The first thing reading this chapter did is confuse me. Things I thought were interactive like buttons on websites or sketches on an iPad, were being challenged, and I wondered if that was something I could accept. I always assumed that if something responded to a user’s input, it was interactive, but this reading made me rethink that. It introduced the idea that real interactivity isn’t just about reaction but about creating an experience where the user’s choices actually shape the outcome itself. That made me reconsider how much interaction we actually do have in our digital lives. How much of what we “interact” with is pre-scripted?
After this chapter, a strongly interactive system to me is one where the user’s choices don’t just trigger these pre-scripted responses but actually change the experience in an organic way and ever-evolving way. It should feel like a conversation as Crawford describes interactivity to be rather than a simple input-output relationship. The thinking is necessary. In my own sketches, I tried to incorporate a little of this by having the art start where the user clicks it and have them be able to add on to the art as it goes on. Plus, with randomness, the art is never the same for each person. However, I would want to go even further by implementing elements that can evolve based on patterns of interaction, so users feel like they’re shaping the art as it goes rather than just clicking around. For example, the sketch could adapt its colors, speed, or density based on whether the user clicks quickly, holds down, or moves in a certain rhythm.