[Sigia-l] IA for non-web based projects

[Gerry Gaffney]

> I've never heard of a
> user-centered media process, where themes, concepts, scripts,
> storyboards, etc., are somehow "tested" on users.

The Marx Brothers apparently used such a process. They trialled their
material on stage in various small-town locations around the USA, dropping
or refining material, before scripting and beginning movie production.

Groucho Marx was supposedly upset when pressured by to abandon this
practice, as the quality of the later movies suffered as a consequence.

This is recounted (though with little detail) in 'My Life with Groucho' by
Arthur Marx. I recall being struck by how firmly 'user-centred' the process
was.

- Gerry

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Gerry Gaffney
Information & Design

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-----Original Message-----
From: sigia-l-admin at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-admin at asis.org] On Behalf Of
Peter VanDijck
Sent: Friday, 14 May 2004 5:10 AM
To: Peter Merholz
Cc: sigia-l at asis.org
Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] IA for non-web based projects


> I've never heard of a
> user-centered media process, where themes, concepts, scripts,
> storyboards, etc., are somehow "tested" on users.

Sesame Street were famous for testing their shows on users (kids). They
would play a show, and have a room full of kids watching. There were
also toys in the room. They would then record, on a timeline, how many
kids were watching the screen at any given point and how many kids were
looking somewhere else, in order to measure interest. They then used
that information to make changes to the show until they got a certain
percentage of "attention".

I forgot which book described this.

Many documentary filmmakingg books also recommend making a rough cut and
getting viewer reactions. 

Cheers,
PeterV
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