Stop creating unnecessary interactions
In the world of fast-growing product companies, every business needs to stay constantly connected with their users so that they can stand right to be in this competition and one of the best ways of doing that is driving customer engagement. And we as designers personally feel that the best way to drive users engagement with our product is to create a simple and seamless interface and experience.
What are micro-interactions?
Micro-interactions are almost hidden moments centred around accomplishing a single task. Almost all applications around us are filled in with micro-interactions but hardly noticeable. Here are just a few examples which we use on a daily basis:
- Pressing and holding audio button on WhatsApp
- Pull down to refresh on Snapchat
- Facebook emojis and Twitter likes
As a Product Designer the first thing we do right after sitting at our office desk is looking for inspirations in dribbble and behance, nowadays we see lots of designers showcasing their fancy animation skills in UI design but actually, some interaction and animation are unnecessary. The most important thing you should keep in mind is you designing for common people not only for designers and it’s easy to animate your UI in aftereffects or principle but it is way more difficult for developers to code that.
As Designers, we brainstorm and sort critical thought in every project. So while designing the user experience and user interface we think about specific interactions which have a specific purpose for the user. And if we create complicated animation which we expect developers to integrate is actually wrong. In the end, it makes yourself disappoint when we see the developed interface is not as same we designers shipped. And we blame developers, but it’s not their fault.
The less is more
I personally believe instead of wasting time on designing big scale interaction or animation we should majorly focus on micro-interactions. Why? Because it’s not time-consuming, it’s easy for a developer to code also for a user is not an eye-rolling experience.
How micro-interaction works?
Micro-interactions can also drive user engagement. How? Because it gives immediate feedback on the action user have performed and this is what keeps the user engaged. The user knows that their action was accepted and give them more confidence in using our products. For example, when you click on download button you see a process of downloading taking place through an animation. In this time-consuming process, micro interaction helps the user to engage themselves so that they do not get frustrated with the amount of time the downloading is taking place.
Don’t overdo it
As given name for it, micro interactions should be micro, don’t overdo it. It should not take much time. Don’t make it too complex so it may take time to load. Your micro-interactions should be so simple and interactive so it makes users feel the same if he is doing it for the 1st time or 100th time. Also, make sure your interactions fit the style of your specific interface.
Where to use?
We should majorly use micro-interaction in our products/applications which user use multiple time in a day so it won’t make him irritated because if you show him a large scale animation every time he completes a task it may irritate him in some extent. You can use a large-scale animation on your landing pages where you have to show some critical information in a pleasant way.
Conclusion
A good interaction can stand up in the overall design of the interface. Interactions are what keeps our user engaged and doesn’t bore or distract while using the product. The most important thing is how user feel when they are going through these interactions of our product.
So keeping users in mind even minor details deserve close attention. We often don’t focus on them, but we can feel their presence. These tiny moments add up to design to enhance your user experience by making the user interface less machine and more human.
Thank you :)
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