Becoming better at Interaction Design requires constant practice. You can’t become an expert at a field without 10 years of experience, at least according to Malcolm Gladwell. If that theory holds true, there aren’t many experts in the field out there since it’s only been around for about 20 years, and only gained real attention in the last five.

I myself still feel quite the novice to Interaction Design. My background is in Computer Science. While this has helped bridge the gap between design process and development process in a corporate environment, it hasn’t helped much with cognitive psychology or design research. For that, I ravenously devour books on the subject, and make it a point to design every day.

Designing every day doesn’t require a lot of time. In most cases, it’s just a few seconds. My popular tapestry is the office kitchen, since it’s in a constant state of disarray, and problems surface easily. Take for instance the milk for coffee.

Here we see the creamer cartons as someone placed them into the refrigerator. Which of these is the open one? It can be hard to tell. They’re all facing the same way, some are in front, others are in back, colors differ. In a few seconds, I can redesign this space to make it clear as to which of these cartons is the open one to be used.

If you truly love Interaction Design and it’s something you want to be, seek out small design projects throughout your day. Constantly analyse the world around you. Look for areas of difficulty or confusion no matter how small and trivial. Seek to make a space more functional when you leave, than it was when you entered it. Practice makes perfect.