Interactive Design? Really?

Interactive Design? Really?

Written by craig coffman

Okay, perhaps it is just me but has anyone working in the interactive field really thought about that idea? Interactive. Perhaps that is accurate, but it is more so about isolation. Really, let us think about this.

We develop ideas and interfaces which are aimed at engaging the visitor. Wooing their desires and inflaming their interests with easy to navigate pages which offer up (frequently too much) information that they supposedly want. Better pages equate to more people coming along and staying longer. This is wonderful for the client. Our boss is thrilled. People across the planet rejoice... in the silence of cyberspace.

There is the rub. We make these sensory inticements to lure people in and get them to stay online. A solitary experience (typically). People now gather in chat rooms or forums to discuss ideas, often never meeting. It becomes simple for someone to support your idea verbally, rather typographically, but knowing all along you will never see them and only need to act accordingly in the virtual world.

Isolation. We are, in a way, destroying the idea of common meeting places where people truly interact, face-to-face, and make changes. It is one thing to voice a faceless opinion on line, but try speaking up about it in a public place. Not quite so easy.

So, are we really 'interactive' designers? I suppose in the sense of getting people to interact with a box that only speaks in binary and accepts nothing improperly formatted or coded. But are we encouraging interaction? I think not.

I wish I had a solution for this. The Internet is a fabulous tool and it does numerous wonderful things for people. It is a good place to exchange ideas, to learn, discover, and grow. I have no interest in simply giving it up, but I wonder if there is not a better way to facilitate true interaction through this medium.