Stefene Russell

How Active is Inter-Active?

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"Interactive," like "post-modern," is an impressive word, though
no one precisely knows what it means. This can be confusing--not
to mention annoying-but the lack of a clear definition provides a
good launching point for brainstorming.

We'll leave "post-modern" to the Derrida theorists. What does
interactive mean, then? Let's break it down into components:
"inter," means through (a relationship is established between two
objects) and "active," means it actually does something. Using
this definition, a simple email form becomes "interactive." The
user acts upon the form, and the form sends mail. Simply put,
it's the cyber version of conversation: exchange in all its
forms. You just want the user to leave feeling as if they
received something, whether that is a return email, a bit of
trivia, or a slideshow.

Most of us (including myself) are used to thinking of
"interactive" as a Rube Goldberg whiz-bang collection of
interactive flash features or auto-checking radial-dot forms that
are smarter than we are. Of course, this causes us to push the
concept of "interactive," out of our heads, because it sounds too
complicated to be bothered with. But believe me, it's worth
pondering (and implementing) at least a few interactive features.

Here's a short list of ways to make your site more interactive
without drastically increasing download times, or giving yourself
a migraine as you attempt to decipher a complicated
audio/video/bell and whistle software package.

*Weekly newsletters (naturally)
*Discussion boards
*Professional tips and advice
*Printable "coupons" for goods or services (which rewards users
for visiting the site)
*Calendars
*Events related to your website's subject (conferences, speakers,
etc.)
*Recipes
*Free samples of your product/service
*polls and surveys
*Frequently updated articles (iSyndicate and FreeContent are two
good sources of copy. You can find them at www.isyndicate.com and
http://www.egoups.com/group/Free-Content)
*Q and A columns, using reader's questions (this should also be
updated as frequently as possible)
*Quick, reliable customer service
*Easily located contact information (name, phone, address, email)
*A bio page-if people feel like they're dealing with another
person (rather than a borg-bot) that's the original human version
of interactivity.
*Easy, clear navigation
*An order form/catalog/shopping cart that is easy to find, easy
to use (and hopefully secure).

You've probably already implemented some of these, but if not-
what are you waiting for? You've got nothing to lose--except
bored, confused users.

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