I just read @paulseys’s post 11 Principles of Interaction Design explained, and there’s some good stuff in there, butI’m disappointed with the focus on usability. This is an ongoing issue with descriptions of IxD…

One big item missing from his, and a lot of other, descriptions:

Aesthetics

How does an interaction feel? Is it smooth enough? Fast enough? Too fast? Does it make me feel comfortable or anxious? Is it beautiful? Does it inspire? We need to move beyond the focus on pure usability and utility and start developing a working practice of interaction design aesthetics. It should include elements form other forms of design like line, colour, texture, hierarchy, and tension, and add to those more elements like time, response, and fluidity (and maybe pleasant surprise?). This is by no means a complete or accurate list, it’s just intended to continue the conversation and get some ideas out there.