Cover sheet for submission of work for assessment SCHOOL: Media & Communications Program name Grad Dip Communication Design Program code GD177 Course/unit name Design Commerce and Culture Course/unit code GRAP2081_1410 TAFE National Module Unit of Competency (UOC) name TAFE National Module Unit of Competency (UOC) ID Assignment no. 3 Due date 30/05/14 Name of lecturer/teacher Campus ONLN Class day/time ONLN Tutor/marker’s name Office use only School date stamp Toni Roberts Toni Roberts STUDENT/S Family name Given name Student number (1) (2) Jennifer Honnery s3441851 (3) (4) (5) (6) DECLARATION AND STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP 1. I/we hold a copy of this work which can be produced if the original is lost/damaged. 2. This work is my/our original work and no part of it has been copied from any other student’s work or from any other source except where due acknowledgement is made. 3. 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Cover sheet for submission of work for assessment 1111 page 1 of 1 Exploring the Web Assessment 3 Jennifer Honnery - s3441851 RMIT Design, Commerce and Culture (Graph2081) Due Date: Friday, 30 May 2014 Introduction In his article ‘Various Notes’, Garry Emery discussed the potential for digital media to become a “means for exploring informational, spatial and experiential possibilities”. In the 10 years since this piece was written, the World Wide Web has infiltrated nearly every aspect of social life, presenting a virtual world that exists alongside our physical reality, informing and enhancing day-to-day existence. The Internet of tomorrow will begin to permeate our physical existence as more devices are connected and computers begin to interpret data and relationships without human input. This presentation seeks to explore the ways in which Emery’s informational, spatial and experiential possibilities have manifested in today’s online realm, and the methods by which we can continue to understand, and design for, the complexity of the web into the future. Method The accompanying online presentation will explore the informational, spatial and experiential possibilities of the web via two interactive animations. Each animation provides a visual representation of the ideas being discussed, while interactive ‘hotspots’ will provide text based detail and analysis. Each ‘hotspot’ will cause the user’s cursor to change shape to signify further material. Box 1 - Google Interface In 1945, warfare scientist Vannevar Bush wrote a paper calling for a new relationship between mankind and knowledge: “[The human mind] operates by association. With one item in its grasp, it snaps instantly to the next that is suggested by the association of thoughts, in accordance with some intricate web of trails carried by the cells of the brain… Yet the speed of action, the intricacy of trails, the detail of mental pictures, is awe-inspiring beyond all else in nature.” (1945). In 2004, Garry Emery acknowledged the potential digital media possessed in the exploration of informational possibilities. Searching for information online was improving with new technologies deployed by Google, and the concepts of linked data and data relationships were being discussed in theoretical terms. Tim Berners-Lee coined the term ‘Semantic Web’, a network through which computers intelligently interpreted user requests by forming associations with sets of data, and “a common framework that allows data to be shared and reused across application, enterprise and community boundaries” (W3C, 2013). Today semantic technologies are beginning to power all transactions online, from search tools that analyse keywords in conjunction with time, place, gender and age, to targeted marketing that examines your browser history to determine interests (Amerland 2013). As shown in the interactive diagram containing this text, browsing the Web is a task that involves non-linear trains of thoughts, associations and referrals between sets of user-generated content. Not unlike the nodes of the brain, each set of data is connected with every other set, encouraging exploration and the construction of relationships between seemingly unrelated data. We are standing on the brink of a world of information that operates by association and the potential for a reality in which computers will generate new content alone, using associations to enhance our lives. Addressing both this complexity and new awareness of the interconnected nature of information online will be the next challenge for designers of digital interfaces and designs. Box 2 - Design News “Complex doesn’t have to be confusing; it can be beautiful and elegant. On the web, complex can be necessary and powerful.” (Collison, 2011). Rejecting the notion of ‘less is more’, Simon Collison emphasises the necessity to embrace to growing complexity of the web, and to understand the medium behind the message. As the Web transforms to embrace the uniquely human characteristic of thought by association, do Marshall McLuhan’s ideas of the medium as message, and the medium as an extension of ourselves still hold weight? (2013). McLuhan used the light bulb to describe the manner by which the medium is the message: while the light bulb itself contains no message, it enables the creation of new spaces – at night – that allow the generation of new content (2013). In a similar manner the original concept of the hyperlink, and the subsequent development of non-linear narratives certainly suggest the power of the medium of the Internet. New mediums such as social media have in turn influenced real world interactions, the tools made available by these virtual social spheres, rather than the content distributed, have enabled the development of new spaces and new content. In the web of associations, social media has dramatically enhanced the manner by which users find content and explore related information. More so than ever, information is found via a network of referrals rather than content searches. This concept is utilised in an application developed by Simon Collison: ‘rushmore.fm’. Rushmore connects musicians with fans, and fans with fans, to encourage the exploration of new music, higher quality music and more interactive content (Rushmore, 2013). The complexity of the web, in these instances, is reduced as each application – Rushmore, Facebook or You Tube – relies up on pre-web social interactions and technologies. So far, we have identified new possibilities in the development of information online, as suggested by Emery, and the manner by which they are used today. In the future, however, as more devices are connected to the Internet, and computers are able to generate content alone by analysing relationships between data and things, new spatial and experiential possibilities will arise. The Internet will grow away from the screen and further interweave with modern lives. Can we use similar, pre-web situations and technologies to understand this new complexity? Box 3 - Colour Wheel Marshall McLuhan described media as an extension of man: “all technologies are extensions of our physical and nervous systems to increase power and speed” (2013, p. 118). Technologies such social media and online collaboration tools such as Wikipedia, could also be described as extensions of ourselves. Indeed, all metaphors currently used within Web based systems can be seen as furthering of our own physical and social capabilities. There are several thoughts regarding new metaphors for the new Web, some following McLuhan’s prescription, and others breaking away from the concept that the web is an extension of ourselves. The Panopticon has long been used as a potential metaphor for a world where all technology is connected, and thus monitored. Ultimately, “person-to-object, object-to-person and object-to-object communications – the Internet of Things – will open up tremendous opportunities for market expansion and business profitability” (2010, The Internet of Things Council). Such a situation could eventually result in society in which everyone is unwittingly monitored, as in the Panopticon. Sally Appin, on the other hand, perceives a future based on anoptism, a hidden architecture, that is user-generated and humanistic in approach (2011). While these metaphors help us consider the overall nature of the new Web, they do little to assist users in comprehending the nature of interaction with information itself. In an interview with Conor O’Driscoll, Collison remarked on the importance in acknowledging the ‘ebb and flow’ of the web, and the constantly shifting landscape (2010). These descriptions accurately capture the mood of the Web, the manner by which some websites impact users more than others, and the way no path explored can ever be repeated. As McLuhan suggests that technology is an extension of ourselves, the new Web may be described as an extension of our environment, existing alongside, within and contributing to our physical world. The ebb and flow of the web, the concentration of traffic in some places and then others, and the ways in which we navigate through the shifting landscape of information can open up spatial and experiential possibilities not considered online before (Collison, 2010). Introduction to next animation The following interactive visualization explores the notion of the Web, now and in the future, as a cityscape, a place with the potential for exploring spatial and experiential possibilities. There are many parallels that may be drawn between the city and the web, including the impact of local and global culture, pathways and the notion of navigation, community and a sense of space, and finally, as described by Collison, the ebb and flow of the people, traffic and atmosphere (2010). Understanding these relationships will help inform digital design decisions in the interconnected, associative Web of the future. Just as the city can impart clues regarding local cultures and the influence of global culture, so can the Web exist in these two distinct, yet connected spheres. Global brands, trends and events are clearly evident online via marketing and user discussion, just as chain stores appear in streets, and branded clothing in windows. On the other hand, a stroll down a city street will reveal nuances unique to the city, the glorious Christmas windows in Harrods, London, or the heady fumes of tuk-tuks in Bangkok. As identified by Soraj Hongladarom, “instead of erasing local cultural boundaries, creating a worldwide monolithic culture, the Internet reduplicates the existing cultural boundaries”, allowing local cultures to grow virtually as well as physically (1998). In his article ‘When enough design is too much’, Emery describes the disorder that arises in cities, the untidiness that “is aesthetically and psychologically satisfying” (1999). This localized chaos, in tune with local cultures adds character and enjoyment to the act of weaving paths through the city. Does this sense exist in the online world? The act of browsing online can often lead to new discoveries, user-generated content that imparts new knowledge, or draw attention to the forgotten, and can evoke a similar response. In this example, designers must be aware of the ‘disorder’ necessary to balance order, just as we appreciate the unexpected in the city street. As in the city, navigating the Web can be viewed on a holistic level, and page by page. User interface design ensures that visitors intuitively understand how to navigate through websites, just as street signs point us in the right direction. While walking through the city, or browsing online, encounters may be had, planned or unplanned, and, in the age of data organized by association, online browsing will adopt a far more organic narrative. Collison argues that all design should empower the user, navigation online should seek to neither confuse or dictate, but enable and support the paths that visitors follow (2010). The spatial experiences to be found online may be virtual and abstract in nature, however, when comparing with a physical task, such as navigating city streets, can assume quite tangible qualities, and evoke similar feelings of exploration and freedom. The noise, bustle and chatter of the café can be likened to the streams of comments that populate social media threads today, but it is the deeper connections made through groups sharing common interests online that evoke a sense of community and place. In his web application Rushmore, Collison highlights the importance of meaningful connections between artist and fan, as well as between fans, and building a community around a shared passion (2013). Just as the café creates a place for interaction, chance encounters, and a sense of locality and place, communities online can encourage interaction with like minded people and a sense of belonging to a unique group or place. While virtual interactions like this may lack the physical cues that make up real-world relationships, they do involve a distinct action: instant access to information to enrich relationships in virtual communities. There is tremendous focus on human – computer interaction, ensuring interfaces are easy to learn and work with. What about human – human interaction online? How can digital design contribute to the ways we interact with each other in the virtual sphere? As suggested by Collison, as designers we have a responsibility to be mindful of sensory experience and human emotion (2010). In several articles and interviews, Collison alludes to the ebb and flow of the Web and the importance in building a visual language that responds to this (2010). In the city we witness surges of traffic, crowds of people, and then, occasionally, a quite alley, or a distinctive little shop tucked away from the world. Each instance adds to the dynamic nature of the cityscape as we weave our way through it, just as each encounter adds meaning to every search online. Addressing the nuances of the Web, acknowledging context and embracing the ebb and flow are crucial tasks for digital designers today. Conclusion While there are many metaphors used to describe and understand the virtual world that exists today, the city street has allowed an exploration of the experiential and spatial qualities that the web is beginning to assume. As the Web develops into a set of data built on relationships and associations, the ways we interact with information and each other will change, and adopt characteristics that closely resemble physical life. The way designers react to these changes will determine the way we experience information in the future. The construction of a visual language, both unique to the digital realm and drawing from experiences in the physical world will allow designers to amplify the experience of browsing online. The visitor of the future will navigate the unique pathways of the online world, and exist in a parallel virtual space as real as the physical one we live in today. 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