Realtime vs non-realtime interactions

At this juncture, it is important to distinguish between 'state' and 'act.' The state of something in UX is fundamentally static, like a design comp. The act of something in UX is fundamentally temporal, and motion based. An object can be in the state of being masked or it can be in the act of being masked. If it is the latter, we know that motion is involved and in a way that could support usability.

Additionally, all temporal aspects of interaction can be thought of as happening in realtime or non-realtime. Realtime means that the user is directly interacting with the objects in the user interface. Non-realtime means that the object behavior is post-interactive: it occurs after a user action, and is transitional.

This is an important distinction.

Realtime interactions can also be thought of as 'direct manipulation,' in that the user is interacting with the interface objects directly and immediately. The behavior of the interface is happening as the user is using it.

Non-realtime interactions happen only after input from the user and have the effect of briefly locking the user out of the user experience until the transition completes.

These distinctions will give us leverage as we continue our journey into the world of the 12 Principles of UX in Motion.