“We really want the new website to be more interactive.” Marketing manager, during a web site redesign kick-off meeting.
Miriam Webster’s definition of “interactive”:
1 : mutually or reciprocally active
2 : of, relating to, or being a two-way electronic communication
system (as a telephone, cable television, or a computer)
that involves a user’s orders (as for information or merchandise)
or responses (as to a poll).
So what, exactly, does “more interactive” mean for a website? And what’s better about it? More clicks isn’t necessarily better. Advanced media types like Flash movies or streaming video can actually be less interactive - as they’re often designed as something to watch passively, television-like. Interaction based on technology alone falls flat.
Valuable interaction is person to person. Client to company representative. Church member to seeker. But raise the idea of adding a bulletin board, or blog-style commenting, or a two-way email list, and suddenly that same client who desires a “more interactive site” gets spooked about what people “might say”, or concerned about the amount of time responding to users might take. True interaction , however, comes with responsibility - see that “mutual” word in the definition?
Business people think they want automated interaction - interaction they don’t need to take the time for, but want all the benefits of. Often what they mean when they say “more interactive” is “less boring” but don’t understand that most site visitors aren’t seeking entertainment. Just some answers to some questions (or “orders - as for information”). Their questions - not necessarily the “Most Frequently Asked” ones.
So instead of thinking about “interactivity”, let’s think about “usefulness”. It might not be as sexy to you, but your users will appreciate it.
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Curt Westra on January 29, 2007