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INTERACTION DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR INTERACTIVE ...

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however, is a new medium “in its own right” (Murray, forthcoming). How do we create<br />

guidelines for future platforms and compelling iTV programming that motivate viewers<br />

to “lean forward”? To do so, we must take a step back and invent the medium itself.<br />

What exactly are the affordances of this new medium, what potential does it hold for<br />

television programming, and what new possibilities for viewers? Taking a look at the<br />

medium in abstract will be useful prior to defining design principles in greater specificity.<br />

5.1.2 Defining Properties of the Digital Medium<br />

Janet Murray, in Hamlet on the Holodeck (1997), identifies four essential<br />

properties of digital environments. I briefly summarize each of these properties, and<br />

discuss how they relate to iTV, respectively:<br />

Procedural. The procedural property refers to patterns of rule-based behavior.<br />

The digital medium is intrinsically procedural: computers are designed “not to<br />

carry static information but to embody complex, contingent behaviors.” This<br />

property has been used very little so far in the iTV realm.<br />

Participatory. The participatory property refers to patterns of participation.<br />

“Procedural environments are appealing to us not just because they exhibit rule-<br />

generated behavior but because we can induce the behavior.” This property has<br />

been taken advantage of mostly in game shows and in applications that allow<br />

viewers to select and customize their viewing experiences. As we have seen,<br />

participatory activities can also lead to the convocation of a viewing community.<br />

Spatial. The spatial property refers to patterns of navigation and boundary<br />

definition. “The new digital environments are characterized by their power to<br />

represent navigable space. Linear media such as book and films can portray<br />

space… but only digital environments can present space that we can move<br />

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