The Spatial Environment in Multimedia Design: Physical, Conceptual, Perceptual, and Behavioral Aspects of Design Space

Multimedia combines a variety of media formats: text, image, sound, and movement into a dynamic environment that allows users to select the level of interaction and to make active decisions about how they access the content.' The multimedia designer must create an experience that anticipates and facilitates the user's approach and movement through the presentation, as well as the user's exit. The designer can offer navigational cues, but unlike the sequential ordering that serves as the underpinning of traditional media (print and film), multimedia offers multiple avenues through the material. These avenues through multimedia are digital rather than physical, yet the process of orientation and navigation have parallels to three-dimensional space. If we accept the notion that multimedia products can be described as three-dimensional form, the process of design must incorporate an appreciation for these spatial requirements. This paper will examine some of the processes and problems of navigation and orientation in multimedia by comparing the perception of architectural and sculptural space to that of the multimedia environment.