According to Meadows all engaging narratives are informed by a set of three principles that guide the “quality and depth” of a user’s experience with the system. Drawing on examples of video games, he provides lucid definitions for each of the three principles. While this set of three principles is fairly easy to understand when conceptualized in terms of video games, it did take me a while to translate them into concrete design principles for my own projects. In this post, I will try to share how I relate to these principles.
The first principle that Meadows talks about is that of Input/Output. Here’s what he says:
1. Input should generate output. This input/output cycle should be continuous.
2. The input should induce visible change in the system.
3. Input should create conditions for further input.
A simple application of this principle is to consider the functioning of links. A reader clicks a link (input). The color of the link changes on the screen, creating a sense of expectation. Next the reader is ushered into a new page (output). The new page presents the reader with conditions for further input. While this is a very simple illustration of the first principle, it is easy to see how this principle would define the design of a website.
The second principle of Inside/Outside concerns the ability of a narrative to tap into your readers’ imagination and draw them into a deeper level of engagement. This level of engagement is deep since it aims at bringing together two different perspectives—the designer’s objective perspective and the readers’ subjective one. This reminds me of a point that Carrie had raised in her blog last week about a reader/user not being able to access the full experience of the designer. Here, Meadows seems to be talking about the opposite process—a designer’s ability to step into the readers’ shoes and see the world from their perspective. This is exactly what Giotto accomplished through his paintings –“the perspectives he painted are those of both the painter and of the subject” (10). However, my own understanding is that this kind of requires a lot of talent and experience on part of the designer.
The third principle that is central to Meadow’s vision is that of Open/ Closed system. One important point of distinction between these two is that while a closed system has a certain degree of predictability , an open system is more dynamic in terms of output. While reading this description, my thoughts went back to the J.K Rowling’s website that I had discussed in my first post. Rowling’s website has two versions— a text only one and a more interactive Flash version. The first text only version is exactly what its name suggests. Boring plain text on colored background. A reader clicks a link and is taken to a different page (very similar to kicking a stone and seeing it roll over). In short, there are no surprises awaiting the reader. The other version supports a high degree of exploration. You never know what you are going to get. While this is very engaging at one level, for me it also raises questions about the overall usability of the site. Do we really like to be surprised that much?
This brings me to my question for the week: On page 40, Meadows notes that the successful implementation of the inside-outside relies to a great extent on the “reader’s interior understandings to build a visualized and emotional suspension of suspicion.” Can we see this dependence as a kind of limitation for the designer? To what extent can a designer anticipate “the world of the reader’s imagination” (40)?
4 comments:
Sharba,
Your post inspired me to look over J.K. Rowling's site (not the Harry Potter one, but the more portfolio-type place), and I was impressed with her focus and the simple idea that people coming to this site might not all speak English, or might have some special accessibility needs. Rowling opens her information up to at least the speakers (and readers) of six different languages, and she makes sure people know that she's trying to be inclusive with the ADA box in a prominent place. She also offers a text-only version of her information for people who either don't like all of the graphics or have computers that can't handle them or whatever. I thought it was interesting for her to be so uber-inclusive (of course, they all could be book buyers). Regardless of motive, I like the idea and am inspired to keep that in mind, although I can't ever imagine a scenario when people from other countries will be headed my direction.
- Brett
If we consider the reader's internal world in our designs, I see this more of an added layer of complexity in our composing and designing processes vs. a limitation. Like most of the principles that Meadows proposes, his idea of Inside/Outside is probably best viewed as existing in some state of continuum. You can illustrate this principle with astute audience targeting at one end and at the other end (for complete suspension of disbelief) create a totally immersive environment such as in the role playing video games he cites as examples. Understanding our audience's or reader's internal state of mind is always one of the goals of a professional writer or designer and I don't think that every website has to include absolute immersion to signify this idea of Inside/Outside. The level of this immersion would be, in my opinion, contingent on the not only the audience but also the goals of the text.
I agree with Monica that there must be a continuum of inside/outside interaction. We cannot fully understand what any other person is thinking, and although we can try to anticipate their thoughts and desires in our subject, we are limited to our perspective and world experience. Therefore we are going to make some mistakes or confuse the issues. This reminds me of an antectode that one of our upper level managers told us. Our company offers something called "TOC-Alerts" where the readers can sign up to be informed when a new Table of Contents posts for a journal. While the TOC-Alerts had excellent uptake in the U.S. and Western Europe, the uptake was extremely low in Asia. One of our salesmen discovered that the readers in that area were assuming that "alert" meant something bad and did not want to sign up for something bad. The moral of that story is, of course, that we can never make something that will please or be understood by everyone, we can only do our best with our level of understanding while we try to expand that knowledge.
Sharba, I visited your webpage today. I like the contrast of black and blue. I like the layout and your text choice. And I like the quotes.
Who is your audience? Who will use your website?
I would like to see photographs of you--perhaps that link to the different parts of your life: maybe a toddler photo in the past, a recent photo in the present, and then a photo to represent your future (perhaps of your parents or of something you hope to achieve soon).
I'd also like to know more about what you did before you went to Philadelphia. Why did you leave home? Do you plan to go back? What drew you to Lubbock and TTU? Where did you complete undergraduate work? What are you doing now?
:-) Perhaps you do not want to share all of that information, but these are some of questions I asked when I went through your homepage.
I'll be eager to meet you in person and see if your page reflects who you are!
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