Early this year we marked another digital milestone. For the first time in history more people now access the Internet through a device other than a computer. This means tablets and smartphones are now the primary digital user experience–not the desktop.
Tablets in particular offer the chance to think outside the browser and create more “immersive” experiences using video and graphics.
The New York Times made some headlines on its own when it launched a tablet-first immersive experience called “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek,” by writer John Branch. The story at first is beautifully rendered text, but as you scroll down to follow the story you’re launched into a swooping helicopter view of the Colorado Rocky Mountains around Stevens Pass ski area. You can see in stunning detail each place mentioned
Clik here to view.
photo: New York Times
in the story—Stevens Pass, Cowboy Mountain, and a huge area of deep snow called a “powder stash.” You’re about to be guided through the experience of an avalanche, one that killed three of America’s best skiiers.
There’s an animated weather map showing a massive snowstorm hitting the area. As you read, pictures of the skiers and the rest of their party appear along the right-hand side.
This article is one of the first attempts by a major media outlet to create an experience that takes full advantage of how we use tablets. There are tablets designed for business use, but for most of us the tablet is best for “down time,” reading e-books, watching movies or browsing other online content.
Now the challenge for user experience (UX) designers is to design more and better immersive tablet experiences. These will still scale so they can be seen on a desktop computer, but they’ll be focused more on the multi-media, “touch and swipe” behaviors we’re using when we engage with our tablets.
And by the way, the New York Times story is gripping: “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek,”
