Interactive Design
As the youngest discipline, interactive design has been redefining itself since the mid-1990s, evolving energetically along with technology and the growing embrace of the Internet-although interactive work has been practiced since long before the advent of the Internet in the form of interactive kiosks, CD-ROMs, and earlier forms of user interface. While websites may be the most common expression of interactive design, the discipline takes form as user interfaces for electronic equipment (digital cameras,
handheld and mobile devices, computers), software applications, electronic ticketing kiosks; as onscreen menus for DVDs and cable or satellite guides; and as electronic displays of information. Key to interactive design is consideration for the end-user. The designer focuses on the usability and accessibility of the design, striving for the least obstructive and most intuitive interaction with the information. Interactive design relies on the collaboration of graphic designers, front-end and back-end programmers, and information architects-or a really smart person who can do all these things.