The Blog

In February every year, the IxDA community celebrates the winners of the Interaction Awards. As “the Oscars” of the Interaction Design industry, the Interaction Award is so prestigious that even to be a finalist bestows credibility to the designers, school, or company involved. They are, by the simple virtue of their selection, deemed to be the best.

Your work deserves consideration.

Winning the Interaction Award helps YOU stand out.

As each designer and entity (school, agency, or organization) strives to stand out in an increasingly competitive and changing market, winning the Interaction Award sets you apart from competitors and differentiates the quality of your achievements from others.

You might be working on an important, beautifully designed “thing” right now but no one will ever know that it’s best-in-class unless you have the courage to submit your work for an award.

“Winning the Interaction Award has helped us underline our experience and expertise in an increasingly challenging marketplace, it has also helped us win clients from around the world. Our award for Moot helped us engage with the Irish government to design gov.ie, a major piece of state infrastructure and channel for delivery of govt services in Ireland.”

– Frank Long, Co-Owner & Director at Frontend.com
Winner 2018 – Moot – Make democracy great again

“Winning the IxDA award helped me make KonneKt reality and bring it to over 220 hospitals in 18 countries.”

– Job Jansweijer, User Experience Specialist at Valsplat
Winner 2014 – KonneKt: a social game for isolated children in the hospital

You still might be hesitant to enter.

Don’t be. We invite you to gently ignore that dialog in your mind that might be saying your work couldn’t compare.

Here are some common hesitations people express about submitting their work for the Awards and why you should not let any of these reasons keep you from submitting:

I don’t have time to fill out the submission form.
We understand how busy you might be so we’ve made the submission form easier than ever. No video is required, you can submit your work in any language, and you can simply tell the story of your work by sharing images and answering less than a dozen questions.

I can’t afford the submission fees.
In response to 2020 being… well 2020, entry FEES ARE REDUCED BY 50%!  We aim to make award submissions accessible to everyone during these challenging circumstances. Additionally, Students enter their first project for FREE.

I work on an established product. Isn’t this for new products and services?
No. The Interaction Awards celebrate impactful design, be it with new or established products and services. Maybe you’ve redesigned a part of your product; or perhaps you’ve incorporated something new into your service. Did the new work address the opportunity area? Have you seen impact? Share your story!

I’m not an Interaction Designer. We have no one with that title working on our project.
It doesn’t matter what you are (or aren’t) called. Interaction Design is about designing a product or service that enables people to interact with an object, another person, a system, a service, and does so with impact to an opportunity area. What matters is that you understand the people you’re making your product/service for, and your solution has great impact addressing an identified opportunity for them.

I have a concept but I haven’t built it.
Conceptual projects are welcome! All you need to do in your entry is to explain how your concept shows potential impact to the people for whom you’ve designed, be it through prototyping or concept evaluation.

I don’t have a glossy video, so why even bother?
No video is required for the first round of submission. This is the first year that a video is not required. Shortlisted projects will have a chance to add video but even then, it’s not about production value; this is about your story about the work and why it deserves recognition. It can be as simple as sitting in front of the camera and telling us about your work and impact. You can show other people engaging with your product and service. It’s your chance to demonstrate impact beyond what your written words and images could do.

We don’t work for a big agency, and our project doesn’t have a big budget.
That doesn’t matter. We encourage you to take a look at the previous winners and finalists. You’ll see commercial and conceptual works from a mix of big agencies, small shops, in-house designers, consultants, entrepreneurs, non-profits, and students. We care about great design. Who you are, where you are, and the size of your budget does not factor into the decision.

Need to convince your manager, school, or other people in your organization? Share this blog post or use the example message below:

Hey team!

Winning the Interaction Award is a helpful reputation-building accolade for prospective clients and employees so I’d like to strongly advocate for us submitting recent projects for consideration of the Interaction Design Awards.

This year it’s easier than ever for individuals, students, and companies to submit work:

• Entry fees have been reduced by 50%
• Submissions are accepted in ANY language
• No video is required for first round submissions
• Any work done in the last 2 years is eligible

All we need to enter the Awards is a clear explanation of the project and why it deserves the Interaction Award along with a few images that show the work.

The deadline is 31 October 2020. Let’s shine a light on the excellent design work we’re doing!

Submit Now