This article discusses interactive design, the behind-the-scenes component of user experience design, and explains why it's essential to the success of your website. If you're seeking for a trustworthy vendor to integrate interactive design as part of UX, consider MAXWELL's offer of UX design services and web design services.
Even though interactivity makes up a significant portion of the user experience, users shouldn't notice it. Generally speaking, your website's interactive design is successful when consumers don't see the finely planned interactive procedures directing their actions.
Designing something so important but hidden is a difficult task, as one could anticipate. In this essay, I explain the procedures and objectives of an interactive designer and provide the justifications for hiring one for your web design project.
Interactive design vs. User experience design
Interactive design focuses on the moments when a user interacts directly and actively with your website by tapping, clicking, dragging, typing, etc. User experience (UX) design, on the other hand, takes a broader view and views even moments of passive use, such as reading text on your website's page, as interaction.
Therefore, interactive website design is a branch of UX website design that tries to encourage and facilitate the user's active interaction. Some UX experts prefer to concentrate on this facet of UX design and fine-tune their abilities to use interaction patterns. To assure the quality of interactive design, MAXWELL always assigns such dedicated professionals to projects involving highly interactive web design.
Interactive design elements
Every interaction is broken down into 5 pieces by interactive website design techniques. The majority of these components are universal to all interactions, while occasionally some may be optional. It is the responsibility of the user experience professional to specify the components that each interaction scenario needs in order to seem seamless and natural.
Here’s the list of all 5 elements:
- Text – A text or symbol that suggests the prospect of engagement and concentrates on the outcomes—rather than the action itself—of that interaction. Consider a triangle symbol or a line that reads "Play" to convey the same message.
- Visual Form – Certain interactive features, like buttons or text input forms, should have clearly discernible edges to indicate the interaction zone. You definitely don't want a potential customer to struggle to locate the input area when they're entering a shipping address for a transaction, for example.
- Medium/Platform – An expert in interactive design should make sure that the selection of interaction-inducing behaviors is consistent across all platforms because interactions require different actions on various devices.
- Time – Your website should always keep users informed about the progress of this data processing because some interactions require a certain amount of time to process input data. Otherwise, visitors could think the website is unresponsive and leave before seeing the outcome.
- Feedback – Your website should display a clear consequence of any interaction to offer a user a sense of accomplishment. For instance, once a user shares an article from your website to social networks, display the "Success!" notice.
The functions of each of these components appear to be clear, and selecting the ones required to put together a seamless interaction flow appears to be a simple operation. However, I'm certain that, like me, you've come across plenty of web designs with flawed interaction patterns that have either baffled you at various points or caused you to leave. Professional interactive website design aims to remove any potential dangers for your company and prevent any user confusion.
Advantages Of Good Interaction Design
The benefits of good interactive website design can be equally as remarkable as their negative repercussions, which can be severe. Let's look at a few of them.
Lower investment costs and enhanced support standards
Users will have less reasons to contact your support team if they have no issues using your website, which will result in lower support charges. Therefore, by making sure that every interaction instance on your website is properly built, you protect your support professionals from such little problems and allow them to concentrate on complex and unusual circumstances, thereby improving the quality of your service.
Reduce bounce rate
Visitors that have a perplexing interaction tend to leave rather than seek assistance and never come back. An interactive design that has been professionally created and tested reduces the likelihood that users will become frustrated with your website and avoids a high bounce rate.
Higher revenue
Your website's revenue, whether it comes from clicks or purchases, is closely related to the engagement procedures. Users will interact with your website more frequently and generate more cash for you if they have a satisfying experience while doing so.
Increased competitiveness and loyalty
There is a qualification to what I said at the outset about how effective interactive design should be unobtrusive enough to not draw any attention to itself. You may stand out from the competition and leave a lasting impression on your visitors, increasing their desire to conduct business with you. To accomplish this, focus your users' attention to interactive components by giving them a feel of freshness and originality, like our B2B and B2C ecommerce examples do.
Benefit from the comfort of your users
A user who engages with your website is a customer contacting your company. The interactive design of your website shouldn't be defined by these attributes, just as you wouldn't want your business communications to come off as unclear and ineffective. Don't be afraid to ask MAXWELL's team for help if you need to prevent interactive design issues in your future website or want to solve them in the one that is already live.
