Sunday, April 5, 2015

User Interface Victories and Barriers on Soundcloud, Buzzfeed and Facebook


Interactivity, is defined in Converging Media as, "the condition of communication in which simultaneous and continuous messages occur." Interactive media allows a viewer to navigate through content in personalized and exciting ways. In order for a digital media outlet to be considered interactive it must contain three elements. The first element is a dialog that occurs between a person and a computer program. The dialog must affect the nature of feedback received and changes as the dialog continues. In order for a channel to be interactive, the user must also have some level of control over the content that is being seen. Dialog in interactive media has made it so users are able to have a personalized relationship with web content and make it more useful to specific goals and interests.  The feature that allows for interactivity is called user interface.

Historical Development of User Interfaces

Television controls were our first introduction to interfaces. Though they were not designed to be interactive, using a remote controls or buttons on the TV were easy ways to obtain content. Converging Media, relates this first experience to the evolution of electronic interfaces, which have been influenced by technological and social dimensions. Remote controls, as stated in the book, have prepared us for the types of user interfaces we know encounter on the web. Ideal interfaces will come naturally and a user will only have to rely on intuition to navigate through a website. Intuitive interfaces are more useful to people because they make it easier to send and receive information. Because of the development of user interfaces and the various technological advances focused on them, traditional mass media has been challenged.

Interactive media outlets can be categorized into the ways in which they distribute information to users. Peer-to-peer applications give users equal ability to store, send, and accept information from others. This decentralization of content gives users the power and control over what they access on the web. Client-server applications have  more centralized information system, in which a distributer gives information to the user and has total control.

The User Interface Experience on Soundcloud, Buzzfeed, and ModiFace (#7)

Soundcloud is a peer-to-peer digital music file sharing service that allows users to upload, download, and stream music from each other. I have been a Soundcloud user for three years now and have come across elements of the website that I enjoy and ones that I consider to be barriers. Listening to music on Soundcloud is relatively simple. If you have a particular track or artist you want to listen to, all you have to do is type the name into the search bar and most times, the original song will appear. In addition to the original song, you can find samples and remixes made by other artists. I like the fact that users have the ability to save a track to their "favorites" list, make playlists, and follow artists they like to get updates on when they upload new music. Anyone and everyone can upload music onto Soundcloud. While this is highly beneficial for up and coming artists that do not have a record label, it presents a huge problem with the music industry in terms of copyright infringement. According to an article by CNN.com, total revenue from music sales in the country plunged from 14.6 billion to 6.3 billion in 10 years.







Much of this loss can be attributed to the decentralization in the way audiences consume music. The record labels are no longer the only distributors of music. Copies of music files are shared among millions of users without any compensation to copyright holders. This creates a barrier for users looking to listen to music as well. When a file is copied so many times, sound quality deteriorates, so on Soundcloud you are not getting the high quality sound that was originally recorded by the artist.

Buzzfeed, is a unique news outlet known for its sarcastic and witty articles on politics, entertainment, sports, and other topics. Because their audience is mostly comprised of college students and young adults, Buzzfeed uses a fun, bold, interface to maintain the user's attention. In addition to news articles, Buzzfeed also provides fun quizzes, videos, and tips for various life events a 20-something might encounter. When reading an article on Buzzfeed, I like how the author will provide hyperlinks embedded within to story to direct you to a different article to familiarize you on the topic. This is a very useful tool for online journalism because it saves the user from having to research the topic further on their own. However, the downside to websites like Buzzfeed is that on all of the article pages there is a comment section that can ruin the reading experience. There are certain online readers that like to engage in what is known as trolling. According to Converging Media, trolling is, "posting deliberately obnoxious or disruptive messages simply to get a reaction from the participants." When reading an article, trolling can be distracting and somewhat upsetting enough to make you want to log out of the website.

The last website I decided to visit was a virtual makeover website called Modiface. Modiface, is an example of Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality, "overlays digitized information onto what we see in the real world adding information that would not otherwise be visible to us." Users are able to upload a picture of themselves that appears on a virtual mirror, they can then access the e-store and "try on" makeup by putting it onto the picture they uploaded. I like this feature because it makes shopping for makeup online so much easier. Instead of guessing what shade may match your skin tone, or using models as a reference, you can actually try putting it on yourself. There are slight bugs in the makeup application system, but the website is still fairly new. Once they have more users, I'm sure it will begin to work perfectly and revolutionize the world of online cosmetics shopping.

1 comment:

  1. Your article was great overall. You were able to present the information effectively and your opinions of the websites helped it become more personal and not just informative. The headline was pretty explanatory. Maybe consider adding a "preview" of your review of one of the websites to improve on explanation. Your sub headlines were also explanatory. Maybe the addition of a bulleted fact after the sub headlines could improve explanation. The paragraphs were small and easy to read, great for scanners. The information was presented in a way so that if a person only read the first few paragraphs, they still would have learned something. Your definitions were also easy to understand and were not overly complicated. Your explanation of the websites and their functions were clear as well. I am familiar with Buzzfeed, but I rarely use Soundcloud and have never even heard of Modiface but your description of them, and the way you presented their "victories" encouraged me to explore your embedded links. The graphic was appropriate and was explanatory. There was no graphic placement after the very first paragraph, but it most likely could have been a generic photo. In addition to this graphic, I maybe would have added a graphic such as graphic a) from this link http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2014/06/26/streaming-isnt-saving-music-industry-new-data-shows This would just serve as a comparison between the decreasing in revenue for the music industry, but the increase in revenue for streaming industries, such as Soundcloud. Great post, which satisfied scanners, like myself, and seekers, interested in consumer opinions about various websites.

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