The Importance of Multimedia Design - Essay Example

Introduction Multimedia design is often guided by the cognitive theory which has developed from the cognitive science. Cognitive science involves the study of the human brain and how it relates to a variety of disciplines e.g. linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, computer science, artificial intelligence and biology. The importance of this in multimedia design is that it is important to develop systems that are easily comprehended by the human mind. Knowledge in the head and in the world It is frustrating to try to use an interface that is difficult to understand. That is why developers are obligated to develop designs that are palatable to every user. IN fact, a developer should put himself in the shoes of the users and try to think how the designs will impact on the intended target audience. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. However, the picture must represent a universally acceptable concept for it to remain relevant to all people. Giles Colborne (2010) is one of the persons that advocates for simple designs. Simplicity does not in any way mean that the design will not be crisp and clean. It only means that the designs will make the most sense to the intended users. There are many developers who make the mistake of creating every complex designs since they confuse complexity with performance. These are two independent aspects of a system and they are in fact mutually exclusive On the flip side, there is the confusion of simplistic designs and minimalist designs. Some people use the terms interchangeably but this should not be the case. As Giles Colborne (2010) points out, it is very possible to be simple without necessarily being minimalist. A good system should encapsulate all the minimum requirements that will meet the needs of the user. A very good design will go beyond just meeting the needs of the user and wow them by the much more functions that it can perform. A complex system can be redefined to be simple without losing any of the functions that it originally had. It is important to remember that the system is being developed with the main purpose of it being used by the different users. It should therefore be simplified as much as practically possible in order to increase usage. One of the things that have been misused by web designers is the help file. It is not just enough to post a help file and consider the job done. This, Giles Colborne (2010) argues is fake simplicity since it actually will not necessarily make the website more usable. When something is simple, it looks effortless. So it is always disheartening to discover how hard it is to achieve simplicity. Surely there must be an easier way to reach the goal? Youll find people pushing ideas to deliver fake simplicity (Giles, 2010). You might actually discover that you might not have really comprehended the development process of a usable website just as much as you originally thought you did. There are four methods by which one can make a design not only simple but also usable. These are removing, organizing, Hiding and replacing. An example is if you were to design a remote control afresh. The questions you would need to answer are; what are the most frequently used buttons? Where those buttons should be placed? Which ones are least used? Should the remote have more than one button of a similar function? These will help you as you go through the four processes of simplistic and usable designs. Learning the new terminology Steve Jobs has been attributed as one of the legends thanks to the revolution that he brought in multimedia. He inspired change in PCs, animation, music, smart phones, tablet computers and last but not least, digital publishing. Steve Jobs had an eye for crisp designs and that is what inspired the revolutionary designs from apple. When he took Isaacson Walter, his biographer, to have a look at the house where he lived as a young boy, he was first to point out to his guest that the house had such a “clean design ” As they moved around inspecting the mountain view calif, Jobs also pointed out that the house had “amazing little features (Isaacson, 2011).” There are many things that Jobs told his biographer about his dad. One that grasps the attention of the reader is when he said that his dad was very keen on the things that other people could not see. It would appear this background is what set him up to inspire many apple products. Arguably, apple produced designs that had “clean designs” and ones that had “amazing little features.” It can also be said that the company tried to stay ahead of competition by trying to see what the other eyes did not see (Isaacson, 2011).  Isaacson reveals how Jobs had a mind of creating clear designs by referring to both old as well as more recent products like apple 2. The hardware of apple was designed to be simple and usable but in addition to this, the software (also known as apps) was developed to have the ability to do many little useful things for the convenience of the user. Mr. Isaacson handles Jobs as a record biography. Even though he has previously authored biographies of other important people Like Albert Einstein, Writing Steve Jobs’ biography was different and difficult since he did at before the death of Jobs. Nonetheless, the book can be termed as on of the important chronicles of the Silicon Valley since it documents very many important lessons from Jobs inventions in multimedia and hypermedia (Isaacson, 2011). As the biography reveals, the first assignment that Jobs’ worked on was Atari. This is one of the old time games that might not ring a bell for those of the new generation. On the other hand, most of the inventions that were realized by Jobs at apple are not only relevant for the current generation but are in fact largely futuristic. One of the lessons that designers and developers can get form apple is the importance of metaphors that make sense to the users. But the use of metaphors is not the only thing that is needed. It is imperative to have a graphical user interface that is easy to navigate and that is comprehensible. As Isaacson points out, the user interface on most of the devices developed by Apple were easy to use and they were interactive too. He says that they powered up “like the face of a tickled baby (Isaacson, 2011).” Isaacson also talks about the contribution that Jobs did in music. The invention if the iPod and iTunes is simply revolutionary. What however stands tall in the book is the fact that the ideas that Jobs introduced are in fact not very complex ideas. They are just simple solutions to solve simple problems that we all experience in the day to day life. For instance, inventing a way of sharing mp3s may not be as revolutionary as Einstein’s relativity theory. However, it is something that makes him be placed in the same league with Einstein as far as his biographer is concerned (Isaacson, 2011).The lesson that therefore comes out very strongly is that creating designs that are simple is the most important thing for any developer. Such designs are usually informed by the need that has been identified in a given market. I am here to serve my client In the Mau’s verbatim, “massive change is not about the world of design but the design of the world (Mau, 2004).” Mau believes that the world we live in is a world of intelligent design. Anyone that is involved in the process of design of anything can therefore find it easier if he was to get inspired from the designed world. He believes that the designer should not just be controlled by what he sees but that inspiration should go a long way into coming up with unique designs (Mau, 2004). Functionality is a key driver in the development of multimedia and hyper media concepts. Designers are challenged to go beyond what they see and start thinking of how things work. Mau came up with what he calls, “pattern massive change” which was developed on the foundation of hundreds of designs he discovered in the world after conducting a survey. These are designs that are being used by the designers to cause a positive impact on the world (Mau, 2004). These concepts are important in the multimedia design. In the same way that Mau believes every designer should try to serve the universe by his designers, the web designer should always try to serve his r her client. Many clients have an idea of what they want even thought they can not create the solutions themselves. It is upon the shoulders of the designer to make sure the designs meets the clients’ specifications and reflects what he believes in. For instance; different people have different theme colors for their different organizations (Mau, 2004). The importance of interactivity in the design of multimedia applications can not be bargained. People do not want to use applications that are boring and that spur no excitement. Designers are obligated to “mix business with pleasure” so as to increase the usability of the applications they have developed. For instance, multimedia has greatly revolutionized the way students get information. Today, it is possible to integrate videos, audios, animations and many other types of hypermedia and multimedia in students’ tutorials. This makes the learning process not only easy but also fun not only for the students but also for the instructors (Mau, 2004). However, some experts warn that the use of multimedia might be counterproductive if not used well. For instance, Students might be carried away by the animations and videos until they forget the principle that is trying to be made by the lesson. As a rule of thumb, the designers should know the equilibrium point during the development to ensure they neither use too little multimedia and hypermedia and that they also do not overdo it. Conclusion A good multimedia designer does not just think about creating a solution that satisfies him but one that is simple to use and one that can be easily accepted by the users. Coming up with such designs is a lengthy process that involves the assessment of the client’s needs and coming up with designs that are customized to meet these needs. How usable a system is goes along way into determining is it will be readily accepted or not. The use of metaphors is one of the ways that can be used to make a system as usable as possible. For instance, the house icon has traditionally been used to mean “home” on websites. This is a metaphor that would make sense to anybody including those that speak another language. References Giles, C. (2010).Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design. New York: New Riders Isaacson, W. (2011). Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography. New York: Little Brown Book Group Mau, B. (2004) .Massive change. Ottawa, Ontario: Phaïdon Read More