The first chapter in Chris Crawford’s book “The Art of Interactive Design” identifies some of the essential traits of great design and addresses common misconceptions about interactive design.
He begins the chapter by analyzing the increasing popularity of “interactivity” over the years, as well as the numerous ways that “interactive design” has been mischaracterized as a result of its unexpected popularity. He specifically mentions the overuse of the term “interactivity” in marketing campaigns for products ranging from children’s toys to shampoo and even cereal.
Before getting into the fundamentals of great design, he attempts to describe interactivity through metaphor, stating that interactivity must allow for hearing, speaking, and thinking. Crawford acknowledges that there are degrees to interactivity but emphasizes that without these qualities, true interactivity cannot be achieved or done so to the greatest extent. He also provides numerous instances of non-interactive items, such as books, movies (not yet), and paintings, since these items fail to meet all three elements of interactivity.
Later on, Crawford touches on the differences between user interface design and interactive design, stating that UI design focused on “…optimizing communication between people and electronic devices”, while interactive design “…addressed the entire communication between the user and computer.”.
Crawford’s concept for great design as “speaking, listening, and thinking” was very intriguing to me in this chapter. Each of these activities has an enormous effect on the individual, allowing for full-body engagement with whatever they are observing. For me, this will always be what I find most astonishing about the work being done in the IM field. Interactive media/design transcends passive observation and evokes emotion, showcasing the most beautiful parts of life.