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Interaction design means different things whether it relates to video games or user interfaces. In this major, we focus on the design of user interfaces including mobile apps, websites, software interfaces, and kiosks.

But what exactly does focusing on "interaction" as a designer mean? defines interaction design as creating engaging interfaces with well thought out behaviors. This makes interaction design somewhat different from more traditional forms of design, like graphic design. According to , a chief proponent of interaction design, a focus on behavior design in complex systems is what sets interaction design apart.

This means that interaction designers will help guide product development from the opening to the final stages. This could mean working on a team that is creating a mobile app or the touchscreen in a car. During the design process, interaction designers will speak to clients, stakeholders, developers, visual designers, and, most importantly, to users. Interaction designers will always ask the question, "Will this decision make the experience of this product better for the user?"

In their focus on users, interaction designers use prototyping tools to create prototypes for clients and user testing situations. 

Interaction design, as Alan Cooper says, borrows theories and techniques from traditional graphic design, usability, engineering, and human-centered disciplines like anthropology and psychology. This means that interaction design is not limited to one of these skill sets and blends all of these approaches in the service of user experience.

It seems everyone you talk to these days has a different definition of user experience. Put simply, as , it is anything that has to do with the experience of user when they use a product or service. Thus, it is a rather large field, as noted in this image from .

From that image, you will notice that interaction design is a part of user experience design but not everything. This means that interaction design is one way to approach user experience design. Would it be right to call an interaction designer a user experience designer? Yes. But there are other approaches too, like information design or visual design!

Be wary of anyone who calls him/herself a user experience designer but cannot define that term any more carefully or specifically!

You should sift through places like for examples. You are looking for interaction design or UX design portfolios that evidence interaction design. If you run across a great one, let me know!

First and foremost, you should follow the . You should be going to local talks, meeting folks, and getting a better sense of what it means to be an interaction designer. Additionally, there is a plethora of resources to help you keep up-to-date.You also should be looping into local resources and networking by, for instance, joining and becoming a member at . You should be going to talks and designer-related events in town. It is good to show your face; it is even better to interact!

No. There is a concentration in the School of Art and Design that focuses on traditional graphic design. Interactive design is understood as the design of behavior in complex systems, whereas graphic design is the design of textual and visual form. This means that interactive design draws its methodologies as much from anthropology, psychology, information design, and computer science as it does from graphic design.

In this degree, we value computational literacy (the ability to understand the possibilities of data) slightly more than coding literacy (the ability to code). In this light, we consider computational literacy a core competency and coding literacy a "value added" portion of an interaction designers' skill set. This means that you can get an interaction design job with relatively little coding skills but that knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript will benefit you on the job market. As of now, we require you to take a few coding-related classes. Please see our Comprehensive Overview document for more information.

If you want to minor in Computer Science (CS), this could be important. Make an advising appointment with CS if you are considering this minor. If you do not wish to purse a CS minor then we recommend you take whatever math will satisfy Areas A2 and D1.

Would being a good illustrator help you as an interaction designer? Probably. Is it necessary? No. We would say it鈥檚 more necessary to have a good aesthetic sense and expertise with design-related tools (especially prototyping tools). It is most important to know how design thinking, user researcher methods, and aesthetic ability work together.

Short answer: no. Long answer: At some point, most likely. We will teach programs like the Adobe Creative Suite, Axure, Sketch, InVision, and Figma. All of them but Sketch are platform agnostic. Sketch only runs on Mac and is a widely used tool in the field. If you do not own a Mac, we have Sketch available in all labs on campus with Mac computers.

Check our Twitter () and Facebook () feeds. Any internship opportunities we hear about will be posted there.

Certainly. Consider an , Computer Science, Game Design, , , or . Additionally, it would be helpful to take TCOM classes in Related Studies or Free Electives, like TCOM3045, TCOM3145, TCOM3245, and/or TCOM4120.

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