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Tutorial 6

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#6 - Multimedia Design for the Web


Alistair Sutcliffe, Leon Watts
Centre for HCI Design, Dept of Computation, UMIST
PO Box 88, Manchester M60 1QD, UK
+44 (0)161 200-3315; a.g.sutcliffe@co.umist.ac.uk

The tutorial has three objectives:
  • to provide a workable understanding of cognitive psychology that is appropriate for multimedia and Web UI design.
  • to provide knowledge of a design method for specifying information requirements, content architecture and designing web-based multimedia.
  • to explain guidelines and principles for designing usable and effective web-based multimedia and techniques for applying them.

This tutorial will give participants knowledge of and practice in a multimedia design method for web and traditional UIs which is based on extensive research published in several CHI conference proceedings and practical experience in industrial multimedia design. The tutorial is intended to provide deeper insight into the design process rather than pragmatic skill in multimedia development (e.g. how to use Director). Usability engineering is the main focus, although aesthetic aspects of media from the visual design community will be reviewed. The content has been developed from a course given to Philips UK, and incorporates elements from the multimedia user interface design standard ISO 14915, Part 3, which is edited by Sutcliffe. The tutorial presents a method that provides a comprehensive and thoroughly researched approach to multimedia design, based on psychological models of the user.

The tutorial will explain the following issues and provide design solutions for:

  • Specifying the requirements for information-intensive applications and their information architecture.
  • Selecting appropriate media to deliver content in a manner that is attractive and comprehensible to the user.
  • Ensuring the user perceives and comprehends important information in the presentation.
  • Designing web-based multimedia for effective user navigation and interaction.
These questions will be addressed by describing, explaining and demonstrating the use of the following research deliverables:
  • A method for design of web-based multimedia UIs.
  • Design principles based on psychology.
  • Guidelines for media selection and integration.
  • Guidelines for directing users' attention and navigation control.
This tutorial will be useful for anyone who is involved in design of multimedia systems, in particular web-based applications. It will be particularly relevant for web site designers who want to acquire knowledge for user-centred design of multimedia; researchers and educators who are interested in leading-edge research in multimedia usability engineering; and researchers and practitioners who are interested in effective use of the ISO 14915 standard, Part 3: Media selection and combination. The tutorial will also be useful for virtual reality and visual user interface designers.
No particular background is assumed; familiarity with web design and usability issues might help but are not essential. The tutorial is aimed at novices rather than web design experts.