Let's Talk About ~*Interactivity*~

Flash, sound, and videos. This would have been a great section when we were all struggle busing our way through life on the client project; but alas, perhaps we were meant to crawl before we learned to walk (and read?).

The benefits of such features have been enumerated over and over but they bear remembering - it brings an element of engagement to an otherwise static website. You can dress your links up with all the hover bells and whistles in the world, but sometimes that just isn't enough for what your user wants to get out of your page. Sometimes the medium you need lets them have the control or lets them not only see, but hear as well.

Movies and slideshows can be supplemented with CSS by configuring motion magic voodoo if you like, but at the end of the day even the best gif/timelapse css tricks in the world can lack where audio and pause/play controls might be needed by your user.

Audio is one of those things that I feel heeds to the saying 'with great power comes great responsibility'. Audio is one of the best ways to interact with your user, possibly even while they're doing something else in another tab. It gives your website a whole additional dimension of depth that pure visual can lack. However, it definitely needs to be used sparingly to not abuse this power. I'm sure we've all been to those websites that instantly start up with that LOVELY midi beep-boop-boop music and then don't even provide you with a play/pause button to make it stop...yup, that definitely makes me want to stay on your page. I think that case right there makes my point, but it's definitely something to consider.

My rule with sound is be sparing and have a purpose with your audio. Never start it up automatically (unless the user 'knows what they're getting into'...if that makes sense; like if the music is an obvious addition not just filigree), and always, always ALWAYS give your user the control to turn it on/off, etc. The quickest way to get people to leave is to either force them to bear your audio or press mute, neither of which are incredibly appealing options.

Overall good stuff this chapter, and definitely tricks and points to consider moving forward. I'm kind of glad we worked with our multimedia before reading this chapter...I think it helps it really sink in once you've gotten your hands already a little dirty :)

"Design must be functional and functionality must be translated into visual aesthetics, without any reliance on gimmicks that have to be explained." — Ferdinand A. Porsche