when two things have an effect on each other. These interactions can be between more than one person or between people and computers.An example of interaction is a conversation - when one talks about an interesting topic, the other will listen and respond. This response is what interactivity is about. If there was no response, you might as well talk to a wall. In terms of interactive design, this interaction is similar, the user feedback is the key factor, - A user interacts with a product, such as clicking on a link, and the product gives a response by sending the user to the link.

And why is this important?
Have you ever used a product and had no idea how it worked because it the interface was horrible? Yes its really frustrating, us users want
Well, interaction designers are here to stop that confusion and make the experience of using that product so much easier.
So what exactly is Interactive design?
It is the desgining of products that assist in interaction between the user and computer. Interaction designers aim to create practical and easy to use products and services for the user .They design from a user’s prespective - they think about the users needs and goals, their everyday lives and make it user friendly.
To do this the designer must think about “ the combination of how the elements function”
-What the product does
-What the product looks like
-What do you think it does by looking at it
-What experience you gain from using it
Ultimately it is the designer’s role to “make complicated things easier and more pleasurable to use” (Polaine).


Here are some examples of great web design:

ebay - http://www.ebay.com

http://www.2advanced.com/

http://www.abc.net.au/children/