[IxDA Discuss] information navigation can be fun

[Eugene Chen]

This is really terrific:
http://www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html

Trying to figure out why...
- I think one thing is that so much space is given to navigating the space
and comparatively little is given to the leaf topics (just the box in the
lower right and the music itself). 
- Responsiveness! zero latency = no reason to stop
- It's always fun to check out an old subject in a new way. 
- You can multitask by listening to one item, while planning your next
selection.
- Some kind of interesting multi-channel juxtaposition going on. Like
listening to information or jukebox as wikipedia
- There is a particular aesthetic--this design makes drinking from a
firehouse seem fun. (this woudn't always be true and the exact opposite
approach could be cool too, but they really pulled it off)
- Getting lost is ok if you always end up somewhere interesting.

Usually I'm not so bullish on applying info vis techniques to designs,
because although they are fascinating, they often come off as convoluted and
unapproachable. But it seems like some of this could be applied to other
domains. For instance, when shopping for books, or wikipedia articles,
navigation is usually just a step on the way to item or article page. Why
couldn't it be more like spreading out a bunch of objects on a table and
seeing how they relate?

Eugene



Eugene Chen  |  User Experience Design, Strategy, and Usability
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