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Track Listing
Jazz Thing – Gang Starr
Act Too The Love of My Life – The Roots
Be – Common
Find A Way – A Tribe Called Quest
Life is Good feat. Mos Def – DJ Deckstream
Party Tonight feat. Jean Grae – Black Sheep
Things They Say feat Lauryn Hill – Method Man
Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) – Digable Planets
Drop – The Pharcyde
Solitaire – Rascalz
Success – Jay-Z
Don’t Let It Go To Your Head – Brand Nubian
Never Let Me Down feat. Saul Williams, Jay-z – Kanye West
Do What You Feel – Redman
One of the most exciting parts of interactive storytelling is that it’s uncharted territory but this can also be its downfall because it’s uncharted for the viewer as well. To put them at ease we need to give as much context for the experience as possible. Most users have no idea how they got there, where they’re going or how to get where you want them to go.
When we read a book we immediately know how long it is and and how to move through the experience. Most movies are between 90mins and 120mins and all we really have to do is sit there and turn off our cellphones. But have you ever landed on a site or fired up an app and immediately forgotten why you’re there? If we add some global context into the experience that reminds the user how they got there then they’re more likely to keep moving through the experience without thinking that they should be doing something else.
We also need to hint at where the user is going. This is usually done with a master nav that is broken into chapters or a timeline of sorts. The user wants to know that they are a third of the way through the story or they have two more hours to go. How often do you look at the run time of a YouTube video before you click play? You want to know what you’re in for.
Users also want to know how they’re going to get through the story. Do I have to click a hundred times, do I have to scroll to the bottom to see the next chapter? The easier the user-experience, the more seamless the story can become. Just read the press when a popular website switches their user-interface. Everyone hates it, because it’s unfamiliar. If we’re telling an unfamiliar story that requires some mental effort then don’t make user-interface a barrier. The less templates and the more repeatable the experience is, the more likely the user will move through the to an end game. Sorry interface designers it’s not about the interface it’s about the story so the interface should disappear.
These three interactive storytelling tricks will add context and give the best chance to tell the most complete story.
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Track Listing
Fast Life (Vinyl Reanimators Remix) – Kool G Rap and Nas
Who Dat – J. Cole
The Player Way – Mase
Young G’s – Puff Daddy and Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z
Get Money – Notorious B.I.G. feat Lil Kim
Beautiful Hustle (Green Mix) – Jay-Z
Finito ft. Pharrell and Lil Wayne – N.O.R.E.
Hustlin’ – Rick Ross
Raid – Pusha T feat. 50 Cent
Start It Up feat. Sway, Giggs, Kanye West, Swizz Beatz and Ryan Leslie – Lloyd Banks
Dammit Man feat. Lil Wayne and Lil Flip – Pit Bull
Door man prod by The Neptunes – Clipse
