Inspiring Interaction

MediaBoom is an interactive design and development company. The site has a 1940s tourist aesthetic with maps, pins, coins and pictures all laid out on what resembles an old suitcase. Big band music of the era helps set the scene. The central picture in the stack is a “live” view of a city and visitors can choose whether it’s day or night. Clicking various navigation links will send the viewer zooming through the metropolis towards the corresponding billboard, street level sewer or newsstand, or up to a rotating globe high atop a skyscraper to display various information.

Joan Miro was a prolific surrealist painter and sculptor, producing work through much of the 20^th century. MoMA held an exhibition focusing on a single decade in he early life and created a corresponding site. The large number of works is displayed simply, but the real undertaking of the site was the organization of images. Works are grouped by series,

The site’s navigation is logical and highly considered. Options for viewing the work are extensive and practical. The main view groups the works into series such as “Paintings on Unprimed Canvas”, “Collages”, “Constructions and Objects”, and more. Other options include viewing all works chronologically, by relative size, or in an index with all 107 thumbnails visible and grouped by series. A filter containing 22 variables allows the user to narrow the collection based on any combination of various methods, supports, mediums, and materials. This further exemplifies the true experimentation in his methods—he is always trying to reinvent his approach.

Once a viewer clicks on a specific image, they are taken to the Details page where literature and details are found along with an enlarged view of the piece. The image can then be zoomed for even greater detail. Using left and right arrows, the viewer can continuously scroll through the series

When navigating through the site, one constantly switches between one image and many, information and less information. It can be easy to lose track of one’s position within the site. Depending on the link clicked, images zoom on or off the screen in ways that actually aid the viewer by connecting one page to the last. When moving from viewing one large image to viewing many small images, the small thumbnails will slide in as the large image shrinks and moves to its place in the gallery to guide the eye and maintain a line of association.

The only shortcoming of the site is when one is looking at the Details screen of a work the view cannot go back to the thumbnail-view of that series. I found myself wanting to do that a number of times. Instead, left and right arrows move the viewer through that specific series and straight onto the next.

Thunderfuel designs and programs games, animations, and sites. The site resembles a worn, mechanical device that is part conveyor belt, part jukebox. Tasteful pinball machine sound effects are used throughout and add to the of realism various movements and user behaviors.