"Interaction cost is a direct measure of usability."  Designs that minimize interaction cost are often more successful.

New York University

"Summary: The interaction cost is the sum of efforts — mental and physical — that the users must deploy in interacting with a site in order to reach their goals."

User actions that add to interaction cost can include scrolling, reading, looking around for information, page loads, typing, and etc.

Interaction Cost

"Expected utility = Expected benefits – Expected interaction costs"

Users want to maximize the expected utility of their actions when they make choices, so they weigh the costs and benefits of the actions.  They tend to make choices that minimize interaction cost.

Expected Utility

Why You Should Care About Interaction Cost

As a product covers more use cases, or the sequence of steps starting with the user's goal and the end result when the goal is achieved, it becomes more difficult to lower interaction costs.  Having more functionality and use cases adds complexity to navigation and information architecture.

- Find the Critical User Flows First

- How Tesler's Law Helps Reduce Interaction Costs

- Mental Interaction Costs

- Physical Interaction Costs

- Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Learn Before

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