The UX Book

Chapter 21

The Interaction Cycle and the User Action Framework

Objectives

After reading this chapter, you will:

1. Understand Norman’s stages-of-action model of interaction

2. Understand the gulf of execution and the gulf of evaluation and their importance in interaction design

3. Understand the basic concepts of the Interaction Cycle and the User Action Framework (UAF)

4. Know the stages of user actions within the Interaction Cycle

5. Appreciate the role of affordances within the UAF

6. Appreciate the practical value of the UAF

21.1 Introduction

21.1.1 Interaction Cycle and User Action Framework (UAF)

The Interaction Cycle is our adaptation of Norman’s “stages-of-action” model (Norman, 1986) that characterizes sequences of user actions typically ...