Context. The mental effort offered by a user to identify an important email from the email message is considered significant or impossible. A user must enter the e-mail application to determine what type of e-mail they have received. To let the user identify the type of email via smartphone notification, micro-interactions are utilized. De augmentatie in UX of de e-mail notificaties is dan getest met de modificaties gemaakt aan de micro-interacties. Objectives. This study explores the microinteractions in an email notification of a smartphone that requires the modification of micro-interactions. These modifications have been implemented based on the design principles and usability heuristics of the existing literature. With this implementation, the augmentation in user experience of the modified design is determined. Methods. On conducting a systematic literature review, the experimental design of micro-interactions is prototyped. These prototypes are subjected to user interaction by conducting interviews that include performing certain tasks on the prototype and obtaining the user's perspectives regarding usability with an SUS scale. The data collected has been analyzed to obtain data on user experience increase. Since this data is tested for statistical significance to prove the theory and the evidence reinforce each other. Results. User interviews resulted in 100% of the users being able to perform the tasks successfully during the interaction with the prototypes. The modified design or email notifications achieve job performance time that is much less than the time used by the user for the existing design. Meanwhile, The SUS score for the modified design of micro-interactions with the existing design achieved the best imaginable score which reflects the rise in user experience of the e-mail notifications on a smartphone. On analysis, these achieved scores showed their statistical significance of the claim of increase in UX.Conclusions. This study concludes the reduction in cognitive load in a smartphone's email notifications by effective application or design principles in microinteractions. Regardless of the increased number of email arrivals on a device, a smartphone user can now identify the important e-mails on a smartphone directly from the email notifications. Following the Google's Material Design Principles resulted in increased user experience of e-mail notifications on a smartphone. However,

Social media platforms (SMP) are a continually growing field with several implications for the social structures of society. SMPs are web-based platforms on which users connect with other individuals and organizations which enables social connections and social bonding. SMPs and other social networking sites can have both positive and negative effects on individuals' lives. On the one hand, social media micro-interactions such as liking and interacting with other individuals’ content are crucial in interpersonal communication. On the other hand, research shows micro-interactions eg. like-buttons, notifications, and stories, have a negative impact on task performance, affect individuals' views of their own self-worth, and cause undesirable behavior such as procrastination. Procrastination of tasks has negative implications for our society and is often caused by social media’s tendencies to trigger psychological factors such as fear of missing out or a desire for instant rewards. Using a design-oriented approach, this research investigates how micro-interactions can be designed with the help of mindful design to counteract procrastination among young adults in the context of SMPs. The results show that designing micro-interactions in a way that detaches,guides, and empowers users align with mindful design core goals, which helps counteract procrastination among young adults on SMPs.

How do we design for connection? How might we introduce quirkiness, personal expression and a little bit of magic to our unified, unemotional black screens? Working with design systems can have perks, but something gets lost when we systemise how we communicate. I argue to open up rigid design systems and loosen their rules to elicit something new that’s cute, weird, and so unique: it becomes magical. To make an empathic connection with people in their context. I apply research through design and user-centred methods to gain insights while prototyping along the way to test and tweak communication features. The result is "Expressive Signals," a repository of design explorations promoting personalised digital communication. The intention is to challenge the status quo and enhance expression and thrilling unexpectedness while connecting. They are five design examples playing with the following features; showing presence in digital conversations, how speech bubbles can match their content, how emojis can be personalised, creating a digital repository of cherished messages and ensuring that our messages get read in the right context. Expressive Signals allow users to cut through the noise and generate strong signals to enhance expression in digital systems. The focus is on combining, tweaking, and exploring new digital communication elements to enhance expression and connect on a deeper level. They utilise micro-interactions, haptics and tools with purposefully loose constraints to invite to be broken, to elicit what we don’t expect. Expressive signals promote play, joy, and other aspects of life that have been neglected in favour of utility or pragmatism in digital communication spaces. I am asking: can a system ever make space for the thrilling and unexpected? Design bursts with self-expression. I intend to design for precisely that. This passion project dwells on my interest in language, communication, storytelling and every nerdy cognitive science bit around it. It explores how to combine and tweak new features to enhance expression, ultimately aiming to design for self-expression and unexpected magic.

This study investigates the impact of micro-interactions on user satisfaction within music applications, specifically examining the usability differences between simpler and more complex interactions. The research employs semi-structured interviews to assess user satisfaction with two different levels of micro-interaction complexity. The goal is to derive actionable insights for optimising user-centred design in digital music streaming platforms, ultimately enhancing user satisfaction. The semi-structured interview method is chosen for this study, with the assistance of A/B testing designed by the researchers to gain realistic and informative qualitative data. To analyse a large amount of qualitative data, thematic analysis is utilised as the analytic method. The results reveal a clear preference for simple micro-interactions. Participants found these interactions required fewer steps, were more intuitive, and demanded minimal cognitive effort, thereby avoiding information and feature overload. In contrast, complex micro-interactions often led to confusion and frustration due to unnecessary complexity and unclear iconography. Moreover, participants expressed a need for personalised and voice-activated interactions to enhance usability and accessibility in diverse contexts. These findings underscore the importance of designing micro-interactions that align with users' mental models and preferences. By prioritising simplicity, intuitiveness, and personalization, music streaming services can significantly improve user satisfaction and engagement.