Designing for Multimedia

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Objectives

• Describe how basic design principles can be used
  in designing multimedia titles
• Describe how the intended audience, type of
  title, and contents affect the interactive design
• Specify the guidelines for interactive design

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Chapter Outline

• Creating the appearance
• Balance
• Unity
• Movement

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Chapter Outline (continued)

• Designing for Interactivity
• Audience
• Type of title
• Content
• Guidelines

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Creating the Appearance -- Basic Design Principles

• Screen-design principles are guidelines, not
  absolute rules
• Application to particular title depends on
  audience, content, and type of title
• Design should assist in achieving the objectives
  of the title

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Screen layout
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Balance

• Balanced screens create positive impressions
• Balance refers to distribution of optical weight
• Optical weight is the ability to attract the
  user's eye

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Optical weight

• More optical weight
• Large
• Dark
• Color
• Irregular shape

• Less optical weight
• Small
• Light
• Black, white, gray
• Regular shape

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Types of Balance

• Symmetrical
• Arrangement of similar elements
• Suggests order and formality
• Asymmetrical
• Arrangement of dissimilar elements
• Suggests diversity and informality

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Ways to Achieve Balance

• Use even numbers of elements of equal weight
  (symmetrical)
• Use two or more elements of smaller weight to
  balance one large element (asymmetrical)
• Enclose text in a box or use a color background
  to give it more weight
• Surround a dark graphic with abundant white space

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Attributes that Affect Balance

• Size Large objects have more weight
• Position Objects higher on the screen have more
  weight
• Color Some colors have special significance
• Space Lots of objects crammed together suggest
  clutter and disorganization

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Unity

• Complementary relationship between screen
  elements
• Intrascreen unity
• Interscreen unity
• Unity is usually, but not always, desirable

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Movement

• How does the user work through the elements on
  the screen?
• Normal movement is from upper left to lower right

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Techniques for Controlling Movement

• Place emphasis on a graphic, headline, or text
  block
• Create asymmetrical balance
• Use lines or objects that point in a certain
  direction
• Use color gradients from light to dark
• Have people or animals look in a direction

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Designing for Interactivity

• Design should allow user control in a way that
  works with the content while addressing the needs
  of the user
• Factors to consider
• Audience
• Type of title
• Content

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Audience

• Designer must take the user's perspective
• Fundamental questions
• What does the user see on the screen?
• What does the user want to do?
• What is the user's realm of experience?

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Type of Title Examples

• Corporate report -- simple navigation
• Reference work -- variety of ways to access
  information
• Transactions -- clear methods for form completion
• Game -- random interaction

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Content

• How much content is there?
• What elements are used in the title?
• What is the nature of the content?

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Amount of Content

• Even with large amounts, try to keep the number
  of levels low
• Method for reducing levels
• Hotwords or hot spots
• Change content only in certain portions of the
  screen
• Use pop-up windows and scroll bars
• Provide bookmarks

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Elements Used in the Title

• Video, animation, and sound present special
  problems
• Who starts and stops it? If it starts
  automatically, can the user control it?
• What will the controls look like?
• Can the volume be adjusted?
• Where and when on the screen does it appear?

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Nature of the Content

• Content can suggest a theme for interaction
• Examples
• Astronomy--user controls a "telescope"
• History of cinema--user controls a "control room"
• Museum--user "walks through" a virtual environment

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Guidelines for Interactive Design

• Make it simple
• Build in consistency
• Use design templates
• Provide feedback
• Provide choices and escapes

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Make it Simple

• The user should find the title easy to understand
  and easy to use
• The opening screen should make the overall
  navigation process clear

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Build In Consistency

• Each screen should have a consistent appearance
• The navigation scheme should be consistent

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Use Design Templates

• Templates are precise layouts indicating where
  various elements will appear on the screen
• Benefits
• Provide consistency
• Shorten development time
• Prevent "object shift"

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Provide Feedback

• Let the user know when a button has been clicked
• Let the user know when an object has been
  selected
• Let the user know what parts of the title have
  already been viewed

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Provide Choices and Escapes

• Allow the user to skip viewing a video clip or
  hearing a sound clip
• Don't immediately exit when the user presses the
  Quit button

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Key Terms

• appearance
• asymmetrical
• balance
• design principles
• interactivity
• movement

• nature
• optical center
• optical weight
• symmetrical
• template
• unity

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