Armando Iannucci on interactivity

January 24, 2006 | Posted by stuartchurch | Filed under E-learning, Interaction  

While browsing through some old box files, I came across a Times article that I’d cut out by comedy god Armando Iannucci (of The Day Today and I’m Alan Partridge fame). Luckily, the article is still online. It was the subtitle of the piece that made me save it in the first place: Interactivity is a superficial sham leading only to hunger and emptiness.

The article’s main point is a political one but, as ever, it’s full of wit and insight as well. He even makes reference to interaction design:

Meanwhile, in the Natural History Museum I had my revelatory moment. I, my wife and children were all suddenly struck dumb by the futility of it all. Not the stuffed giraffes and elephants, which were terrific and, as far as we were concerned, suffered an extremely informative death. No, it was the relentless, raucous, lapel-grabbing interactivity of much of the newer displays that was so off-putting. You couldn’t walk a centimetre without a bright neon sign urging you to push a button to see how many farmers Mount Etna fried a year. Turn a corner, and a yellow motorised bumblebee the size of a fit gundog flapped down on metal chains and insisted that you find out how much honey was produced in Guatemala by shouting the word “buzz” up its fundament.

The sum result was a quiet disappointment on the faces of the children doing all the pushing and popping. The thwarping display cases invited participation in a process, only to lead you to the conclusion that the process was not worth pursuing. A large talking ant-hill urged you to spit on a glowing red saucepan to find out whether ants masticate grass. That’s exciting. So you spat on the saucepan, and a small sign lit up, flashing, “Yes. They do.” That’s dull.

Well worth a read (as is his book, Facts and Fancies).

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I'm Stuart Church, a user experience consultant with Pure Usability in Bristol, UK. Sensorydrive is my personal blog and covers user experience design, information architecture, product design, psychology, research methods, perception and pretty much anything else that takes my fancy! You can find out a bit more about me if you want...