State-of-the-art interactivity?
I was recently asked to join a panel that would be judging interactive design created over the last year. The entries had been submitted by agencies and their clients, and represented some of the largest firms and brands in the world.
Sounds I stopped counting how many times I tore the headphones from my ears when a site started blaring music or "interaction" cues like pops, whistles, or explosions whenever I moused over something. Am I the only one who listens to music while using my computer?
Self-assembling interfaces The site loads into a blank screen. Then, one-by-one, pieces of the navigation and content swoop onto the page to assemble into the completed design, usually with sound effects. I was continuously left wondering, "Why can't I just start using the site?"
User-centered design vs. marketing and image Most sites had no sense whatsoever of how to engage a potential customer through the Web. Of all the consumer electronics sites I evaluated, for example, not one compared to sites like dpreview.com, a deep content web site dedicated to digital cameras. The focus was consistently on "hip and cutting-edge" music and imagery of attractive people having fabulous lives because of their recent purchase. When I buy a camera, I want to download the user manual and see sample photos taken at different qualities and resolution. Who on earth is doing marketing at these companies? Certainly no one who has taken pictures.
I realize that contests like this attract a very specific sort of entry. The submissions were a world apart from, say, the Bloggies. But that's not what disturbs me. Rather, it's that this is the type of mainstream, commercial design that most people run across from day to day. These are the URLs on the TV screen a dozen times an hour, hawking soap and cars and frozen pizza. These are the experiences most people have on the web, and use to form their opinions of what this new medium can be.
Sounds I stopped counting how many times I tore the headphones from my ears when a site started blaring music or "interaction" cues like pops, whistles, or explosions whenever I moused over something. Am I the only one who listens to music while using my computer?
Self-assembling interfaces The site loads into a blank screen. Then, one-by-one, pieces of the navigation and content swoop onto the page to assemble into the completed design, usually with sound effects. I was continuously left wondering, "Why can't I just start using the site?"
User-centered design vs. marketing and image Most sites had no sense whatsoever of how to engage a potential customer through the Web. Of all the consumer electronics sites I evaluated, for example, not one compared to sites like dpreview.com, a deep content web site dedicated to digital cameras. The focus was consistently on "hip and cutting-edge" music and imagery of attractive people having fabulous lives because of their recent purchase. When I buy a camera, I want to download the user manual and see sample photos taken at different qualities and resolution. Who on earth is doing marketing at these companies? Certainly no one who has taken pictures.
I realize that contests like this attract a very specific sort of entry. The submissions were a world apart from, say, the Bloggies. But that's not what disturbs me. Rather, it's that this is the type of mainstream, commercial design that most people run across from day to day. These are the URLs on the TV screen a dozen times an hour, hawking soap and cars and frozen pizza. These are the experiences most people have on the web, and use to form their opinions of what this new medium can be.
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