There are many fields of design, such as graphic design, architectural design, industrial design, and
software design. Although each discipline has its own approach to design, there are commonalities. The
Design Council of the United Kingdom captures these in the double-diamond of design,
• Discover: Designers try to gather insights about the problem.
• Define: Designers develop a clear briefthat frames the design challenge.
• Develop: Solutions or concepts are created, prototyped, tested, and iterated.
• Deliver: The resulting project is finalized, produced, and launched.
Interaction design also follows these phases, and it is underpinned by the philosophy of user-centered
design, that is, involving users throughout development.
2.2 What Is Involved in Interaction Design?
Interaction design has specific activities focused on discovering requirements for the product, designing
something to fulfill those requirements, and producing prototypes that are then evaluated.
Generating alternatives is a key principle in most design disciplines and one that is also central to
interaction design.
Involving users and others in the design process means that the designs and potential solutions will need
to be communicated to people other than the original designer. This requires the design to be captured
and expressed in a form that allows review, revision, and improvement. There are many ways of doing
this, one of the simplest being to produce a series of sketches.
Other common approaches are to write a description in natural language, to draw a series of diagrams,
and to build a prototype, that is, a limited version of the final product. A combination of these
techniques is likely to be the most effective. When users are involved, capturing and expressing a design
in a suitable format is especially important since they are unlikely to understand jargon or specialist
notations. In fact, a form with which users can interact is most effective, so building prototypes is an
extremely powerful approach.
2.2.1 Understanding the Problem Space
Deciding what to design is key and exploring the problem space is one way in which to decide. This is the
first phase in the double diamond, but it can be overlooked by those new to interaction design
2.2.2 The Importance of Involving Users
Chapter 1 stressed the importance of understanding users, and the previous description emphasizes
the need to involve users in interaction design. Involving users in development is important because it’s
the best way to ensure that the end product is usable and that it indeed will be used. In the past, it was
common for developers to talk only to managers, experts, or proxy users, or even to use their own
judgment without reference to anyone else. While others involved in designing the product can provide
useful information, they will not have the same perspective as the target user who performs the activity
every day or who will use the intended product on a regular basis.
In commercial projects, a role called the product owner is common. The product owner’s job is to filter
user and customer input to the development cycle and to prioritize requirements or features. This
person is usually someone with business and technical knowledge, but not interaction design
knowledge, and they are rarely (if ever) a direct user of the product. Although the product owner may
be called upon to assess designs, they are a proxy user at best, and their involvement does not avoid the
need for user involvement.
The best way to ensure that developers gain a good understanding of users’ goals, leading to a more
appropriate, more usable product, is to involve target users throughout development. However, two
other aspects unrelated to functionality are equally as important if the product is to be usable and used:
expectation management and ownership.