Interaction designers often follow similar processes to create a solution (not the solution) to a known interface design problem. Designers build rapid prototypes and test them with the users to validate or rebut the idea.

There are six major steps in interaction design. Based on user feedback, several iteration cycles of any set of steps may occur.

1. Design research
Using design research techniques (observations, interviews, questionnaires, and related activities), designers investigate users and their environment in order to learn more about them and thus be better able to design for them.

2. Research analysis and concept generation
Drawing on a combination of user research, technological possibilities, and business opportunities, designers create concepts for new software, products, services, or systems. This process may involve multiple rounds of brainstorming, discussion, and refinement.

To help designers realize user requirements, they may use tools such as personas or user profiles that are reflective of their targeted user group. From these personae, and the patterns of behavior observed in the research, designers create scenarios (or user stories) or storyboards, which imagine a future work flow the users will go through using the product or service.

After thorough analysis using various tools and models, designers create a high level summary spanning across all levels of user requirements. This includes a vision statement regarding the current and future goals of a project.

 3. Alternative design and evaluation
Once a clear view of the problem domain exists, designers develop alternative solutions with crude prototypes to help convey concepts and ideas. Proposed solutions are evaluated and, perhaps, merged. The end result should be a design that solves as many of the user requirements as possible.

 Among the tools that may be used for this process are wireframing and flow diagrams. The features and functionality of a product or service are often outlined in a document known as a wireframe ("schematics" is an alternate term). Wireframes are a page-by-page or screen-by-screen detail of the system, which include notes ("annotations") describing how the system will operate. Flow Diagrams outline the logic and steps of the system or an individual feature.

 The cognitive dimensions framework provides a specialized vocabulary to evaluate particular design solutions, and aid in the creation of new designs from existing ones through design manoeuvres.

  4. Prototyping and usability testing
Interaction designers use a variety of prototyping techniques to test aspects of design ideas. These can be roughly divided into three classes: those that test the role of an artifact, those that test its look and feel and those that test its implementation. Sometimes, these are called experience prototypes to emphasize their interactive nature. Prototypes can be physical or digital, high- or low-fidelity.

 5. Implementation
Interaction designers need to be involved during the development of the product or service to ensure that what was designed is implemented correctly. Often, changes need to be made during the building process, and interaction designers should be involved with any of the on-the-fly modifications to the design.

6. System testing
Once the system is built, often another round of testing, for both usability and errors ("bug catching") is performed. Ideally, the designer will be involved here as well, to make any modifications to the system that are required.

 Aspects of interaction design
 Social interaction design
Social interaction design (SxD) is emerging because many of our computing devices have become networked and have begun to integrate communication capabilities. Phones, digital assistants and the myriad connected devices from computers to games facilitate talk and social interaction. Social interaction design accounts for interactions among users as well as between users and their devices.

  The dynamics of interpersonal communication, speech and writing, the pragmatics of talk and interaction--these now become critical factors in the use of social technologies. And they are factors described less by an approach steeped in the rational choice approach taken by cognitive science than that by sociology, psychology, and anthropology.

 Affective interaction design
Throughout the process of interaction design, designers must be aware of key aspects in their designs that influence emotional responses in target users. The need for products to convey positive emotions and avoid negative ones is critical to product success.These aspects include positive, negative, motivational, learning, creative, social and persuasive influences to name a few.

  One method that can help convey such aspects is the use of expressive interfaces. In software, for example, the use of dynamic icons, animations and sound can help communicate a state of operation, creating a sense of interactivity and feedback. Interface aspects such as fonts, color pallet, and graphical layouts can also influence an interface's perceived effectiveness. Studies have shown that affective aspects can affect a user's perception of usability.

 Emotional and pleasure theories exist to explain peoples responses to the use of interactive products. These include Don Norman's emotional design model, Patrick Jordan's pleasure model, and McCarthy and Wright's Technology as Experience framework.

 Interaction design domains
Interaction designers work in many areas, including software interfaces, (business) information systems, internet, physical products, environments, services, and systems which may combine many of these. Each area requires its own skills and approaches, but there are aspects of interaction design common to all.

 Interaction designers often work in interdisciplinary teams as their work requires expertise in many different domains, including graphic design, programming, psychology, user testing, product design, etc. Thus, they need to understand enough of these fields to work effectively with specialists.

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