From the course: UX Foundations: Interaction Design

Technical and software skills

From the course: UX Foundations: Interaction Design

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Technical and software skills

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- [Narrator] Interaction designers use many tools and we have a vast array of techniques to help us generate and identify potential solutions. We are pragmatic. We apply our skills and select our tools based on the problems we need to solve, the solutions we need to communicate, and the people with whom we are working. We often start very low tech with pencil and paper, sketchbooks, sticky notes, note cards, and whiteboards, to help us understand, define and frame the problem. Early visualizations with diagrams, models and flows help us identify potential directions, missing information and the most appropriate next steps. And to these early sketches can also help develop consensus about what problems we are solving and what goals we are trying to achieve. As our designs progress, we typically need an increasing level of detail and fidelity. Pen and paper sketches can capture the concept, but eventually we need to put pixels on screens. There are many design and diagramming tools available and a growing number of web-based tools may be used. Choose tools that allow you to work effectively and efficiently. You should spend your time thinking about solving problems. As long as you are able to capture, represent, and communicate your ideas and design intentions effectively, almost any tool can be valid. We need to go beyond simply drawing our solutions and an increasing number of design tools focus much more on creating interactive prototypes to validate our ideas. We need to see our designs in use, and whenever possible, we should put prototypes in the hands of the people who will be using the interface or device. There are many tools to help us bring the pixels to life, so choose those that help you best capture the intent and the experience of the design and the prototype. Remember, you're evaluating the design solution, not launching the product yet.

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