Hi there, I know you’ve just arrived on this page, but I want to take your focus away from this article for a second. If you are reading this on a computer or laptop, would you do me the tremendous favour of looking down at your keyboard quickly. For those on a tablet or another mobile device, I have conveniently placed a text field to the right of this sentence, for you to tap your finger on.

OK, eyes back here, thank you. Chances are your keyboard has the QWERTY layout, which you might assume is the best layout for a keyboard. It has after all looked like that since early typewriters. Interaction Design is the process of thought that goes into designing systems and objects which are the most usable or user-friendly for the target users. The QWERTY-keyboard is not an example of good interaction design, at least, not anymore. The first typewriters were arranged from A to Z, but typists typed too quickly with this layout, causing the mechanical keys to jam and therefore temporarily halt the typing process. A way was found to jumble the keys in such a way as to reduce typing speed to significantly reduce the number of jams. Guess the first six characters of this new layout. The problem is, our computer keyboards, do not have these same mechanical parts. Yet we have retained the layout, simply because it is familiar and we assume easy to assimilate. I can perhaps understand that with the physical keyboards, but why carry this all the way through to touch screen devices? The target users have changed, so should the system.

Interaction Design for the Web

The web is no longer the static information delivery system we were accustomed to in the 1990s. We find ourselves surrounded by buzz words and acronyms all describing some form of technology or improvement. Our experience with clients is that they’re often in two camps. Either they are not as yet familiar with the concept of a pervasive web, or they are on top the the latest buzz words and want to implement as many as possible in order to stay current and as always, keep in line with SEO. I feel that as designers and developers we don’t exactly help the situation either. We tend to follow the trends and implement what we know for clients, obviously we rely on our experience and this will generally result in quicker turnaround times which helps the bottom line. We tell the clients they will need social media integration, or RSS, or an AJAX contact form, sometimes without having a reason for suggesting it, other than, “That other site had it”.

The reality is, a blog will not work for every client, a like button is not for everyone, that rotating banner may look amazing, but how well will it work for a company selling compost, for example? Then again, I don’t know you, maybe you can make that work. The point is, each client is different, their needs are different and when we don’t design and develop according to that, one of two things usually happens. We deliver a product which is dead in the water, the client’s needs aren’t met and their business suffers, or the system undergoes several stages of redevelopment, usually over budget and over schedule, often with a few plugins hacked on and with minimal testing, just so the client can be somewhat happy and we can get paid.

This is not a knock at templates and patterns, there are frameworks we can always work in and around, and these practices are good to follow. It is our responsibility though to know which frameworks to use which will best suit the client’s specific needs. I’m not so convinced a quote for a 5-page static site is quite going to cut it anymore, and if we don’t take the time to understand our clients, we have no right to complain when they take our designs and paint unicorns and stars all over them.

Summary for: Designers

As mentioned previously, look at the trends, look at the frameworks, but start with what the client wants and more importantly needs (Hint: these may not be the same). Look how it can fit into what you know, and if not, get creative. Also collaborate with developers to get a feeling for what is feasible. Unfortunately, the most pressure is on you to get it right, but the rewards are high when you do.

Summary for: Developers

It is important to work with the designer, implement the systems the best way you know how, and when testing, try to be a first time user, or better, let someone else who knows nothing of the project test it, these will be the eventual end-users anyway. Take their criticism and fix what’s broken.

Summary for: Clients

The company you approach to engineer your site has a responsibility to know what is needed for different situations. It can be good though to do some research on the buzz words and technologies, to get a feel and also ensure you’re not being taken for a ride. While you may or may not be familiar with how the web works, you have a reason for wanting a site and what exactly you want to do with it. Write that down and let that focus drive the concept. If you get new ideas after meeting with the designers / developers, check to see if it will match the core concept and if so go for it. If it doesn’t feel right, engage with the developers or drop the idea, you can always add it again in the future.

That’s all for now, next time I’ll be looking at some historically good and bad examples of interaction design. I’ll also mention some usability tips which you will, hopefully, not know about yet and be interested in. Thanks for reading.