The ‘Two Twenty Rule’

Producing interactive that is non linear without the need for an “end”.

Earlier this week I wrote an article for Mediapost Daily but thought we’d bring it into our blog and also gussy it up with a sweet,sexy image.

“Digital narratives” is a term mainly used by people in the entertainment industry who create longer, immersive and interactive content online. I want to point out that if you’re coming from the advertising world this post is equally applicable as we continue to see the rise of some fantastic microsites with high budget video experiences.

If you’ve heard me speak at events or programs on the topic of producing digital narratives (aka interactive storytelling — or any other creative combination of the two buzzwords) in the past year, you would have heard me refer to something I like to call the “2 / 20 rule” – which deals with the fact that every visitor is different and that their attention spans will vary considerably. To compensate for this, the idea is to design your site and narrative so that the content can be consumed effectively by people who are going to spend 2 minutes on your site, or 20.

Every site has a goal. Whether the focus is advertising, entertainment or documentary, each site has an intended message that visitors are meant to take away. Since time is precious and another site is just a click away, it’s important to remember that users shouldn’t have to go through an entire site to get the overall message. To allow users to see the content which interests them the most, remember to segment content into smaller sections by creating a narrative that is non-linear. In a non-linear setup, visitors don’t have to go through A-B-C-D to get to E allowing them to “direct” their own experience instead of holding their hand and dictating the flow.

Some of you who produce, direct or design might find this ideology a bit off-putting, especially a film director who is used to creating 90 – 120 movies. However, you must keep in mind that even though a visitor loves your site it doesn’t mean that they’ll go through the entire site and see everything. The reality is that a larger number of them won’t. A site with a lot of depth and content available gives fully engaged people with more available time the opportunity to see as much as they like, but its also equally important to design the site so that the user with limited time can also enjoy the experience. This concept is equivalent to the ‘short chapter’ approach in books — If the content is split into smaller chunks and you know it will only take 1 minute to go through it, you’re more likely to click to subsequent pages than if each page takes 5 minutes to consume. By presenting your site this way, you ensure that all visitors to the site will quickly get to the point – and regardless of which page they exit from, they’ll have gotten the message.

Take the multi award winning interactive documentary “Waterlife” (http://waterlife.nfb.ca) we created with the NFB as an example of the non-linear approach. We started with a homepage interface where visitors could essentially click anywhere to enter one of the 23 sections. The site was designed without a beginning or an end in terms of content. Each section would begin with an unavoidable and poignant message in the preloader, and then a section of the site would load featuring beautiful background footage, overlaid by voice overs, music and plenty of textual information and facts. The narration, short clips of video and large headlines appeal to the speediest of users who will absorb only the essential information, while those taking their time can continue to read through all of the research and consume the full breadth of informational content.

There will always be those who can cite examples or cases of amazing sites told in a linear fashion that amassed millions of visits where the visitor payoff may have been in the end, or the entire experience may have taken 40 minutes. I certainly recognize that there are a million ways to skin a cat and the “2 / 20″ rule may not be the definitive key to interactive success, but it is a great way to communicate messages effectively to a variety of different types of visitors. It is important to realize how wide the differences in your user base can be, and to be able to tailor the experience for everyone regardless of how much time they can or want to invest.

_Posted in General, Jam3
_Tagged 2 20 Rule, article, digital, narrative, storytelling, transmedia

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