Topic: Interaction Design
Introduction
Interaction design is the study of devices with which a usercan interact, in particular computer users. The practice typically centers around "embedding information technology into the ambient social complexities of the physical world." It can also apply to other types of non-electronic products and services, and even organizations. Interaction design defines the behavior (the "interaction") of an artifact or system in response to its users.
In computers, interactivity is the dialog that occurs between a human being (or possibly another live creature) and a computer program. (Programs that run without immediate user involvement are not interactive; they're usually called bacth or background programs.) Games are usually thought of as fostering a great amount of interactivity.
Interactivity in a computer products means that the user, not the designer, controls the sequence, the pace, and most importantly, what to look at and what to ignore.
Tasks of interaction design:
- Create a guidance system to orient users.
- Design the navigation system.
- Define what happens on each screen.
- Design the controls for interaction.
- Determine how much interaction is to be included.
Basics Elements in Interaction Design
1) Organization
How the information will be organized on the pages
2) Navigation
How people will find their way around your web site.
3) Interactivity
What controls you give your users to work with
Interaction Design: Navigation
Effective navigation provides enough location information (Orientation) to let users answer the
following question:
- Where am I? - let the user know their current page.
- Where have I been? - let the user know where they have been
- Where can I go? – let users know where they are in relation to the rest of the website
- How do I get there? – provide consistent, easy to understand link.
- How do I get back to where I started?
provide alternatives to the browser’s back button to let users return to their starting point.
Effective navigation will limit information overload
- Create manageable information segments – break your content into smaller files or logical
groupings then link it together.
- Control page length – do not make user scroll through never ending pages (provide internal
link)
- Use hypertext to connect facts, relationships, and concepts.
Nielsen suggests these ways a designer can aid their users
with navigation:
- include a site identifier on every page
- make it easy to go to landmark pages such as the home page or the search page.
- emphasize the structure of your site by making each page show which subsite it belongs to.
- do not change the default colors for links and visited links.
- draw a sitemap or use some other orienting devices to illustrate the relationships between
main areas of your site.
SiteMAp
A site map’s purpose is twofold: It provides direct links or Interaction Design: Orientation
links, shortcuts, to all of the content pages on a site, and it illustrates how content relates to the overall site structure.
Topic Paths
Bread-crumb trails, sometimes called topic paths, which ideally consist of clickable links that show how the current page fits into the overall hierarchy of the site.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
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