Structure, causality, visibility and interaction: propositions for evaluating engagement in narrative multimedia

Abstract

Within the field of multimedia there are few methods, criteria or standards for evaluating the experiential impact of a design. This paper offers six propositions for structure, causality, visibility and interaction, which appear to produce cognitive, emotive and sensory engagement in users' reactions to a narrative multimedia design. The developmental approach was phenomenological. The propositions derive from a focus group study in which 12 users played with four commercial computer games, then we (and they) analysed their reactions. Two observations from the study inform the morphology of narrative. Firstly, there is a fundamental conflict between narrative in its traditional form and interactivity, and secondly, the primal features of narrative—causality, temporality and linearity—are disrupted within a hyper structure. The first set of propositions suggests solutions for such conflicts. These are spatial containment, causality, and demands on user's skills. Further propositions for engaging interaction are causality of dialogue, apparent intelligence of the program and hiding the delivery medium.