Congratulations to Christian Bornhauser on successfully completing the CAS Interaction Design program at the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (OST). A software developer at Glue for nine years, he has spent the past months intensively working on strategic interaction design, usability, and user-centered processes — and directly applying them to his project work.
In this article, Christian shares key insights from his continuing education and demonstrates, using his final project — the front-end for OpenParlData — how interaction design becomes a strategic success factor at Glue: from analysis and user guidance to well-founded design decisions.
Interaction Design: More Than Just Attractive Interfaces
Many people initially associate interaction design with visually appealing interfaces. In reality, it goes far beyond that: it encompasses all touchpoints between humans and technology. The goal is to meet user expectations and prevent misuse.
“A light switch works intuitively — without explanation. The same applies in the digital space: usability always comes before aesthetics.”
Particularly influential for Christian were conceptual models such as the Baxley model, which helps structure projects systematically and argue design decisions on a solid professional basis. This creates an academic design language that makes design decisions transparent and defensible.
An Interdisciplinary Perspective for Strategic Project Leadership
The CAS class was highly diverse, including software developers, psychologists, marketing professionals, and designers. This highlights the interdisciplinary nature of interaction design — connecting technical, human, and economic perspectives.
“My background ranges from graphic design and software development to animation. This gave me a lot of practical experience. What was missing was the strategic foundation to lead projects in a structured way and justify design decisions clearly.”
His goal: to lead projects holistically, from requirements gathering to well-reasoned design justification — clear processes, better outcomes.
OpenParlData: Final Project as a Practical Case Study
The final project was a complex political data project: parliaments, motions, and legislative proposals — highly structured and abstract data — needed to be presented in a way that was understandable and accessible.
Key challenges:
From Analysis to Robust Design
Today, Christian no longer starts projects with design but with analysis: he structures requirements carefully, works early with sketches, user flows, and testing, and strategically uses Figma user tests.
The interface with front-end development is clear: interaction design provides developers with a solid foundation — structure, logic, user guidance, functionality, and interface behavior — enabling precise and efficient implementation.
Good Design Serves Its Purpose
Good interaction design is defined by users who:
- Building a clear information architecture
- Designing logical user flows
- Maintaining visual clarity despite informational depth
From Analysis to Robust Design
Today, Christian no longer starts projects with design but with analysis: he structures requirements carefully, works early with sketches, user flows, and testing, and strategically uses Figma user tests.
The interface with front-end development is clear: interaction design provides developers with a solid foundation — structure, logic, user guidance, functionality, and interface behavior — enabling precise and efficient implementation.
Good Design Serves Its Purpose
Good interaction design is defined by users who:
- Find their way immediately
- Complete tasks efficiently
- Don’t have to think
- Clear processes
- Improved user guidance
- Well-founded, transparent design decisions