This week, our class was introduced to the fundamentals of UX and Ix. We explored what each term means: UX focuses on how a user feels and interacts with a product or service, aiming to make the overall experience intuitive, enjoyable, and efficient. Interaction Design is more concerned with how users interact with a system, including the controls, feedback, and flow of actions. We also looked at principles of human-centred design, emphasising designing for real user needs and behaviours. The class covered different design process models, showing structured approaches from research and ideation to prototyping and testing. Finally, we discussed user interfaces, examining how visual layout, navigation, and interactive elements shape the user’s experience.
UX (User Experience): User Experience is about how a person feels when interacting with a product, service, or system. It considers the overall journey, including ease of use, accessibility, efficiency, and satisfaction. Good UX design ensures that users can achieve their goals with minimal frustration and maximum enjoyment. It’s not just about aesthetics; it’s about understanding user needs, behaviours, and contexts to create meaningful and effective experiences. On the other hand, Ix (Interaction Design): Interaction Design focuses on the specific ways users interact with a system or product. This includes designing buttons, gestures, menus, feedback, and other interactive elements. The goal is to make interactions clear, intuitive, and responsive. Interaction designers map out how users perform tasks step by step and ensure the interface communicates effectively what is happening, reducing confusion and improving usability.
Human-centred design puts the user at the centre of the design process. It involves observing and understanding users’ needs, behaviours, and motivations to inform decisions. Key principles include empathy, iterative prototyping, testing, and feedback loops. The approach ensures that products are not only functional but also enjoyable and meaningful for the people using them.
We looked into what the Design process includes, which includes models that are structured approaches to solving design problems. Common models include the Double Diamond (Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver) and iterative cycles of research, ideation, prototyping, and testing. These models help designers organise their work, validate ideas with users, and refine solutions before final implementation.
User interfaces are the visual and interactive components through which users engage with a system. This includes layouts, buttons, menus, forms, and feedback mechanisms. UI design focuses on clarity, consistency, and aesthetics, ensuring that users can navigate and interact with the product efficiently. It complements UX by providing the tangible elements that make a digital experience usable and enjoyable.
<aside>
This week’s class gave a clear introduction to UX and Ix, helping to differentiate the broader concept of user experience from the more focused interaction design. We explored the principles of human-centred design, understanding the importance of empathy and iterative testing in creating meaningful experiences. Learning about design process models highlighted how structured approaches guide projects from research to final delivery, while user interfaces emphasised the practical side of making interactions clear and engaging. Overall, the class provided a solid foundation for thinking about how design affects people, and it left me feeling more confident in approaching projects with the user at the centre.
</aside>