What is the difference between user experience design and interaction design?

Many people ask the question, and for every question there are infinite answers. As such, there’s been a fascinating discussion taking place on LinkedIn over the past few weeks, weighing the differences between IXD and UX. Here’s a quick summary, in case you haven’t yet seen it.

UX: A Broader Scope

UX design should also encompass the needs of the business and the brand. If the UX strategy is not aligned with other business strategies, you, as the UX designer will be in a world of hurt. Personas, for example, are essential to UX but if they don’t line up in some way to business goals (target market, vulnerable part of the market, etc.), you’ll have a tough time selling your vision in a meaningful, business oriented way. UX, I believe, has a broader scope, while UI has a deeper scope. UI covers the “how” behind Design (how interactions work, how solutions are delivered, etc.), while UX explains the “why” (why is this end goal or experience important to the user and the business, why we’re trying to achieve this specific emotion).

– Katherine Grubstein

Interaction Design: Part of the Whole

In my opinion, user experience is the overarching term for what makes up a user’s experience (both physical and digital) and including many disciplines (one of which is interaction design). Interaction design, being a discipline of user experience, is the specific focus on the UI and flow of an app – typically communicated through wireframes and/or a prototype.

The disciplines of UX are: interaction design, user research, information architecture, content strategy, visual design, and then can break down into sub-disciplines (as shown in the chart).

The second part of your question seems to relate to different deliverables of UX (usability, personas, scenarios, user research, heuristics, user requirements, etc). All of these fall under the practice of user experience design, but I’d like to break these down by different disciplines.

Usability: (overall practice of all disciplines of UX)
Personas: User Research (then taken into consideration for all other practices – IA, IxD, etc.)
Scenarios: User Research (sometimes also done by content strategy)
Heuristics: User Research
User Requirements: Interaction Design
Wireframes: Interaction Design
Prototypes: Interaction Design
Content Analysis/Content Inventory: Content Strategy
Usability Testing: User Research
Taxonomy: Information Architecture
Interaction Model: Interaction Design
Surveys, contextual inquires, etc.: User Research
Journey Maps: User Research/Interaction Design

Although I’ve categorized these different deliverables by discipline, I’ve been an “Interaction Designer” and done all of these. This is more for reference if your company has all of these specific individuals, these are probably the deliverables they are specifically creating.

– Timothy Whalin

Experience vs Interactions

UX specifically means focusing on the user’s experience with the site. Interaction design, very literally, is designing the interactions. One could (ostensibly) design the individual interactions required to complete a task, while paying no attention to the overall experience. Good IXD requires good UX. Good IXD contributes to the creation of a good UX.

– Marli Mesibov (me)

Inclusive Design

I’m beginning to learn more about “inclusive design”—designing for diversity. http://www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com/betterdesign2/

It brings together both UX and IxD equally. In inclusive design, diverse needs and people are considered at the beginning of the design process like UX, but micro-interactions are just as critical because the interactions make or break the ability to use a digital product.

As the world’s population ages and our devices become more diverse and numerous, I think inclusive design will rise in importance and distinctions between UX and IxD will fade.

– Julie Buelow

Different Names, Same Subject

I don’t think it matters really… Different name but ultimately same subject matter. I agree with Jason Mesut this can go on and on finding out which one is a subset of which. 😉 As long as stakeholders, designers, and everybody else involved in the effort understands what is expected, how it is verified, and what is the criteria for success it really doesn’t make a difference.

– Alex Grinyayev