Interaction Designer

The role of the Interaction Designer is to take the business’s product and transform into a product that the user interacts with perfectly. The role of the Interaction Designer is to create the best possible user experience for the consumers. The Interaction Designer works closely with the product development department and acts as an advocate for all users of the business’s product. For the purpose of this advocacy, the Interaction Designer must be able to visually and verbally present product solutions necessary for the enhancement of users’ experience.

The Interaction Designer is always on the lookout for ways in which he can simplify product designs and how he can integrate a mix of interaction and visual experience into the business’s product. The role of Interaction Designer is a role that demands constant evolution and adaptation as the product, market, and consumer needs evolve.

The Interaction Designer, therefore, always strives to improve his skills and boost his professional growth. The Interaction Designer also engages himself in consumer research, information architecture, and usability testing for effective performance of his functions.

Objectives and Responsibilities of the Interaction Designer

Analysis: The Interaction Designer is tasked with analyzing complex product and consumer requirements and the creation of a design that maximizes the product’s potential while simultaneously ensuring long-term sustainability in the market.

Design: The Interaction Designer is actively involved in the actual design of the product and, therefore, works very closely with the product development team. The Interaction Designer participates in the development of engaging, usable, and beneficial interactions for the user through the business’s product. At this capacity, the Interaction Designer develops new or improved visual designs for the product while still maintaining the brand’s language.

Collaboration: The Interaction Designer is a position that demands collaboration with various product managers in the development of the product along different stages. The Interaction Designer especially works closely with the product development department to ensure that the product is designed with the view of availing the best possible user experience for the consumers.

At this capacity, the Interaction Designer works in a team that is mainly comprised of engineers, product managers, and User Experience personnel (UX) in an effort to deliver first-class consumer experiences through the business’s product. This is achieved through this collaboration; leading to the production of high quality and relevant products.

Product Life Cycle: The Interaction Designer is responsible for guiding the product through its various stages in the lifecycle. This is achieved through specification of the products navigation or direction at each stage, information organization, and formulating interaction design.

Consultancy: The Interaction Designer is also responsible for relaying insight to the Senior Interaction Designer, Visual Designers, content Specialists, Research Departments, and engineers on ways to further enhance user flow. In addition to this, the Interaction Designer also presents these departments with psychological cues that can be integrated in the product to make apparent to the consumers; the product’s usability, value, and benefit. This may be achieved through the examination of the products consistency with consumers, regular consumer interactions, and application of various business metrics.

Consumer Interactions: The Interaction Designer is also tasked with consumer interactions. This is because the role demands that the Interaction Designer intimately understand how the product is being received by the consumers along with the experience that the consumers get from the product.

The application of various consumer and market analyses may be good but there is no better way to find out how the consumers are experiencing the business’s product than personally interacting with them and getting feedback.

Testing/Product Interaction: Apart from the consumer interaction, to perform his functions even more effectively, the Interaction Designer is tasked with the interaction of the product. This is for the purpose of saving the business time and resources by identifying flaws, defects, and points of improvement in the product prior to the release into the market.

By experiencing the product on a personal level, the Interaction Designer is able to honestly asses his own experience and present product departments with the initial pointers for the product’s improvement. At this capacity, the Integration Designer reviews the product’s specs, recommends production alternatives, and ensures maintenance of a high quality production standard.

Additionally, he compares the business’s product experience with the experience exuded by competing brands and comes up with product feature suggestions that will give the business’s product a competitive edge in the market.

Required Qualifications of the Interaction Designer

Education: A candidate must have a Bachelor degree in a discipline related to functional work, for example Product Management, Engineering, Business Administration, or work experience of the equivalent.

Experience: A suitable candidate will have had prior experience of 2-5 years in interaction design, visual design, or user experience design. The candidate will also have experience working with a product team as well as the application of lean user experience processes in products. Additionally, a suitable candidate will have had proven experience and a track record in the planning and conducting of product usability tests.

The candidate will also have to demonstrate a proven ability in graphic design inclusive of; drawing and sketching, color theory, use of texture, typography, as well as visual presentation development and layout.

As a bonus, the candidate will have had experience in a technical field for the purpose of creating to simple product prototypes that the product development departments can use for consideration during presentations.

Software: The Interaction Designer will demonstrate proficiency in the use of Adobe Creative Suits and Photoshop. This is because the position requires the occupier to be able to demonstrate both product interaction design and points for improvement to product development departments in visual and verbal form.

Communication Skills: The position of Integration Designer demands a high level of communication skills, both verbal and written. The reason for this is that there is a high necessity for interaction and communication with product development departments and with consumers in efforts to gain their feedback. Poor communication skills with will hinder the effective performance of these functions and, therefore, excellent communication are an absolute necessity for the position.

People Skills: Additionally, due to such a high demand for constant interactions, an Interaction Designer has to possess people skills, which will facilitate smooth performance of functions for all parties involved in collaborative initiatives. People skills, coupled with good communication skills will enable the Interaction Designer to better convince the product development departments and the Senior Interaction Designer to adopt proposed modifications and features for the product.

Interpersonal Skills: A suitable candidate will possess an innate ability to work collaboratively in a team setting with a strong focus on consumer services and solutions. He will also be an excellent problem solver able to quickly neutralize any disagreements in the course of cross-functional interactions. He will also be a highly motivated individual who handles even the most challenging tasks head-on in a manner that inspires his colleagues.

Ms Office: The Integration Designer must be proficient in Ms Word and PowerPoint in order to create engaging content for presentations made to the product development departments and the Senior Interaction Designer in an attempt to improve the products for consumer experience purposes.

JOB SKILLS REQUIRED FOR Interaction Designer
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