Research Project - Current Navigational Models

It would be difficult to develop a new flowcharting system without first examining the systems that are currently in use by multimedia developers. By doing so one is able to understand what needs improvement and what the ultimate goal of the new system should be. So let's look at the current flowcharting systems available for charting multimedia.

Surveying literature that exists on the topic of flowcharting multimedia and examining flowcharts created by multimedia developers indicates that there are generally two main types of flowcharting systems: Organizational and Navigational.

Organizational Flowcharts

These are the easiest and most common flowcharts to create using boxes and other icons. They simply plot how the content of a Web Site or CD-ROM will be arranged. This is sometimes called designing the information architecture. Organizational flowcharts are normally hierarchical in appearance and are charted top-to-bottom.

Example

Navigational Flowcharts

This type of flowcharting looks at interactive multimedia from the user's perspective. It charts how the user will navigate through the CD-ROM or Web Site using lines and arrows to represent the program flow. There are many different ways to navigate through this information:

Linear

In this instance the user is only able to travel through the program along one set path. He or she is not able to skip a stage, or progress backwards. This type of navigation is usually charted horizontally from left to right.

Example

In this case the user is not only able to move backwards and forwards through the linear path, but can also jump to a main location from which he or she can skip ahead to other areas. Again this type of navigation is normally charted horizontally from left to right, but the "Home" box on the top gives the chart a hierarchical appearance.

The tree design allows the user to follow pathways along "branches" that project from the main area of the program. If the user wishes to jump from one branch to the next he or she would have to progress back through the branch they are currently on to the main area, where the user could select another branch to explore. This kind of navigation is usually charted using some sort of loose hierarchical structure.

This kind of navigation gives the user numerous pathways to explore in a program. There is no main area from which the user must return in order to jump to a new area, and he or she can progress backwards, forwards, and in any other direction they choose. Charting this kind of navigation usually means creating a loosely connecting web of links and boxes. There isn't any kind of hierarchical order, so the boxes can be positioned anywhere.

The algorithmic design is considered by programmer to be the only method of navigation that utilizes the true processing power of the computer.  In an algorithmic design there is never a predetermined path the user must take, only a seemingly endless series of choices with a corresponding endless series of consequences, as illustrated below.  

Example

Many designers believe algorithmic design provides the most compelling, most realistic interactivity possible.  These games use sophisticated algorithms to define behaviour of the game rather than present pathways laid down by a designer.  The advantage?  The number of possible outcomes is nearly unlimited, given a rich set of inputs.  And assuming the creative spark of the designer can come up with the right algorithm, a game can be created much less expensively than one that uses massive data sets.

The primary difficulty with algorithms, then, is not one of economy, but rather one of technology.  It can be difficult to invent an algorithm that generates a rich set of behaviours that is appropriate for a given game concept.  It can be especially difficult to craft an artificial opponent to compete against the player -- although there are games where that is beginning to emerge.  In general, however, algorithms make much better environments than they do opponents.  algorithms are also poor are simulating human behaviour.  Even the most sophisticated adventures rely heavily on pre-scripted dialogues for character interaction.

Examples of games which use algorithmic design include: SimCity 3000TM by Maxis; Microsoft's Flight Simulator 98TM; and  NHL '98TM by Electronic Arts.

Hyperbolic Tree

Until recently the needs of most desktop computers were satisfied by what is referred to as a WIMP model -- a graphical interface based on windows, icons, menus and a pointer.  However, because WIMP interface layers open documents directly on top of one another, navigating through them requires the constant opening and closing of the windows.  The traditional WIMP interface remains useful for standard word processing and number crunching, but the newer technologies will start to deliver a number of alternatives, each bringing us to the ideal of the effortlessly controlled computer.

In an effort to solve this problem, Inxight, a subsidiary of Xerox's Palo alto Research Center (PARC), has designed the next- generation alternative to WIMP called the Hyperbolic Tree.  This component allows users to move quickly through large amounts of data by bringing documents in use to the center of the screen while branching related information to the periphery.  This navigational system delivers information on a contextual basis -- based on user choices, and can be used to deliver not only interactive text but entertainment programming as well.  This is the first time navigational structure takes into account the true processing powers of computers.  The computer processes this information that has been inputted by the user and delivers an individualized program unlike any other.   There are as yet no interactive products that have been designed using the hyperbolic tree method of navigation although the different search engines all want to move in this direction.

For more information on Hyperbolic Trees and to view demos visit Inxight at  www.insight.com  

Example

The goal of this research project is to develop a flowcharting system that uses the most useful elements from both the Organizational and Navigational methods of flowcharting. This system will combine the rigid hierarchical structure and content mapping of Organizational flowcharts with the navigational processes of Navigational Flowcharts.

This system should make it possible for multimedia creators to review and revise projects before the production phase, when all the shortcomings in the design become evident to the user of such products, instead of after the production phase when mistakes are costly to repair.

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