Interaction design should be to create things that make people's lives better, that make us all more connected to each other

What is interactive design?
Interactive design also known as interaction design, can be described as the art of helping interactions between humans mediated by products. The term interaction can be referred to as a form of communication, either one-on-one (telephone call), one-to-many (blogs) or many-to-many (stock markets). Interaction design can be seen as the way in which various products and systems of which a user can interact with. Essentially interactive design can also be the process of designing an aesthetically pleasing piece; which is designed to cater according to a particular target market.

Interaction design focuses on the behaviour of the product and how it actually works. Most of an interaction designer's time will spend perfecting these behaviours but not forgetting the goal to facilitate interactions between humans. It is about making connections between people, not making connections to the product or to the computer. As stated by the founder and principal of Kicker Studio, Dan Saffer's perspective of interaction design states "Interaction design should be to create things that make people's lives better, that make us all more connected to each other."

Reference.
Dan Saffer. A definition of Interactive Design. 9 March 09
http://www.odannyboy.com/blog/archives/001000.html