No time to go through the excellent bunch of nominees for the 2012 Interaction Design Awards? No problem. We’ve done the hard work for you, separating the wheat from the chaff (to be honest, there is no chaff; they’re all damn impressive) and have arrived at the list below. Drumroll please...here are The Branding Farm’s picks for Interaction of the Year.

Out of the Box
Vitamins, United Kingdom

At first glance, Out of the Box looks to be an exceedingly complicated packaging design (it looks like an enormous user manual). But keep watching: what is soon revealed is a logical, step-by-step walkthrough in using your phone. It’s perfect for those of us who aren’t so good with technology. I hope my mom’s first smartphone is packaged like this (sorry, Mom).

Pas a Pas
Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Denmark

Pas a Pas is so incredibly simple, it doesn’t even matter that the video isn’t in English. This is the ideal tool for producing simple stop motion animation. And just look how happy those Danish kids are in the video. I want one for myself!

Spotify Box
Umea Institute of Design, Sweden

I won’t harp on Spotify Box too much. As the entry page points out, we spend way too much time in front of screens. Does music playback need to be reduced to yet another digital task? Spotify Box combines the agency & activity of vinyl with the customization & sharing of mix CDs by utilizing everyone’s favorite streaming platform. Add this to my wishlist right behind Pas a Pas.

See What You Print
Artefact, USA

Printers suck. The technology’s last breakthrough was the bundling of scanners and printers....over 10 years ago. Artefact thinks multitouch is the innovation that will catapult printers into the 21st century. After watching their demo, I can’t help but agree. The 1:1 screen representation-to-print-ratio is radical. And look what else it offers - a great interface that connects to Flickr, Facebook, etc., plus it doesn’t need to be anchored to a desktop. This looks like a fantastic product.

TaskRabbit iPhone app
Cooper, USA

First off, how had I not heard of TaskRabbit? What a cool business model. The basic gist is that TaskRabbit helps you hire real people to run errands. Get a personal assistant for 30 minutes, or however long it takes to run to the grocery store and grab your food items. The iPhone app looks to be the ideal companion - a fun yet functional interface with emphasis on simple.

Ford SmartGauge
Smart Design, USA

Auto instruments are another one of those areas of interface design that hasn’t really changed much over the years. But why? The current paradigm isn’t untouchable. Ford SmartGauge does a good job in rethinking this ubiquitous interface. The plant metaphor used to help teach driving efficiency is thoughtful and way more human than a numerical readout. I also love that it attempts to make the instruments easier to read.

Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango)
Microsoft, USA

I’ve been a Microsoft hater for so long, but I won’t front: I really like their phone OS. They deserve major props for developing an approach that’s totally different from the iPhone (unlike a certain corporation whose name starts with G...). While every app in iOS is basically at the same level of hierarchy, Windows Phone 7 is all about making tasks as easy as possible for the user. I’m not sure it’s enough to make me sell my iPhone, but Microsoft did a great job seeing their concept through and the design looks great.