What is interaction design?

According to the Association for Interaction Design (IxDA):

“Interaction design defines the structure and behavior of interactive systems.

Interaction designers strive to create meaningful relationships between people and the products and services that they use, from computers to mobile devices to applications and beyond.”

What does the interaction designer do?

Interaction designers are responsible for the function of the user interface. In other words, they play an important role in creating a user-friendly experience.

Their work and role may vary depending on the company, project, or team size. In general, interaction designers lead the overall product development process and create design strategies, identifying fundamental wireframe interactions and prototype interactions.

Best online learning sites

1. IDF (Interaction Design Foundation)

Prices range from $96 to $156 per year for access to all courses.

The Interaction Design Foundation is a non-profit educational organization created specifically for interactive design. The IDF, founded in 2002, is the most prominent online design school globally.

IDF courses cover the entire spectrum of interaction design from beginner to advanced. You can select a job title you’re aiming for, and the system will provide you with relevant courses.

The learning paths or the job titles they offer:

• UX Designer
• Interaction Designer
• Visual Designer
• Usability Expert
• UI Designer
• Front-End Developer
• Product Manager
• Marketer
• User Researcher
• Executive

2. Coursera

Prices range from $29 to $99 per course.

We all know Coursera is one of the best online learning platforms out there. You can get access to more than 3,500 online courses across many fields. They also have a lot of good quality courses designed for almost all levels of designers.

You can find courses like:

• human-computer interaction
• user-centered design
• interaction design principles
• user experience design research and prototyping
• how to collect user feedback

Each professional system includes a hands-on project. When you finish a course and complete the hands-on project, you’ll earn a certificate you can share with prospective employers.

You’ll learn how to generate design ideas, techniques for quickly prototyping them, and how to use prototypes to get feedback from other stakeholders like your teammates, clients, and users.

3. Lynda

Prices range from $19.99 to $24.99 per month and free trial for 30 days.

LinkedIn bought Lynda.com and then launched LinkedIn Learning in 2016. Lynda’s courses are from industry professionals and experienced teachers.

They cover many professional aspects like software development, design, web development, and business.

Lynda’s interaction design courses focus on creating interfaces, systems, and devices based on user behavior. You can learn the basics of user experience design and behavioral learning.

These are examples of their course topics:

• Theories of emotion
• Designing for delight
• Classical and operant conditioning
• Using learned behavior
• Interface design principles
• Design thinking
• Defining microinstructions
• Error handling
• Usability and accessibility

4. Udemy

Prices range from $11.99 to $200 per course.

At Udemy, you can learn interaction design principles, such as creating wireframes, creating a user-friendly project, and using practical interaction design methods and tools.

The website allows instructors to create courses based on the fields they claim to be experts in. Once classes are designed, instructors can launch them and charge a fee from students.

Since almost anyone can create and publish courses through the Udemy platform, the courses' quality ranges from low to world-class.

So make sure you read the course reviews before you enlist, and be sure to watch the course preview video, so you know what to expect.

5. Careerfoundry

Prices range from $699 to $6649 per course. Offers a job guarantee and specialized in UX/UI.

It is founded in 2013 and is based in Berlin. Careerfoundry provides online tech education through self-paced, mentoring programs in web development, UX design, and UI design.

You can learn everything about the user experience between 5 to 10 months. The program includes a choice of specializations in frontend development, UI design, or voice design. After completing your courses, you will be issued a certificate, and a tech career specialist will help you with your resume.

They provide students with a job guarantee, and they say you can get a full refund if you are not employed within 6 months of earning your certificate.

But it’s important to note there are some conditions you have to meet before you become eligible. Those are:

• You have to live in a metropolitan area (in particular countries)
• You need to at least apply to a minimum of 5 jobs per week.
• You should accept both remote and non-remote positions.
• You need to check-in every other week with a career specialist.
• You should respond to messages from the career specialist within 72 hours.
• You have to follow the advice given by the career specialist.
• You should opt into CareerFoundry emails.
• And showcase your portfolio projects on Github, Behance, and Dribble.

These are only stated in the terms and conditions, which most people don’t read. So make sure to read all the terms and conditions if you decide to go for this one.

6. Springboard

Prices range from $1099 to $1199 per month. Offers scholarships and a job guarantee.

Springboard offers career tracks within the fields of data science, design, and analytics. Courses consist of articles, videos, projects, case studies, online code practice, and weekly mentor calls.

Although the design is one of the five areas covered, Springboard is not specialized in UX. But if you attend any of these tracks, you will create your portfolios to get more job opportunities and build your own professional circle.

Here is how Springboard works:

• You enroll in a course or courses.
• You provide details of your availability and the skills you want to learn.
• You learn from learning materials created by industry experts.
• Then you apply your knowledge through real-world case studies, project-based assignments, and problem sets.
• After that, weekly calls with your mentor provide you with project feedback, job advice, and interview tips.
• You apply the skills you have learned in a final course project and present them to your mentor.
• Lastly, you can upgrade your resume and LinkedIn profile with your certificate of completion.

7. UX Design Institute

The price is $2550, and an early bird offer reduces this fee by $340.

The UX Design Institute was founded in 2013 in Dublin, Ireland. It is an online university where you can get a certification as a UX professional.

You can learn about UX principles, user research, analysis frameworks, and interaction design as you complete the courses.

Students who have completed this course have found employment at Accenture, Intel, Salesforce, Booking.com, and Mastercard.

Summary

Interaction design highlights product values and makes the product more comfortable to use. It is a user-oriented, prototype-driven innovation process.

Best online learning sites are:

If you want to kick-start a career in Interaction Design or UX, you can learn a lot from these resources and gain a strong understanding of human-computer interaction.

Some courses will give you more broad knowledge. Some courses are only specialized in UX/UI field. And some course price tag will come with a job guarantee.

Be sure to choose the right one that fits your preferences.