Designing
a Better Multimedia Mouse Trap
Article by Don
Herion
Rule
5 - My Kingdom for Options
Eighty years ago car buyers could get a
Ford Model T in any color they wished as long as it was black. Today that philosophy
would put you in bankruptcy court or get you a prominent listing at f#*%edcompany.com.
Give people options. Remember what I said about TV remote controls. Visitors don't
want to be passengers in your Website; they want to be drivers. To some degree
you can steer them this way or that, but they will not give up that remote control
without a fight. You know what they say, the customer is always right. Even when
they're wrong. If you have a line of tea kettles, give them a beauty shot of the
products with descriptions and then a hyperlink to your multimedia presentations.
If you have a software tutorial on Flash, give them them the option of seeing
it in html or Flash. Remember to provide your visitor a user friendly navigation
system for the tutorial - stop, start, fast forward, rewind buttons. Again - think
TV remote control. Design it so a ten year old in his sleep can get from point
A to point Z.
Law 6 - It's Alive! It's Alive!
Okay, you've
just spent six weeks with no X-Files, eating cold pizza, and drinking enough Starbucks
coffee to deserve a seat on their Board of Directors, but its finally done. Your
impossible dream is now a living, breathing entity of melded graphics, text, video
and audio. Now you're ready to paste it into your Website and start receiving
glowing e-mails praising your creativity and artistic brilliance. Well, stop right
there "pardner". You're not quite ready to go public. There is still
one more important step you need to take, and it's one multimedia creators often
overlook. In the movie business they are called 'Sneak Previews.' Sneak Previews
are a movie company's last opportunity to test their film before releasing it
to the masses. Often based on this audience's response a movie company will reedit
a picture and occasionally reshoot entire sequences.
 |
| If you don't test, you can't rest |
Multimedia designers
should do the same thing. Place the application on a page not accessible to your
audience and then have people you trust test it. I would build a list of fellow
webmasters, associates and even some of your loyal customers and invite them to
beta test the production. People love to be the first try out a new product or
service. It makes them feel special. It's also a good idea if you give them a
form they can fill out critiquing the strengths and weaknesses of your production.
If you feel their input is valid, implement their suggestions into your design.
After you've made your changes, ask them to check it out again. Believe me, it
will be time well spent. After weeks working on your baby, you've become so close
to it you lose your objectivity.
Final Recap
So here are my
tips for creating Internet multimedia:
1) Planning, planning, planning
2) Get to the point
3) Keep it small
4) Feed the ear too
5) Give
your audience control
6) Testing is good
A general once said, "No
battle plan survives contact with the enemy." The same can be said of multimedia
design. No plan should be set in concrete. Obstacles, pitfalls and problems are
inevitable. But a good design structure will save you a ton of headaches and result
in a better product.
