Interactivity is just like having conversation over a cup of tea. That might be an exaggeration, unless of course if you happen to be a Brit!
After having done the reading, I could almost immediately sense that the author is try to compare interactivity to conversation. In the reading, the author describes it as a ‘cyclic process’ which happens like a conversation does between more than 1 person, which involves ‘listening’,’thinking’, and ‘speaking’. Interactivity deals with all 3 spaces, therefore isn’t just limited to user input. Just like the metaphorical example of having a conversation, the computer too should interact with the user. It requires a purposeful exchange. Interactivity within itself is not a boolean value, therefore isn’t limited to a confined standard (objectiveness), but should however perform as per the context of information being provided! Some designs are bound to be interactive such as game media. while for some, interactivity is kept a low level to give user time to ‘think’. Overall, I think a strong interactive media shouldn’t limited to a certain logical function. Creativity and rationale go hand in hand , and in my opinion should complement each other, rather one snubbing away the other. Therefore a strong interactive system should be clear in its approach and interaction, should incorporate multimodal output to an appropriate extent, and should resonate emotions to the user, as well as perceive them just like a conversation!
Since the start, I have made sure to incorporate certain extent of interactivity into my sketches by including animations, color variance, mouse-click, spontaneity, etc. Yet still, after having read the reading, I realized that I do happen to miss out on opting for other media domains like sound and more importantly, the fluidity! Despite the mouse click, I should work on timing towards feedback to users input, and add certain constraints along side parameters to avoid haphazard response by the design incase the user makes mistake such as a double click! By incorporating textual elements and walking users through a manual or something, built into the sketch can also improve my sketches. Last but not the least, the conversation/ interaction should be open to all. Therefore, people with conditions like ‘photo-phobia’, ‘color-blindness’, ‘partial-vision’ can also be accommodated in my future design by providing options to adjust the graphics to a certain manner to their liking.