Jon Sutton / Matt Isles Presentation

Ex Communication Design students Jon Sutton and Matt Isles work for BT Ideas (see website www.participateonline.co.uk)

SEMIANR
During the seminar, there was some interesting feedback and ideas from Jon and Matt about how to make our interactive service successful with the audience. A comment I found particularly useful was about how to make the audience feel like they are part of something by using the service, like they belong to a clique.

This can be achieved by having not just an interactive service but one that the users themselves can take part in. Some ideas I have had include interactive games, a feedback or comment system, or having some part of the service content generated by the users. This links back to the issues raised in the lecture by Richard Adams about the internet becoming a place of user driven content. I think this is something that would transfer well to a mobile service.

Richard Adams Lecture

USER AND CONTENT
One of the main issues that Richard discussed in the lecture and seminar is the changing relationship between the user and the content. The new user experience is one of a CONTENT that exists within a CONTEXT to suit them. Audiences are no longer waiting for information to be broadcast to them through ITV but Sky+ ing it and then watching it at a time that suits them. Similarly users are downloading episodes of Lost and watching them on their ipods, phones or PDAs during the morning commute to work. Information is no longer 'pushed' unwantedly onto the user at an inappropriate time, but insead is being 'pulled' from RSS blog and news feeds when and where they want it.

FIND SHARE PLAY TALK RECOMMEND
Another main issue raised in the lecture was the development of the web as a platform for user driven content and not simply a broadcasting channel. This has allowed for self organizing communities to grow on the net such as flickr.com in which users upload photographs to share, discuss and recommend to others.