Where’s the Line Between Interaction and Reaction?
“Interactivity” is becoming more of a buzz word and less of a strategy in the design world.
“Interaction: a cyclic process in which two actors alternately listen, think, and speak.” — Chris Crawford, The Art of Interactive Design
When we think about interaction, in the context of people, it’s quite simple. But when we look at what interactivity means in the realms of technology and design, the answer becomes a lot more convoluted.
Much like how “innovation” is a buzz word in the medical community, “interactivity” is a buzz word in the arts, technology, and entertainment worlds. There’s no denying that it gets thrown around a lot as a marketing ploy to describe things that are hardly interactive. It makes products or experiences sound more fun and exciting even if they really aren’t.
I hear the word thrown around in meetings all the time. When I worked in medicine, it was innovation. Now that I work in communications and instructional design, it pops up all the time.
Interaction. Interactivity. It sounds exciting, it sounds like it would always be a good thing. Yet if we don’t really think interactive design through and ask practical questions about how it works and what the benefits truly are, we…
