Interaction Design Tips
Go with the Flow
Flow is how and where the page or thing you are making fits in the overall scheme of things.
Use reality-based design
Make sure to include all of the features that the page will use in your designs. Make sure they fit on the page and are in the right place.
Have a beginning and an end
Always comp the page before and the page after the one you are making. Make sure you know where it lives in the site or the experience.
Avoid dead-ends
Make sure the user has an out. Don’t trap someone into doing something without providing a way to get out of it. For example pop-up windows should have close buttons, navigation should lead back to home, etc.
Process
Interactions designers can help teams avoiding high-frustration scenarios by working to come up with the right flow. It’s important to work with user experience folks before the design is done and before anything gets shown to the client.
Surface vs. structure
Interaction designers can help with the essentials. What is the experience supposed to do? What is the result? How does it work?
Make an accurate representation of the desired finished product.
Details, Details…
At the individual page level. Its important to get all the details right. This is the map developers will be using to make the designs come to life so make sure they are accurate.
Some tips:
- Group buttons logically if you get confused check out Yahoo’s pattern library
- Don’t use Loren ipsum, put real content in when you can to make sure it will fit and look the way you envisioned.
- Don’t skip the navigation – if there are more pages make sure you account for how one will paginate or navigate through the site
- Don’t forget rollovers, tool tips and other button states. They need visual design love too.
