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Never Draw a Pig in Clay (and the Ticket Taker in the Tutu). Wayne MacPhail, Web Coordinator, Centennial College October 3, 2002. What we’ll be doing 1 hour 30 minute talk Lots of questions welcome Challenge and engage.
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Never Draw a Pig in Clay(and the Ticket Taker in the Tutu) Wayne MacPhail, Web Coordinator, Centennial College October 3, 2002
What we’ll be doing1 hour 30 minute talkLots of questions welcomeChallenge and engage
The Good NewsYou already know a lot about creating online content.Why?Because you live in the real world. I hope.
The Bad NewsOnline content creation has been dominated by MBAs, graphic designers, and software engineers - not writers.
Attention Deficit DisorderNot enough attention paid to the: • audience • purpose • results • experience • lessons • past • world • user • words • structure And too much attention paid to the wrong things
The Ticket Takerin the Tutu ddddddddddddddddd ADMIT ONE ddddddddddddddddd
“Years ago Lord Reith, director-generalof the BBC, gave the right reply to those whowould dumb down Web media today.An interviewer asked: “Will you give thepeople what they want?” “No,” he replied,“we shall give them something better.” Martyn Perks - Create Online March, 2002
When MBAs rule the WebThat’s not an org chart, that’s site architecture
Computers and the Beauty Myth The Joy of Complexity
When MBAs Rule NewspapersCitizens, Audience,Eyeballs and Customers
Tell readers where they areProvide a convenient map of the work (TOC, index)Provide a title pageLet users mark their spot and progressShow users how long the text isBreak the text into standard pieces (chapters) From Books
Keep visuals interestingMake screen graphics readableTell a story with picturesOnline cannot compete as a rich media experience From Television
Social relationships do not depend on bandwidthCompletion is a powerful tool for engagementTell a story with picturesKeep dialogue crispTell a human story From Comics
To think of character as response to conflictFigure out whose story it isProvide tension and releaseBreak story into fractal units (acts/scenes/beats)Give the story a dramatic arc From Movies
Keep the front page freshTell human storiesTell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told themKeep writing short, muscular and activeProvide surprise and a sense of discovery From Newspapers
Stories can have a geographyObjects can contain storiesSpace can replace time as the axis of storytellingStories, objects and memory have resonanceIn the absence of forward momentum, story dies From Hypernarrative
Being Human We often experience only what we expect to experience We often miss the obvious We can be absolutely blind to data we don't expect We are creatures of paradigm We all respond to human stories Our short-term memory is fragile, limited and easily taxed Our long-term memory compresses events and is unreliable
Being Human We have limited bandwidth, especially when we're busy or focussed We are easily distracted We could always use more time We understand symbols, conventions, narratives and scripts We often believe other people experience the world the same way we do
Being Human We easily form social relationships, especially under stress We need feedback We tend to blame ourselves for errors when confronted with new technology We find our own uses for technology We are fragile, frightened and flawed
The Media Equation MEDIA = REAL LIFE
Being Human - Part Two We are helplessly social especially when stressed We cannot tell true praise from flattery Other praise is valued higher than self-praise Expertise can be easily conferred We more easily criticize to a third party We want to be polite and expect politeness We like people most who are most like us and like people best who become more like us
