Interactive Leftovers

In ancient times, shortly after life emerged from the sea, movies came on DVDs. “Special collector’s editions” had a second disk with “extra” content. This was for early life forms who loved bloopers.

We often treat our interactive media experiences like that second DVD. Maybe it goes something like this:

“Wait! We have a touchscreen. All our leftover content could go in there. Then we don't have to decide.”

Yes, a few more screens of content in a touchscreen won’t cost that much more. But do visitors want our leftovers?

No.

Why? Because like the bloopers in that second disk, they’re not good enough.

How do we know those DVD extras weren’t good enough? Because if they had been, they wouldn’t have been in that second disk.

They would have been in the main one.

Here’s the thing:
Every part of our visitor experience has to be the best it can be. Interactive media is a tempting place to stick our “extra” content.

But interactive media shouldn’t be for leftovers.

Warmly,
Jonathan

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MtM Word of the Day:
Enfilade. A series of galleries arranged along one straight axis so their doorways line up, allowing visitors to see through multiple rooms at once. Originally referred to French palace architecture, where aligned doorways offered a grand, ceremonial sense of procession.