This week’s examples of database projects had varying levels of complexity, from the simplistic and beautiful Post Secret Archive to the multifaceted Hurricane Digital Memory Bank.
I found La Buena Vida’s reliance on man-on-the-street interviews to be somewhat boring and predictable. The site resembled another project we looked at this term, The Interview Project, with its array of videos you could click on, but it just wasn’t as engaging for me. It didn’t help that some of the videos in Spanish did not include subtitles.
The Hurricane Digital Memory Bank provided a fascinating look into the aftermath of natural disasters from a human perspective. We rarely get this in-depth of a glimpse into how everyday people are affected by disasters from traditional media sources. Sites like this can also be a valuable resource for governmental agencies – specifically FEMA, in the case of Hurricane Katrina – when looking into what went wrong in their response to a disaster.
Of the three websites, Post Secret was probably the most engaging for me, despite its simplicity. The premise is people’s deepest secrets are scaled down to post-card size and bared for the world to see. Some are funny, some poignant and others incredibly sad. A few I could relate to (I won’t say which).
I would argue that sites like Post Secret can help us better understand and empathize with each other as humans. We have no idea what people are going through and what they keep inside.
This leads me to my question for the week: Do you feel that a website’s complexity affects a site’s potential for engagement? Do simpler sites encourage engagement due to their simplicity?
I find that simple sites are the best way to drive engagement. Sometimes too many layers, as many of us have expressed frustration with, can prevent a user from really interacting on a meaningful level with a project. As someone who works on developing websites for a living, I always go with the “simple is best” mantra whatever the project is: e-commerce, corporate, agency, etc. If customers or users can’t easily find what they need or want on the site, the site doesn’t work.
Thanks for sharing