Web interfaces: experimental screen designs

Overview

The project investigates the experimental interface design mainly found on the Web, with a focus on aesthetics and design by way of textual analysis. This doctoral study is part of the interdisciplinary research project ’Aesthetics at Work’, and aims to investigate Web interface design in its most untidy forms. The study is placed within a text analytical framework and will focus on the overlappings of aesthetics, interface design, interaction design and graphic design.

Aims

This project aims to:

provide a better understanding of dynamic web interfaces, and to relate these qualities to the aesthetic, their underlying informations systems and the overall communication that may take place through them
to critically examine and analyse experimental interfaces on screen but also off screen
to find ways of analysing texts which integrate key properties from aesthetics, interface and interaction and graphic design.

Concepts

The project draws on core contemporary concepts from communication and interaction design, from aesthetics and textual analysis. Attention is given to the spatial and kinetic dimensions of emergent web texts.

Methods

Textual analysis of selected web sites and related interfaces is the primary research mode. This draws on an extended notion of text, that is multimodal texts comprised of combinations of video, animation, written text, image etc. The thesis will incorporate numerous screenshots and their annotation as part of the analysis.

Analysis

Few detailed textual analyses of web interfaces and their related potential for interaction exist in comparison with for example user and usability studies. This project analyses the composition, construction, genre and aesthetic aspects of selected websites so as to pay attention to the compositional qualities and characteristics as resources for interaction and use.

Outcomes

An article based thesis is being developed, drawing on material from the project published in conference proceedings and journals. A contribution may also be made to an anthology emerging from the interdisciplinary humanities project at UiO called Aesthetics at Work to which this doctoral study also belongs.

Publications & presentations

Skjulstad, S. ‘”Flashback”: tracing developments from electronic paper to dynamic environments in the software Flash’. Paper presented at Future Ground Conference 2004, Melbourne Australia, 17-21 November (to appear in refereed proceedings)

Skjulstad, S. 2004. 'Ballectro'. Designing Design Seminar Series. Research mediation: Out of composition. 29 October. InterMedia, University of Oslo.

Morrison, A. & Skjulstad, S. 2004. ‘Towards embodied interaction’. Designing Design Seminar Series. Electronic arts: Dance and Technology. InterMedia, University of Oslo. 7 December.

Morrison, A. Skjulstad; S. & Smørdal, O. 2004 ‘Choreographing augmented space’. Paper presented at Future Ground Conference 2004, Melbourne Australia, 17-21 November (to appear in refereed proceedings).