Developing an interactive timeline - Literature review Example

Developing an Interactive Timeline Table of Contents Developing an Interactive Timeline Table of Contents 2 Literature Review 3 Introduction 3 Interactive Media 4 What Is Interactive Media? 4 Comparison of Interactive Contents and Static Contents 6 Advantages of Using Interactive Contents 7 Disadvantages of Using Interactive Contents 8 Existing Resources and Software 9 jQuery 9 Java Script 10 HTML and CSS 10 References 12 Literature Review Introduction With the development of technologies, people have become more tech-friendly and therefore the urge of new technologies and modern outlook has become growing trends among the people of the present generations. This has led to the growth and development of different interactive media which have become very essential for the organizations and business establishments to implement these concepts in order to attract more visitors or customers towards them (Zoller Wagner Digital Design, 2013). The lack of interactive contents and outdated interface are the main factors that restricts the young generations of the society to show their interest on the specific websites. However, as per the recent trends it is being found that the rate of smart phone users are increasing day by day along with the rate of accessing the internet with their personal hand help devices. This has been an added advantage for the business establishments and the organizations to make use of the internet in promoting their products and services (DSC, 2014). Moreover, as per the recent trends the people are being accustomed with the use of various mobile applications through which they can access the particular website from where they can purchase or access their desire products and services. According to Liu & et. al. (2002), it has become inherently necessary for an organization or business establishment to make the user interface of their application as well as the website simple and attractive so that every people can access them and do not face any difficulty. Moreover, it is also necessary for the organizations to make use of interactive media that would attract the young generation people towards their website (Zoller Wagner Digital Design, 2013). As per the given study, it is required to develop an interactive timeline for the website of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle collection that would help in attracting more visitors towards their website thereby increase the profitability of the origination. The youth and adults of the present generations prefer to remain away from books and academic materials as involving in various social networking activities has become common among them (Palla & et. al., 2013). It serves difficult to attract these sections of the people towards reading books for which it has become essential for such organizations to implement an effective interactive timeline in their website that would help in attracting them and therefore spent much time in their websites. Interactive media in the timeline may be in the form of attractive texts, graphics, video, animation or even audio that would attract the people to visit that particular website and spent more time in them (Grigoreanu & et. al., 2009). It is a common trend among all people that they always prefer something that is entertaining and attractive in nature, rather than the static contents in the website that creates a dull interface. According to Liu & et. al. (2002), it is inherently necessary for the organizations and website designers to develop an interactive timeline that would allow the people of every generation irrespective of their ages to access the particular website without any difficulty. There are various people with deformities such as color blindness and old people for whom the letters and font size should be kept clear and large enough so that they do not face and difficulty in reading them (ATSF, 2002). Interactive Media What Is Interactive Media? According to (Johnson, 2000), Interactive media refers to the incorporation of digital media such as graphics, electronic texts, sound, moving images and animation that are being structured into a computerized digital environment, which allows the people to interact with the website as per their need. It is therefore an important communication method through which the output of a program is completely dependent on the type of inputs by the user and therefore affects the output of a program. There are two major forms of interactive that include video games and websites as continuous interactions take place between the users and the media in both of them (Grigoreanu & et. al., 2009). Television shows and movies do not fall under the category of Interactive media because they do not allow the interaction with the users. However, the television shows that allow the people to participate, mainly the live shows may be termed as an interactive media. Social networking websites are the most suitable examples of Interactive media because these websites makes use of electronic text and graphics to share information and interact with each other and even provide the facility of playing online games (Aikat, 2002). Similarly, in video games the players makes use of the controller or keyboard to respond to the visual on the screen as programmed by the computer. However, in this emerging technology interactive media is not only confined to video games and social networking sites, but the organizations and business establishments are also using the concept in their respective websites in order to make them more attractive that would attract more visitors and customers (Sperka & Stolar, 2014). Moreover, the websites also provides the facility to communicate to other users registered in that particular website or contact the support team of the organization. Properly implemented interactive media leads to customer satisfaction that serves beneficial for the organization in attracting more customers towards their company and thereby increases customer’s loyalty. However, it is very essential for a company to design the interface and the timeline of a website in such a manner that would be preferred by every section of people irrespective of their ages (Johnson, 2000). Comparison of Interactive Contents and Static Contents Interactive contents refer to the media contents in the website that allows the users to interact with other person or with the program as generated through the computer program. The interactive contents are generally formed with electronic texts, animations, moving images, audio and graphics that allows the user to interact (Aikat, 2002). On the other hand, static contents refer to those files and contents in a webpage that do not change on the basis of user inputs. Static contents are generally formed with Java Script, HTML files, Cascading style sheets and images (Chef, 2013). However, a static web page is also known as ‘Flat Page’ as it delivers information in the same manner as it has been stored in the server or hard disk. The static contents in the web page do not allow the user to interact with the website as it provides the saved information to all the people who are accessing the site. Static web pages are mainly the HTML documents and these are highly suitable for the websites the contents of which are very rarely needed to be updated. Due to the static contents of the website, the interaction with the users is not possible and thus it is considered back dated (Cohan, 2015). People highly prefer the interactive contents in a website that allows them to participate in various activities. With the help of software an interactive webpage is being created that provides an interactive experience to the users that help him/her to engage actively with the website (Grigoreanu & et. al., 2009). However, interactive websites have become an important tool for the business organizations to reach to a large section of people and attracts in acquiring their products and services. Interactive contents therefore allow users to go beyond viewing the website or read the text as compared to which the static contents fails to provide (ATSF, 2002). Advantages of Using Interactive Contents The growing trends of information and technology have created a great scope for the development of websites that allows an interactive environment to the people. According to Sperka & Stolar (2014), one of the most essential for a successful web page is the interactive contents present in them as they help in creating an interacting environment through which the users can participate in various activities. People always prefers an interactive content web page rather than a static content webpage because of the well developed interface and facilities being provided through interactive content web pages that attracts the visitors and thus they prefer to spend more time on that particular website. This is one of the major advantages of the interactive contents in a web page (Johnson, 2000). The interactive content in the web page has created a great opportunity for the business establishments to use it as a tool for attracting more visitors to the web page and thereby use it as an important tool for the promotion of their products and services. In this era of digital business marketing it has become very essential for the development of an interactive website that provides convenience to the users and visitors of the websites (Palla & et. al., 2013). Moreover, online marketing has become popular now-a-days and the success of their business highly depends on how attractive their website is through which various products and services are being displayed. People would prefer to shop from an interactive website rather than from a static website that looks dull and is boring (DSC, 2014). Therefore, interactive content helps in creating positive impression about the website that ultimately serves beneficial for the company possessing it. Moreover, through interactive content in website an interactive communication between the company and the customers can be established that would help in creating brand loyalty as well as customer’s satisfaction (Zoller Wagner Digital Design, 2013). One of the major advantages of interactive content is the scope of personalization and understanding the demand and preferences of the viewers. Through interactive websites, the viewers can directly interact with the company regarding the information of a particular product or services. Various databases of the viewers are being generated in the website that helps in various strategic decisions making by the company, holding the website (Johnson, 2000). Thus, involving interactive activities in the website provides an enjoyable experience for the visitors along with providing them various conveniences that contributes to the benefit of the company or the organization possessing the website (Cohan, 2015). Disadvantages of Using Interactive Contents In addition to the advantages of using interactive contents in the website, there are also certain disadvantages of using interactive contents. One of the major disadvantages of the interactive content in the webpage is the high loading time taken for the webpage to open that creates difficulty for the users and visitors of the website (Bluesky Interactive Ltd, 2015). Web pages with high media content utilizes more memory and thus due to slow internet connection, takes long time to open the particular website. The users sometimes get frustrated and move on to other websites where he/she can access easily the required content. Moreover, the interactive content in the webpage allows the user to share their views in the comment box. Therefore, negative feedback being provided by any user would negatively impact the business or organization holding the website as the comments being provided will be displayed publically (Sperka & Stolar, 2014). Another major disadvantage of interactive content in website is the high development cost involved in making the website. Moreover, the process of making such websites is also time taking as well as complicated. Among the interactive contents, the flash technology being used may hinder the success of the websites because for loading it may take long time and thus the website looses their visitors. There are also some search engines that fails to read the interactive and flash content in the websites (DSC, 2014)Therefore, the users are needed to opt for other search engines that are compatible with the interactive content of the websites. The users therefore would prefer to view the static website that would open fast and they can access the required contents of the choice. Even though Interactive contents have various disadvantages, in this modern era of technology it has become inherently necessary to develop website with interactive contents rather than static contents that looks dulls and outdated. However, with the help of effective resources and software the websites may be developed that would help on overcome the disadvantages of the interactive contents (Johnson, 2000). Existing Resources and Software jQuery jQuery is a highly featured java script library that is mainly used for the development of html document manipulation and traversal, animation, Ajax and event handling in a much simpler (Application Program Interface) that would be compatible with almost all available internet browsers (The jQuery Foundation, 2015). The software has been designed in such a way that a simple web designer with a minimum knowledge of web designing can develop an interactive and dynamic web page because of the easy to use interface and user friendly nature of the software. One of the major advantages of the jQuery is that unlike other software that requires to write a large number of codes, in jQuery small number of codes are required to develop an interactive dynamic website that would be almost compatible with almost every browser (Lindley, 2015). Java Script Java script is one of the most popular programming language, which is mainly used in order to make the web page more interactive. It is an object oriented, general purpose and dynamic programming language that have been designed with a view to help the web designers to perform various dynamic tasks easily in developing a web page. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and html are being used in order to style or add anything on the website, such as images and texts. Thereafter, by using the Java script the information is being made interactive for example, creation of slide shows in the web page and reaction on mouse click on specific events (Mozilla Developer Network and individual contributors, 2015). However, Java script is also known as scripting language that helps the web designers in developing various interactive websites. It can easily work together with the html source code and thereby allow the web designers to make the websites spicier with interactive and dynamic content. It is open source software and thus any individual can access the software free of cost without the necessity of purchasing it. Java script functions both as object oriented as well as procedural language. The major advantage of Java script is that it is easy to use and almost all the modern internet browsers support it (Ohio University, 2015). HTML and CSS Hypertext Markup Language or HTML is a set of codes or mark up symbols that are being inserted in a file in order to display on the webpage. The mark-up provides information to the web browser regarding the way of displaying the images and texts of web page to the users. HTML therefore describes the layout and structure of a web page through the use of various attributes and tags (Northern India Engineering College, 2011). The html code helps in proper formatting of images and texts in order to display them through the internet browser in the same way as they are intended to look. An internet browser would not be able to load images or display the texts as elements without the use of html languages. There are various types of tags being used to layout and format the information in a particular webpage that helps the users to direct to any other website with just a click of mouse. HTML provides a primary structure of web page on which the CSS is overlaid for changing its appearance (University at Albany, 2015). However, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is generally a style language that helps in defining the layout and formatting of various html documents that are in the form of mark-up language. Using the technology has benefited the web page developers to create and develop visually attractive and interactive web pages. Moreover, CSS also serves beneficial for developing the user interfaces of many mobile applications as well as web applications. The software allows the web designer greater control over the appearance of a particular web page, CSS includes colors, fonts, lines, margins and background images among others that are being used to create an interactive layout of a web page. There are a large number of options provided in the CSS that are more sophisticated and accurate, which enhances the scope for the web developers to create dynamic interactive web page (Rice University, 2014). References Aikat, D. D., 2002. Interactive Multimedia and Digital Technologies. Journalism and Mass Communication, Vol. 2. ATSF, 2002. Interactive Media— What’s that? Who’s involved? Elaine England and Andy Finney ATSF, pp. 1-12. Bailey, B. P. & Konstan, J. A., 2000. Authoring Interactive Media. Article. [Online] Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.134.586&rep=rep1&type=pdf [Accessed April 29, 2015]. Bluesky Interactive Ltd, 2015. The Advantages and Disadvantages of Responsive Design. Article. [Online] Available at: http://www.blueskyinteractive.co.uk/News/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-responsiv/3104/NewsDetail.aspx [Accessed April 29, 2015]. Chef, F., 2013. What Is A Static Website? What Are Its Advantages And Disadvantages? Web Design & Development. [Online] Available at: http://www.fatbit.com/faqs/pdf.php?cat=7&id=48&artlang=en [Accessed April 29, 2015]. Cohan, S., 2015. Static and Dynamic Website Design. Static and Dynamic Websites. [Online] Available at: http://www.allsquared.com/PDF/All-Squared-LVAC-Web-Design.pdf [Accessed April 29, 2015]. DSC, 2014. Benefits of Interactive Websites. Interactive Websites. [Online] Available at: http://www.dsc.net/interactive-websites/benefits-of-interactive-websites [Accessed April 29, 2015]. Grigoreanu, V. & et. al., 2009. What Designers Want: Needs of Interactive Application Designers. Oregon State University. Johnson, M., 2000. Elements of Good Interactive Media Design. Interactive Design, pp. 1-9. Lindley, C., 2015. Jquery Enlightenment. Article, 1-123. Liu, Y. & et. al., 2002. Developing a Scale to Measure the Interactivity of Web Sites. Journal of Advertising Research, pp. 1-28. Mozilla Developer Network and individual contributors, 2015. What is JavaScript? About JavaScrip. [Online] Available at: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/About_JavaScript [Accessed April 29, 2015]. Northern India Engineering College, 2011. Introduction to HTML. Article, pp. 1-18. Ohio University, 2015. Introduction. JavaScript, pp. 1-18. Palla, P. & et. al., 2013. Effective Interactive Websites: Examining the Moderating Role of Involvement. Journal. Rice University, 2014. Introduction to Cascading Style Sheet (CSS). Digital Media Center, pp. 1-8. Sperka, M. & Stolar, A., 2014. Graphic Design in the Age of Interactive Media. Article. [Online] Available at: http://newmedia.yeditepe.edu.tr/pdfs/isimd_05/16.pdf [Accessed April 29, 2015]. The jQuery Foundation, 2015. What is jQuery? Article. [Online] Available at: https://jquery.com/ [Accessed April 29, 2015]. University at Albany, 2015. Introduction to HTML/XHTML Handout Companion to the Interactive Media Center’s Online Tutorial. Interactive Media Center, pp. 1-43. Zoller Wagner Digital Design, 2013. Why Interactive Websites Are Successful. Digital Design with Marketing in Mind. [Online] Available at: http://www.digitaldesign.us/howTo/interactivity.html [Accessed April 29, 2015]. Read More