Main conference presentation

IA for rich interaction: Tools and techniques from the trenches

Anthony Hempell, Adrian Chong

Saturday March 24 2007, 1:45 - 2:30PM

Presentation-layer technologies like Flash and AJAX are here to stay and have radically altered some of the most established interaction models on the web. The typical IA document of sitemaps & wireframes was based on prototyping and documenting a very linear interaction model. This presentation looks at some of the changes we’ve experienced working in rich interactions have brought about to the standard wireframe document, as well as the changing roles and relationships between IA, designers, developers and clients.

The core IA-related topic for this presentation is IA in practice, although it expands on core IA skills (in essence, expanding the wireframe toolkit).

This presentation will show case studies from rich-interaction projects created by Blast Radius for clients such as DirecTV, Nike and Electronic Arts. Examples of documentation will be shown, specifically relating to the conceptualization, design and execution of rich interaction applications, along with final work and/or prototypes.

Some potential case studies that may be used:

• The creation of statistical visualization interfaces for multi-player video games that allow users to compare real time and historical data online. The documentation for this project required the creation of storyboards and some interactive prototypes to design this application
• The development of new homepage type applications in flash that allow for richer display and promotion of site content, and the documentation methods used to develop and sell this concept
• The development of a Yahoo Maps mashup application
• Other documentation used on other non-linear flash-based applications like the sites for Nike Jordan (www.jumpman23.com) and the Nintendo DS (site now offline).

This presentation will be of interest to working IA’s who are struggling with adapting traditional documentation methods to newer applications that require capturing information related to state transitions, layers, and content variations due to personalization. In some cases these have necessitated documents that start to look more like movie shot lists, and in other cases we’ve found it more appropriate to embed more functional documentation and requirements within the wireframes. We will also explore some of the other more interactive approaches possible using advanced features of Visio, or using prototyping in Flash or HTML.

Time will also be allotted for audience reaction, discussion and participation. The sharing of others’ experiences with rich interaction projects will be encouraged.