The Rise of Interactivity in Design and How to Stay Ahead
Even though print isn’t dead and static graphics aren’t either, the rise of interactivity in design is on a steep uprise and no designer should ignore it. Interaction Design is the practice of designing systems for user-directed experiences.
Interactivity in design is noticeable in many fields, mostly in UX/UI design. Other spaces where interaction design is prevalent is in museums and the healthcare sector. On a smaller level, interactive infographics can be shared inside websites and blog posts. All apps depend on interactivity on different levels, the best apps have the best interaction design.
Let’s take a look at some interaction design spaces where you could level up your design skills.
UX/UI Design
For web and app designers, knowing how to do interaction design is extremely important. Everything inside an app is usually interactive. The best websites are also interactive with buttons, scrolling effects, and non-invasive popups.
These are five dimensions which make up interaction design:
- Words – The words used in buttons and interactive or clickable elements should be easy to understand. No need for extra wording.
- Visual Representations – The visual and graphical elements that accompany the words. These include typography, shapes, and images.
- Physical Objects or Space – Where does the interaction take place? Is it from a smartphone or a desktop computer? Where are the users interacting, while walking down the street or sitting on their couch?
- Time – This refers to how some media changes over time, like videos and animations. How long things take to happen once buttons are clicked and if someone leaves in mid-process can they get back on, in the same place?
- Behaviour – This refers to how the interactions actually work. What happens when a button is pressed, or when something is hovered over.
If you want to learn more about interaction design, the Interaction Design Foundation has plenty of courses on offer.
Museums
Interaction design in museums is not a new thing, it’s actually been around for a long time. Even before the rise of smartphones, museums had interactive exhibitions with buttons, videos in different languages, movement-triggered projections, or some things as simple as laminated flip books. Pre-recorded tours in walkmans are also considered interaction design.
Nowadays, though, with the spread of smartphones with cameras that can scan QR codes, images, and physical objects, interaction design for museums is reaching new heights. Google Lens can be used to learn about things in museums with a single click. One of the best interactive exhibitions this year was in a museum in Cleveland. They used an application called Art Lens to create interaction with the visitors.
Source: http://www.gallagherdesign.com/projects/cleveland-museum-of-art/
Healthcare
Another large area where interaction design is prevalent is in the healthcare sector. From interactive medical charts that keep track of a patient’s treatment with an iPad app, to smartphone apps for patients to set up doctor’s appointments, to complex surgical systems that help doctor rehearse life-changing surgeries. If you watch Grey’s Anatomy you must have seen a table where the surgeons can virtually dissect and operate on human bodies. That table really exists and it’s called The Automage Table.
The world of interaction design in healthcare is a space where not many designers get into. But the creative possibilities can be quite interesting. If you want to get into healthcare design, you have to learn about health in general; anatomy, biology, pharmacology, among other topics. You can find courses for these topics on sites like Udemy. Four year UX design careers usually have one or to courses in health-related systems. If you are a doctor and are also interested in design, the educative process is just reversed.
Source: https://www.gettysburg.edu/news_events/press_release_detail.dot?id=372d3691-5dee-49c5-ba81-490bfaf3f8e6
Interactive Infographics
On a much smaller scale than virtual surgical tables, interactive museums, and UX design, we also have interactive infographics. These are not the kind of infographics you can share on social media, like Pinterest. These are the types of infographics that you have to embed in a website.
An interactive infographic is a graphic that you have to click on to find out more information about certain sections. These types of infographics can be about any topic, for any business and in any kind of style. For example, the Visme blog recently published an interactive infographic visualizing data they had collected about dog names according to breeds.
Over to you
If you are a graphic designer, have you delved into interaction design yet? Staying ahead of what’s going on in the design world is as important as keeping your portfolio up to date. There are plenty of places online where you can learn more about interaction design. I mentioned The Interaction Design Foundation above, but you can also find some great online places in our previous articles about learning design online.
