While working on my final project for my Database Management degree, I was searching for solutions that were mandated user story requirements. Frantically typing keywords into the search fields, one of the results caught my attention and launched me into a rabbit hole. Once our audience visits the site, how do we retain their interest?
Interactive web design has been a subject of intrigue since playing with my Oculus Rift. Virtual Reality (VR) sucked me into hours of fascinated exploration which claimed hours of time that should have been dedicated to my final project. What did they mean by “interactive?”
I couldn’t help myself. The article title called my fascination. What could it hurt to peruse the article briefly? If it was interesting enough, I could save the link and park it until my project was done. That was not what happened. The article was a treasure trove of the top interactive web designs that stole another few valuable hours.
My project was turned in on time with plenty of time to spare. Unlike previous assignments that I struggled with. Once the final was submitted, a heavy sigh of relief was released and I went back to the article to play.
The sites were mesmerizing and the hypnotic state I was in was interrupted by my husband. “Do you know what time it is? It’s three-o-clock in the morning. Do you plan on sleeping sometime tonight?” Holy cow. Really? My mind reeled with the question of where all the time went. So this is what it’s like when a web designer is successful.
It was noticeable that some of the sites were no longer available when I returned to play and explore. It is assumed that there may have been some risks with bandwidth. Maybe the projects were too far ahead of their time and with 5G and IoT, it will be revisited. Maybe with VR, those concepts will be elevated to another level of incredible.
I am not a gamer. My interests are focused more on complex business processes and human interaction to help communicate business initiatives for higher implementation success rates.
During one of my playful moments, I animated certain facets of a web page. A professional cautioned me about animation. “KISS it, Chris.” In other words, keep it simple stupid. Indeed. Still, animation calls me.
Some recent events have generated some time to spare and web development called to me again. A colleague during my internship taught me a few tricks that I’ve been itching to try.
Instead of making end users click on objects to view information, why not simplify the information by displaying it on mouseover? Some sites utilize this and some book apps are automatically displaying definitions when a word is highlighted instead of the user having to click, “Search the web” to find information on a word.
Conversely, it has been noticed how it seems to be the sales force that uses special features on the internet for customers. Why shouldn’t we use the same creativity for our internal customers to deliver clearer business messages?