A provocative blog post by Cooper’s Tim McCoy titled, “Is Interaction Design a dead-end job?” got me thinking—is everybody now an interaction designer? Just read a few reviews for any iPhone app in the iTunes app store and you’ll begin to think so. One reviewer of the Facebook app for the iPhone wrote:

“In the next update please add a like button, a birthday notifier, be able to see groups, see all friends when you try to find them, view friends of friends, and  be able to use flair and bumper stickers. Please add!!”

And for the Skype iPhone app, a user wrote:

“Add feature that allows app to beep that i have a vmail or text without opening the app. Stability issues. Cannot maintain more than 1 number per contact”…”Could improve on features such as predicting call quality based on wifi strength.”

This new affinity for interaction design is partly due to the amount of time we spend with some sort of internet-reaching device. People who only a few years ago used a desktop computer to browse the Web and check email, all of a sudden are “power users” checking their bank accounts or typing in a new blog post from their mobile phone. These folks invest a lot of time and sometimes money (think, expensive phone data plans), and good user experiences matter to them. To understand their passion for good experiences, all you need to do is read the “Petition Against the ‘New Facebook’” regarding the recent re-design of the Facebook site. You don’t want to mess with these people.

Another reason is that in some cases, what was once a complicated task for users is now quite natural. For example, people at first struggled with the concept of an online shopping cart. As design “patterns” like these permeated our online lives, we adapted and now, anticipate them. We also expect them to work well, be easy to use and not frustrate us.

So, if everyone is now an interaction designer, what’s the benefit in hiring one?

In the world of design, an interaction designer typically is in charge of creating user flows and screen details or “wireframes”. They sometimes do this using common design patterns and if they’re lucky, a well-written PRD (product requirements document) that outlines user scenarios and functionality based on research and business goals. Ultimately, the interaction designer is able to test his or her work using personas, prototypes and usability testing.

So, exactly what value does an interaction designer add to product development? I Can’t an engineer just as easily do the job? Isn’t interaction design just common sense at this point?

At a low-value level, an interaction designer is simply documenting the user experience for developers and visual designers to use as a road map. At a higher level, an interaction designer is one of the most well-rounded members on the team, with the ability to consider all influential elements and mold them into a meaningful experience that meets both business and user goals.

What separates an interaction designer from the rest of the pack (including developers/engineers) is their accumulated knowledge in the several areas that influence a design, such as technology limitations, brand requirements, search engine optimization, copy writing, online marketing needs, visual design trends, design patterns, etc. The interaction designer most likely has a few specialties and has dabbled in many areas. For example, he or she may also be a good graphic designer, have programming experience or has written copy.

Unlike other parties within an organization, the interaction designer is also an advocate for the user. By implementing such tools as personas, prototypes and usability testing, the interaction designer has the user first in mind. While other departments may be concentrated on business goals, features or brand elements, the interaction designer is thinking about the user or customer in combination with the rest. Why is this important? Ultimately, every business wants their users or customers to love what they do, right? The only way to get to this point is by focusing on the needs, behaviors and attitudes of your customers or users.

Other benefits to focusing on users include reducing the chance of failure by testing usability issues before you build or launch a product. A focus on user goals can also help create products, services or features that users and customers didn’t even know they needed or wanted.

It has also been my experience that while developers are invaluable assets in brainstorming for features, when it comes to building out the user experience, they are not always sensitive to or able to visualize all the potential road blocks a user may face. The idea is to find all the potential issues before you begin coding (while it’s still convenient to make changes). The interaction designer’s job is to cover every inch of ground and do their best to make sure nothing is forgotten. This is also why good documentation is important—another skill in the interaction designer’s collection.

Without good documentation, there is little direction and people are held less accountable. This particularly applies when development is outsourced. Good design and documentation save a lot of time, money and headaches by outlining all the user scenarios, flows, technical specs and wireframes in a clear, well-written document. The idea is that all the designing is taken care of before any development begins. “Designing as we go” is not a strategy for success.

In summary, good interaction designers are valued for the following reasons:
• They are well-rounded and have knowledge in several areas affecting the overall design. They often have more than one specialty.
• They understand customer/user goals. They are an advocate for the user.
• They have great attention to detail.
• They are excellent at creating documents that clearly outline the user experience in detail.
• They help visualize abstract concepts and create a guide for other designers and developers to follow.