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We were tasked with identifying four criteria of good multimedia and selecting good and bad examples of each.
If the website takes too long to load, then users / customers will lose patience and go elsewhere, therefore the quality of the content is less relevant. According to a Redbus press release (Redbus Interhouse, 2006) consumers show apathy and impatience with slow loading websites and a website has 30 seconds to impress. A tighter timeframe suggests that ideal response times should be no more than 10 seconds (Nielsen, 1994a). In listing technical aspects of criteria for evaluating educational multimedia (Wood, 2002) it is recommended that information about file size is provided for links to video and audio clips, different bandwidth options are provided for video and audio clips and page download times within the site do not exceed 10 seconds. If download times are likely to be longer, users should be kept informed. When media is not optimised, then download speeds in mbps for users on dial-up connections will be critical.
http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/facilities/multimedia/index.php?Page=250
(please note that all the image links open in a new window)
This website was very fast loading. The various subject areas eg Botany, Genetics, Cool Stuff, all offer multimedia files and for each one, three options are given: eg view online 69Kb, PC download 437Kb, Mac download 253Kb. Media type is also specified eg Flash 4, and the need for a plug in is clearly specified with a link for a download. This meets the criteria for information provision as outlined above and moreover offers alternatives to downloads and details for different platforms.
http://www.bombaysapphire.com/home/default.aspx
It was difficult to find a slow loading website; most commercial and government organisations have now taken on the message. However, the Bombay Sapphire site did seem to be a tad slow. Evidence for this:
Also, every time the site is accessed, user details (day, month, year of birth and country of residence) have to be entered in a form and the user has to click to accept the terms and conditions, leading to a further delay. What is wrong with a simple box stating ‘I am old enough to look at a website about alcohol’? Do they think teenagers don’t lie?
If the message is not clear, the users will not come to the website. There should be no ‘maze of confusion’ (Brickell, 1998) and the website should evince aesthetics and minimalist design (Nielsen, 1994b). There should be simplicity, consistency and intuitiveness to the interface (Liu, Jones & Hemstreet, 1998) and pictures that are purely decorative should be avoided (Williams, 2000).
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/highlights/index.html
The NASA website is presented in ‘News’ style, but without the usual associated clutter. All the images are relevant and open up links to videos, images, podcasts, integrated websites and educational materials. The design is simple, clear to the user and fulfils all the criteria of design and purpose cited above.
http://www.thegloucesterhotel.com/
Everything about this website is bad. The splash page (shown above) has a brief ‘loading’ clip which then segues into the image shown above. All the images and text flash on and off, at different rates. The image in the middle moves from side to side and large / huge text images jump out at you. In fact on closer inspection (and at risk of a migraine) the red text jumps towards you, circles round quickly getting very big and returns to its place. All this is on a 1.5 second repeat. None of the images has any function at all; the only interactive part of the screen is the black text at bottom right: Special Offers – Enter Site. The rest of the site is less flashy, but still bad. Oh, and you can email the web developer, as if you’d want to do any business with him.
Multimedia should provide a positive experience for the user; in the case of educational websites, a learning activity should be facilitated. The four aspects of interactivity (Hedberg, 2004) are summarised as directing learners to the key components of the task; developing understanding of the context; combining media to make new concepts and testing out hypotheses. Interactivity enables problem-based learning in situated practical activities (Wild & Quinn, 1998), it gives adaptivity to the user (Eklund & Woo, 1998) and enables user control and freedom (Nielsen, 1994b).
http://www.edheads.org/activities/knee/
This website provides realistic interactive exercises in virtual knee surgery, hip surgery and choosing suitable prosthetics. The student has to select the tools for the job, move them to the correct position, decide on drug dosages etc. Although each activity is linearly presented, the user can choose the order of activities and excellent feedback is given when wrong choices are made. Different courses of action are offered and a variety of media used including video, case studies of real people in the industry. The cartoon-style presentation limits the gore, but there are also real photos of operations (very small thumbnails) if the student wants to see them. This site achieves the first three of Hedberg’s criteria (above) and would, with teacher guidance, address the fourth.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/games/
This website contains an interactive game, punctuated by quick fire revision questions. The first screenshot shows the game, which involves lining up three or more 'soldiers' of the same colour horizontally or vertically. The second screenshot shows a typcial question in the Business Studies category. Points and time are gained for right answers and lost for wrong ones. There are ten levels in the game of progressive difficulty. Although this is a useful revision aid, it is little more than a dressed up computer game. The same game is used for multiple subject areas: business studies, maths etc and the questions test knowledge at regular intervals. As a means of preparation for standardised multiple choice tests it probably fits the bill, but does not engage any higher level thinking. In the business studies area some errors in answers were detected too. The only learning activity this will facilitate is rote learning. The multimedia in this site acts as a drill sergeant, taking the students through their marching paces; it has little or no intrinsic educational value.
Multimedia is often used for navigation – if so, its intent should be clear and the user should know where it is leading. The ‘Web Pages that Suck’ website (Flanders, 2006) castigates ‘Mystery Meat Navigation’ (MMN) where users are kept in the dark or positively misdirected with multimedia navigation. This prevents user control and freedom, as outlined in the ten usability heuristics (Nielsen, 1994b) and removes the freedom of navigation from the learner (Eklund & Woo, 1998). Website effectiveness is damaged where there is disorientation, navigational difficulty and cognitive overload (Wild et al., 1994). I consider this to be in the top four criteria, because when it goes wrong it is so very bad.
http://www.greentreks.org/allprograms/prestigeoilspill/index.asp
This website demonstrates the effects of oil pollution on the coast of Spain. The presentation is atmospheric, evoking a stormy sea. Within the site, interactive multimedia are used for navigation on the bat pages and Planet PA. Navigation is clear and straightforward and the path through the site is clear to the user.
http://www.ub.es/multimedia/iem/
On loading, this page has almost no navigation visible. There are some links at the top and it appears to be the home page of a respected, if obscure journal. However, on clicking anywhere in the centre of the page (in the area of the book) a navigation menu appears on the left with several links. When selected these links open pdf files of rather strange ‘academic’ articles - in English but with poor spelling and grammar and dubious content. The whole site seems to be a vanity publishing exercise, albeit convincing in initial appearance. Marks for navigation using interactive multimedia: 0 (ironic considering the title of the website).
In researching for this assignment, it was discovered that very few websites have fully good, or fully bad, multimedia (the Gloucester Hotel being an exception to this, having no redeeming features). Most could be put into either category, depending on which criterion is being considered: for example the Black Tide website uses multimedia effectively for navigation and loads very quickly, with optimised video presentations – but the audio on the homepage cannot be turned off and continues when the window is minimised.
Review of TEEM website, knowledgeGarden Page (extract):
Brickell, G. 1998, 'Effective Interaction or a Maze of Confusion? - Problem Solving in a Multimedia Environment', paper presented to ASCILITE '98, Wollongong, Australia, Dec 14th - 16th 1998.
Eklund, J. & Woo, R. 1998, 'A Cognitive Perspective for Designing Multimedia Learning Environments', paper presented to ASCILITE '98, Wollongong, Australia, Dec 14th - 16th 1998.
Evans, P. 2006 Evaluating multimedia references and resources, knowledgeGarden, TikiWiki community, University of Southern Queensland, viewed 21 August 2006, available at: http://knowledgegarden.usq.edu.au/tiki-index.php?page=Evaluating%20multimedia%20references%20and%20resources
Flanders, V. 2006, Web Pages that Suck: Mystery Meat Navigation, Flanders Enterprises, viewed 21 August 2006, available at: http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/mysterymeatnavigation.html.
Hedberg, J. 2004, 'Designing multimedia: seven discourses', Cambridge Journal of Education, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 241-256.
Liu, M., Jones, C. & Hemstreet, S. 1998, 'Interactive Multimedia Design and Production Processes', Journal of Research in Cumputing Education, vol. 30, no. 3,
Nielsen, J. 1994a, Response Times: The Three Important Limits, Morgan Kaufmann, viewed 20 August 2006, available at: http://www.useit.com/papers/responsetime.html.
Nielsen, J. 1994b, Ten Usability Heuristics, John Wiley & Sons, viewed 21 August 2006, available at: http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html.
Redbus Interhouse 2006, Three strikes and you're out!, Redbus Interhouse plc, viewed 20 August 2006, available at: http://www.interhouse.net/media/releases/websiteresearch.htm.
Wild, M., Oliver, R., Phillips, R., Rehn, G. & Dickinson, R. 1994, 'What is the problem to which interactive multimedia is the solution?' Issues in Educational Research, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 57-79.
Wild, M. & Quinn, C. 1998, 'Implications of Educational Theory for the Design of Instructional Multimedia', British Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 29, no. 1,
Williams, T. R. 2000, 'Guidelines for Designing and Evaluating the Display of Information on the Web', Technical Communication, vol. Third Quarter 2000, pp. 383-396.
Wood, D. 2002, Criteria for Evaluating Educational Multimedia: Technical Aspects, University of South Australia, viewed 22 August 2006, available at: http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/Resources/Staff-Development/evaltool/evaltech.htm.