Interactive Design: Design Done Right

Here be examples of interactive (AKA interaction) design!


Contained within this post are several examples of interactive design. One of these is the game Team Fortress 2, made by Valve. Another is Andy Fould's website and Google. You cannot escape Google.



First off, let's start with the most fun: Andy Fould. When you first rock up to his site (which needs Flash - be sure to download the latest version), you'll be treated to two coloured blocks - one red, the other orange. The red block offers various amusements to the viewer, with the Pen And Ink flash being of particular note. The orange, on the other hand, allows access to the site, a news tidbit, and Fould's "experiments." Afterwards, it becomes a showcase for Andy's work. It is important to note that the entire website is very user-friendly, which is critical to the experience. Whenever designing, keep user-friendliness in mind.

Now onto Google, the looming giant. Google thrives off interactivity. It stopped being just the most-used search engine in the world ages ago. In a response to its ever-growing popularity, it has branched out into (okay, deep breath):

Google Maps, Google Videos, Google Calendar, Google Mail, Google Scholar, Google Images, Google News, Google Chrome, Google Groups, Google Directory, Google Talk, Google Translate, Google Mobile, Google Notebook, Google Desktop, Google Book Search, Google Blog Search, Google Picasa, Google Docs, Google Code, Google Labs, Google Earth, Google SketchUp, and Google Orkut.

That's not a complete list, by the way. This is what is known as Google. Google is interaction design.

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That's right, I had another example, didn't I? Well then, let's move on to Team Fortress 2.

This is quite possibly the best FPS ever, if only because of the effort Valve puts into responding to the community surrounding it. Yes, you heard right! Game designers who actively respond to their customers after they've bought the game! Who'd a thunk it?

The biggest selling point of the game is the level of interactivity. It's called Team Fortress 2, ya'know, because you have to work as a team. With complete strangers. Interestingly enough, because Valve constantly adjusts the game in response to the community, it works, increasing the ability of its end users to work in a team with people they met just a minute ago.

Protip: Turn your sound down. Your ears will thank you for it.

Interactive Design: A Definition And An Introduction

Interactive design. Sounds simple, no?

Firstly, let's try the simple, confusing and unclear definition: Interactive design is used to create interactive works.

Well, great, what does that mean?

Interaction design is all about using many different concepts to help draw the end user into an experience. Sometimes, the end user becomes so involved that they become one of those concepts themselves. The most obvious example of interactive design is a game. Using visuals, audio, text, film, interaction, time and motion. Most likely, there are others parts to it as well, but for the life of me my brain can only remember so much.

Interaction design i all about involving the end user by using the aforementioned concepts to the best effect. But that doesn't mean using all of them - I'll expand upon this in the examples post.

A couple of links I think you'll all enjoy.

This one was an eye-opener. If you read nothing else about Web 2.0, read this:
http://www.paulgraham.com/web20.html

Here's one not to go to, unless you want to get laughed out of life:
http://www.wikipedia.com/

Seriously, crack is better for your brain than this. The reason I bring this website up is so I can point you towards what Wikipedia would be if it was actually useful and had standards:
http://www.interaction-design.org/

Be sure to read through it. A couple more of these later on.

And yes, this post was once... A RED HERRING!