User Experience Design User Experience Design Interaction Design & Prototyping 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the main goal of 'progressive disclosure' in interaction design?
- Showing all features upfront to reduce confusion
- Revealing only necessary information at each step to reduce cognitive overload (Correct answer)
- Disclosing privacy policies progressively
- Gradually increasing animation speed
Correct answer: Revealing only necessary information at each step to reduce cognitive overload
Progressive disclosure presents only essential information initially and reveals more details on demand, reducing cognitive overload and keeping interfaces clean.
Question 2: In the context of micro-interactions, what are the four structural components identified by Dan Saffer?
- Input, process, output, feedback
- Trigger, rules, feedback, loops and modes (Correct answer)
- Gesture, animation, timing, sound
- Action, reaction, confirmation, error
Correct answer: Trigger, rules, feedback, loops and modes
Dan Saffer's micro-interaction framework identifies a trigger (initiates the interaction), rules (govern behavior), feedback (communicates result), and loops and modes (meta-rules).
Question 3: Which prototyping tool feature allows designers to define interactive states such as hover, pressed, and focused?
- Design tokens
- Component variants (Correct answer)
- Auto-layout
- Responsive breakpoints
Correct answer: Component variants
Component variants in tools like Figma let designers create multiple interactive states (default, hover, pressed, focused) within a single reusable component.
Question 4: What is 'chunking' as it applies to interaction design?
- Breaking large files into smaller uploads
- Grouping related information together to aid comprehension and memory (Correct answer)
- Caching user data for faster performance
- Splitting a prototype into screens
Correct answer: Grouping related information together to aid comprehension and memory
Chunking groups related content or controls together so users can process them as a single unit, reducing cognitive load based on Miller's Law.
Question 5: In interaction design, what does 'direct manipulation' refer to?
- Editing HTML directly in the browser
- Users interacting with objects on-screen in a way that mirrors physical actions (Correct answer)
- Developers modifying UI code without a designer
- Clicking through a prototype without reading instructions
Correct answer: Users interacting with objects on-screen in a way that mirrors physical actions
Direct manipulation allows users to interact with visual representations of objects—such as dragging a file to a folder—mimicking real-world physical actions for intuitive use.
Question 6: Which approach best describes 'interaction pattern libraries'?
- Collections of user research findings from past studies
- Documented, reusable solutions to common UI interaction problems (Correct answer)
- Libraries of animation keyframes for developers
- Sets of brand guidelines for visual consistency
Correct answer: Documented, reusable solutions to common UI interaction problems
Interaction pattern libraries catalog proven, reusable solutions to recurring design challenges, helping teams maintain consistency and avoid reinventing solutions.
Question 7: What is the purpose of a 'storyboard' in the UX prototyping process?
- To document technical API specifications
- To visually narrate how a user interacts with a product within a real-world context (Correct answer)
- To present color palette options to stakeholders
- To map out the database schema
Correct answer: To visually narrate how a user interacts with a product within a real-world context
Storyboards visually tell the story of a user's journey through a product in context, helping teams align on scenarios and empathize with user needs before prototyping.
User Experience Design User Experience Design Interaction Design & Prototyping 2
What is the main goal of 'progressive disclosure' in interaction design?