Chapter 1 does a great job of going over the ins and outs of interaction design.
The chapter starts off with an example of a bad design of a voice mail system. The voice mail system is one that is used in a hotel and basically the user receives two forms of instructions on how to check the messages that they have received. In the end, the user is just frustrated and was unable to receive their message. From there, the author goes on to discuss what interaction design is, what all is involved as far as components and who helps to create the designs.
The author then focuses from the interaction design itself to the user experience. The user experience covers how the products works and how the user uses the product. A lot of how a product is designed and developed is based on what users will be using the product, how the users will use the product, and where the users will use the product.
Designers make sure to keep in mind the usability goals which are the following: effectiveness, efficiency, safety, utility, learnability, and memorability. The author goes on to explain each goal into more detail and why it is important in interaction design. If these products excel with reaching each goal then it can mean a better experience for the user.
Design principles also help to aid the interaction designers in their designing process. The author mentions different principles that are found in Don Norman’s book The Design of Everyday Things. The principles mentioned and discussed in detail are visibility, feedback, constraints, consistency, and affordance. Like the usability goals, design principles also help interaction designers to create and better products that users will continue to use and enjoy.
Overall, chapter 1 broke interaction design down into parts that helped to make it easy to see interaction design as one big picture.
