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# Introduction

Interactive products are the stuff of everyday life for many people, from apps, phones and business systems to wearables, the Web and the Internet of Things. But how can interactions be designed to best meet their purposes and offer good user experience (UX)? That’s what this free course, An introduction to interaction design, discusses.

The purpose of the course is to give you an overview of interaction design and consists of four sections:

1. What is interaction design?

   Covering the scope and importance of interaction design, including the consequences of design flaws.

2. Goals and principles of user-centred design

   Presenting core concepts such as usability and user experience goals and also the principles that underlie good interaction design.

3. The ‘who, what and where’ of the design context

   Exploring aspects that characterise the user, the nature of the activity in which users are engaging and the environment in which the interaction takes place.

4. Interaction design activities and methods

   Introducing a variety of methods that interaction designers use in order to help create designs that meet the needs of users, and giving an overview of the main activities of interaction design.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course TM356 Interaction Design.

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OpenLearn - An introduction to interaction design
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