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He-man vs Dora

First of all I'd like to apologize for the delay in posting. I've been pretty busy (freelance) and I was doubting this blog for a while. It played a part in me losing my job, so I was a bit reluctant to post again... So my apologies, excuse me and let's give it another go.

TV shows for kids




Something struck me over the past weeks, something I noticed in TV shows my kids were watching. When I grew up there was Teddy Ruxpin, Fraggle Rock, Gummi Bears, Mask, Dungeons & Dragons and He-Man. There were more, take a look at some of the intro's here. Quite nostalgic to me, pretty dated when my kids look at them.

I've seen a lot of more recent shows together with my daughter and my son. They watch shows like Dora, Diego, Bubble Guppies, Blaze and the Monster Machines, Paw Patrol, Ni Hao Kai Lan. All of these more recent shows have something in common. Something the old shows I enjoyed didn't have.

Character interaction




Dora, Diego, Kai Lan and all the others communicate "with" the viewer. They don't really communicate with the viewer, but they make it look that way. When Dora is at a crossroad she turns to the viewer and asks "What should I do now? Which direction should I take?". The kids can't really answer (but try to anyway), because its still a linear story. As were the old shows I watched as a kid - all linear stories.

However, this feeling of interaction is something you'll find in many, many of the TV series these days. And that reminded me of my work.

User Centered


The shows give my kids a feeling of involvement and a feeling of control. Now let's step into the webdesign world.

When I started out as a webdesigner, websites were mostly about sending information to the visitor. There was something that needed to be communicated and it was mostly done from the company's perspective. It was all send, no real interaction.

These days we know the visitor will depart the website pretty quickly - truly very fast - when it doesn't appeal to him. User Centered Design isn't just a cool term. Its still finding a bigger role in the webdesign world - but its key to jump on the wagon. We need to focus on the user. We want him to feel as involved as my kids are while watching TV series.

To put this to the test I showed some old TV shows to my kids. They didn't appreciate any of the kids shows I watched as a youngster. Guess what they did appreciate? The 3D remakes of them - which very often includes the characters talking to the viewer... I have taken another look at my work through the years and the websites I made back in 2000 don't relate to me anymore...

The future


With all the technology out there it will only be a matter of time before the first fully interactive TV series arrive. I can imagine my grandchildren wearing a VR tool like the Oculus Rift, watching Dora and dictating the story and major twists. We've already seen the DVD's of movies where you can select an alternative ending.

A TV series that is altered by its viewer, no longer a linear story. We may not like it (shows like Game of Thrones thrive on unexpected twists, which is part of its success - you don't want user interference there) but it could happen. Just give it another 25 years and my grandchildren are deciding on Dora's faith. If my grandchildren are anything like me: poor Dora...

The web is already getting there and thats truly exciting. We are building websites around personas. Websites that understand its user, acknowledge him and get him involved. For instance by not showing the irrelevant information for that particular user. Smart websites, User Centered websites, or whatever you want to call them.

Summary


So to sum up this short post. Although I am not selling User Centered Design enough, I believe we really have to continue to improve websites for its visitors. I am passionate about it, something I was told a lot during my job interviews. I hope my comparison with TV series for children resonates.

This post wouldn't have been possible without my kids telling me how awesome Care Bears or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are. They were talking about the recent 3D remakes mind you. And although I relate more to the older versions - I can see why they like the new versions. I do feel its cool that TV series are getting along with the times. Just like those TV series, the web should always be improving and getting better.

Thanks for reading.

Corné

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