A business plan is a formal written document containing the goals of a business, the methods for attaining those goals, and the time frame for the achievement of the goals. It also describes the nature of the business, background information on the organization, the organization’s financial projections, and the strategies it intends to implement to achieve the stated targets. In its entirety, this document serves as a road map (a plan) that provides direction to the business. Written business plans are often required to obtain a bank loan or other kind of financing. Templates and guides, such as the ones offered in the United States by the Small Business Administration can be used to facilitate producing a business plan.
Interaction design, often abbreviated as IxD, is “the practice of designing interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services.” Beyond the digital aspect, interaction design is also useful when creating physical (non-digital) products, and exploring how a user might interact with them. Common topics of interaction design include design, human-computer interaction, and software development. While interaction design has an interest in form (similar to other design fields), its main area of focus rests on behavior. Rather than analyzing how things are, interaction design synthesizes and imagines things as they could be. This element of interaction design is what characterizes IxD as a design field as opposed to a science or engineering field.
