An Interaction Design definition starting from Verplank’s “Questions of interaction design”, then explaining his IxD process’s phases with Malouf’s foundations, Saffer’s elements and Cooper’s patterns

1. Metaphor
According to David Malouf; IxD builds on 5 main foundations.
These foundations are used to create the meaning in
IxD process. Metaphors help designers to describe interaction
in most effective way. Abstraction works aside the metaphor
to translate human motions to machines. Time makes
interaction design different from the other disciplines of
user experience (UX). It is the wrapper of our experience
of an interaction and must live over time. The elements of
IxD such as; motion, space and time come with their
negative space which need to be considered and used in
design process. All the foundations of IxD show that many
design discipline involves and intersects in this subject
of design.
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Abs
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MEANING
Int
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Bill Verplank tells that IxD involves to answer three
questions; “How do you know?”, “How do you feel?” and
“How do you do?”. To answer these questions IxD fallows
the process, which is consist of 4 phases. First, the designers
are motivated by an error or inspired by an idea to decide
what the ideal goal for the design should be. Next they find
a metaphor that connects the motivation to the end goal and
develop scenarios to help them create meaning. Then they
work out step- by-step what the tasks are and find a
conceptual model that ties them all together and clarifies the
modes. Finally they decide what kind of display is needed,
what the controls are, and how to map them.
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Idea
Space
MOTIVATION
How do you
know?
MODEL
How do you
feel?
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Po
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Structural
Interaction Design
MAPPING
Ap
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Inter (from Latin; inter: Between, among) + action (from Latin; āctiō: Act of doing or making)
Design (from Latin; dēsignō: I mark, trace out, plan, outline)
Designing the behaviors of products, services
and environments for human use.
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Error
Tim
How do you
do?
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Sound
Dan Safferinter states that; there are six main elements of IxD
To create the models of the behaviors, until we start to use only
brain control for our actions and getting feedback (which I
believe is the future) motion is a must and need to be defined
in space and time (just if we forget Special Relativity for a
second not to confuse us more). At the end of the IxD process
while defining the controls and displays; sound, appearance
and texture are used together with the help of Alan Cooper’s
postural, structural and behavioral patterns of IxD, to find an
answer for “How do you do?” question.