User Experience
Interaction Design
Plain English
Designing how users interact with a product.
Definition
glossaryInteractionInteraction refers to any action a user takes within a product and how the system responds. It includes clicks, taps, gestures, and inputs that drive the user experience.Open glossary term design is the practice of designing how users interact with a product, focusing on glossaryBehaviourBehaviour refers to how users interact with a system, including actions, patterns, and responses.Open glossary term, flow, and glossaryResponsivenessResponsiveness is how well a design adapts across screen sizes and devices, keeping content readable and actions reachable at any width. It relies on fluid layouts rather than fixed dimensions.Open glossary term. It ensures interactions are intuitive, efficient, and meaningful.
In practice
Used to design glossaryUser FlowA user flow is the sequence of steps, screens, and decisions a person moves through to complete a task inside a product. It includes the branches, errors, and recovery routes, not only the path where everything works.Open glossary term, glossaryMicrointeractionA microinteraction is a small, self-contained exchange between a user and an interface, built around a single moment such as a toggle, a confirmation, or a change of state. It provides the feedback that makes a product feel responsive.Open glossary term, and glossarySystemA system is a collection of interconnected components that work together to achieve a specific function or outcome.Open glossary term responses that guide users through tasks.
In context
Most of the work is in the states nobody sketches: what happens while it loads, when it fails, and when the user does the second thing before the first has finished.
The reality
Good glossaryInteractionInteraction refers to any action a user takes within a product and how the system responds. It includes clicks, taps, gestures, and inputs that drive the user experience.Open glossary term design feels invisible - bad interaction design is immediately obvious.
Compared with
Interaction Design vs Visual Design
glossaryInteractionInteraction refers to any action a user takes within a product and how the system responds. It includes clicks, taps, gestures, and inputs that drive the user experience.Open glossary term design decides glossaryBehaviourBehaviour refers to how users interact with a system, including actions, patterns, and responses.Open glossary term: what happens, in what order, with what glossaryResponseA response is the data or result returned by a server after receiving a request.Open glossary term. Visual design decides appearance. A well-behaved interface that looks poor is fixable; a beautiful one that behaves unpredictably is not.
FAQ
Common questions
A few practical answers to the questions that usually come up around this term.
What is interaction design?
glossaryInteractionInteraction refers to any action a user takes within a product and how the system responds. It includes clicks, taps, gestures, and inputs that drive the user experience.Open glossary term design focuses on how users interact with a product and how the glossarySystemA system is a collection of interconnected components that work together to achieve a specific function or outcome.Open glossary term responds.
Why is interaction design important?
It ensures users can complete tasks smoothly and efficiently.
What does an interaction designer do?
They design flows, glossaryBehaviourBehaviour refers to how users interact with a system, including actions, patterns, and responses.Open glossary term, and glossaryResponseA response is the data or result returned by a server after receiving a request.Open glossary term within a product.
What is the difference between UX and interaction design?
UX is broader, while glossaryInteractionInteraction refers to any action a user takes within a product and how the system responds. It includes clicks, taps, gestures, and inputs that drive the user experience.Open glossary term design focuses specifically on glossaryBehaviourBehaviour refers to how users interact with a system, including actions, patterns, and responses.Open glossary term and interactions.
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