Interaction Design

The design of the interaction between users and products. Interaction design is focused on creating products that enable the user to achieve their objective(s) in the best way possible.

More terms you might want to know

Affinity Diagram

A data visualisation tool that can be used to explore and group people's thoughts or reactions to a set of concepts. Affinity diagrams are often used in user research and design thinking as an experimental technique for generating new ideas or solutions.

The emergent patterns in these visual representations can help identify which aspects your audience will respond well to, thus enabling decisions on the information architecture and next steps in the process.

It is important to note that affinity diagrams were initially developed for qualitative research but have since been adapted for quantitative research (though they are not typically used with statistical data).

Body Copy

The main text of an advertisement or editorial as opposed to headings and subheadings.

Skeuomorphism

The use of design features that are shaped to resemble a familiar object or thing in order to facilitate user interaction.

White Space

The area of negative space around and between elements in a design.

Die Cut

A type of print/design created with a metal stamp to create a shape out of paper using a die cutting machine. Die cuts can be used in apparel, home decor and promotional products.

Baseline

An imaginary line on which most letters "sit". As such, it equals the height of an em square. The expected result of a baseline is to reference the height with which text is aligned. The alignment ranges from ascenders, which are the upper strokes in b, d, and h, down to descenders like j or y.

Mock-up

A non-functional first draft of a design.

Negative Space

The unused or empty space in a composition of images, either two-dimensional (as with paintings) or three-dimensional (as with sculptures).

Masthead

The name, logo, and other identifying information at the top of a newspaper or magazine publication.

Saturation

The intensity of a color relative to its own brightness. Colours are said to be saturated when they have a strong hue and high intensity.

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