Digital Design Blog

Designing for Dimensionality

In the brave new world of social media marketing, success is measured by level of engagement, not simply counted in 30-second increments multiplied by frequency. The passive, stereotypical couch potato is being replaced by users who want to take an active role and participate in the media they consume.

These desires have given rise to the development of imaginative online venues and applications designed to create “experiences” that promote engagement and relationship-building through the use of 3D design and motion video.

Virtual Worlds
The most ballyhooed examples of multi-dimensional Web site designs are virtual worlds, such as Second Life, that are shaped by the inhabitants themselves. The special thing about these digital worlds is that a two-dimensional communications model has been extended by a spatial component that allows users to communicate and interact with one another using text and voice, as well as facial expression and gestures. A 3D world experience creates an intense, previously unattainable “being there” feeling and the lines between virtual worlds and the real world. These richer experiences promote engagement which, the theory goes, resonates in new customers and an improved bottom line.

Interactive TV
Another indication of consumers’ desires to get involved and interact is the popularity of Joost TV, which delivers interactive TV, real-time communication, entertainment on-demand. People from all over the world can watch TV together via the interactive IPTV broadcaster, currently in beta phase. On-demand, and, above all, everywhere, Joost enables a level of online user interaction that has not been possible before. The latest wrinkle in interactive TV is the much talked about Flash 3D engine Papervision which, for the first time, allows 3D worlds to be produced in Flash.

Thanks to rapid technical advances, almost any online application can be produced using 3D interfaces and motion design. The range of possibilities is continually growing as broadband connection and fast processors are now commonplace.

User Controls
One important thing that marketers and developers must always remember is that the user wants to be in control. It is the user who decides what to spend time with and there is always an alternative just one click away. If you don’t entice the user with a compelling idea and optimal usability, you will lose the battle for her attention. From push to pull, the only thing that counts is the idea that holds attention—and, of course, its implementation.

An important issue to consider regarding 3D implementation is the method of input. While most users still use a standard PC mouse, kids with their game consoles are a step ahead. Their controllers are already dominating navigation in the three-dimensional space. If you’ve ever played half-an-hour of tennis on Nintendo’s Wii you’ll know that the resulting arm ache is not virtual—it’s very real and that’s an important part of what makes it compelling.

Putting Theory Into Practice: Adidas and Audi
At Avenue A | Razorfish’s NEUE DIGITALE office, we’ve been working with interactive film since 2003. Our award-winning “online specials” for Adidas Originals were created to inspire the user to be enthusiastic about the new collection. To achieve this, we used full screen Flash videos to create a fresh and to date, unseen, look that cast a spell over the user. For our Audi client, we went a step further with this concept for a re-launch of one of their sports cars by adding ways in which users can intelligently interact. Together with new 3D rendering technologies, we were able to use completely new ways to design an interaction that blurs the boundaries between TV and the Internet

What’s Next?
In the two-dimensional world, IP-based on-demand TV with feedback capabilities will replace classic linear TV. In the world of 3D we may soon be visiting holographically-projected Web sites that we can navigate with our hands, without any additional input devices, like Tom Cruise in the film Minority Report.

The most important challenge for the future of Internet design will be analyzing and swiftly interpreting the virtual movements of the user, not only in the ramp up to an online project, but continually throughout the project lifespan. Where are they coming from? And where do they want to go? What do they click, and what not? The users themselves provide the answers. Continuously. Free of charge. The only thing we need to do is listen to them. If we can do that well, we’ll be able to develop interfaces in the future that are convincing—both in terms of visual aesthetics as well as functionality.

Interface design will still need to deliver an intense user experience. Communication between man and machine needs to be simple,
intuitive, and ideally, as entertaining as possible. Remember, though, that 3D and motion design should never be used purely as ends in themselves. The original idea must be strong and compelling.

by Sven Küster, NEUE DIGITALE Executive Creative Director