Sneaky Attract Mode
Ideally, the most important takeaway of any interactive should get communicated even if visitors haven’t interacted yet.
Yes, that sounded crazy. But stay with me.
Question:
What is the one thing every interactive exhibition element must do? (Hint: it’s the same as the answer for any other exhibition element.)
Answer:
Communicate its main message.
Trouble is, even the most engaging and easy-to-use interactives will only be used by a subset of visitors. So we’re going to spend all that money and most of our visitors … won’t get our message?
Here is a sneaky solution:
Ideally, the most important takeaway of any interactive should get communicated even if visitors haven’t interacted yet.
Yes, I already said that. At the very start. Before you, ahem, interacted with the rest of the article.
The main message should already be at the very start, in the “attract mode.” That’s the visual appearance of the interactive before you use it. Audiences should not have to interact to take away the main point. From then on, the more they interact, the more they recall that main message.
“Huh, an empty desert is actually full of life.”
“Wow, the human body has systems within systems.”
“Ooh, minimalism creates beauty from simple elements.”
All before interacting.
Here’s the thing:
Interactives are expensive already. Even worse if their messages are only for the few who interact.
Sneaky Attract Mode:
Ideally, the most important takeaway of any interactive should get communicated even if visitors haven’t interacted yet.
Warmly,
Jonathan
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MtM Word of the Day:
Attract mode. The visual state of a media interactive experience in an exhibition when it is idle and no one is interacting with it yet. Typically, the attract mode displays looping visuals or instructions to attract visitors and encourage them to interact with it.
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P.S. Why is this newsletter so popular in Australia? (Seriously. I have no idea. Though I do love Australia. Wait, Australians get these at night?)
