When designing my Ningaloo Project it was always my intention to keep its appeal to an audience as open and broad as possible. As the client had not specifically mentioned what people would be viewing the model I felt it best that I choose a style that would be able to cater to the tastes of a large audience. This in turn would ensure that not just developers and businessmen, but the public at Ningaloo could perceive the information present in the destination model and understand what could potentially be happening to their hometowns.
For this reason, the design principle of ‘accessibility’ was constantly a concern in my head. It allows for designs to be usable by as many people as possibly without heavy modification. This is why I chose to do an animation.
I chose animation over other ideas like an interactive presentation of data for several reasons. As cartoons and animation are an extremely open medium, allowing for great creativity and experimentation with style and look, I was able to fool around with devices such as the characters and the presentation of information. The theme of the animation was set to the style of a 1950’s Public Service Announcement. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Troy McClure and his ‘informative’ short films in the Simpsons, I took a light-hearted, comedic approach to the animation. Having likable and memorable characters, as well as quirky, animated motion graphics to explain information engages with the audience and allowed them to have more fun in learning from these devices. And they appeal to a wide range of people based on their content and visual style, and for this reason it suited my original intention of being accessible to a wide audience perfectly.
Accessibility has four defining characteristics, all which I believe I applied to in my design.
Perceptibility - Everyone can perceive the design regardless of sensory abilities
Anyone who can see can view the design, which is generally the audience I am going for. Combined with the bright and vibrant character designs and colour schemes, the appeal is extended to people of a variety of ages. I also tried to keep the colour scheme reminiscent of ocean, to subconsciously remind the viewer they’re watching something that had a great impact on Ningaloo and its ecosystem.
Operability - Everyone can use the design regardless of physical abilities
In terms of operability, animation is perfect. Viewers simply have to press a button, sit back and enjoy the show. While some level of computer competency is needed, most people these days know how to click a button in Flash and I have designed the menu system to be straight forward enough to be used by anyone.
Simplicity - Everyone can understand the design regardless of experience, literacy or concentration levels
From past experience with films in high school, documentaries or even watching an episode of The Simpsons, the viewer can establish they’re seeing something that is aimed at teaching them information and will adjust their mindset as such. Those who are outside this area of knowledge are generally not who this presentation is aimed at.
Forgiveness - Minimizes the occurrence and consequences of errors
There are some elements of forgiveness in my animation, mostly in areas of perceiving information. For instance, when the Narrator character explains information being presented in a motion graphic, Jimmy will often backs it up with a statement explaining it in layman terms afterward. The audience learns with Jimmy, so even if they don’t understand the infographic what Jimmy says will surely be enough to give them a basic understanding. However most instances of forgiveness occurred in my control over the animation. While I tried to keep the information as understandable through the first viewing as possible, I still understand that some people would have liked a rewind or pause button to allow them to go back and view that which they may have missed. For this reason, the amount of forgiveness in the animations is largely based upon me and my abilities to transfer information rather than the viewer and their control. In a design where they’re attempting to learn complex information this may not have been the best decision for this.
Overall, through style, look and appeal I find my project is very accessible and can be understood by a wide variety of people from numerous different ages. While some technical changes and more control over how the animations progress could have been well utilized, I still feel that these are relatively minor problems and overall the project achieves what it needed in this area.
No comments:
Post a Comment