Interactivity & Interaction

Definition

Interactivity can be defined by three levels, first level is no interactive, where a message does not relate to a previous message, second level is reactive, where a message is only related to a previous immediate message and the third level is interactive, where a message is related to numerous previous messages which forms a relationship between them.

Above are some examples of interactions that might occur to you on an everyday basis, such as using a mobile or online shopping.

Interactivity can also be summarised as either human to human communication or human to artefact communication.

Human to human communication involves two different processes; human to human interactivity and human to computer interactivity. Human to human interactivity is obviously the communication between people whilst human to computer interactivity is the way and how people communicate with new media.

Human to artefact communication is between a human and an artefact, where interactivity takes place and refers to the artefact’s interactive behaviour and how it is consumed and experienced by the human user; it can summarised as the behaviour of its user interface as experienced by its user, basically the perception of the use and feel of the interactive artefact can only the user fully understand once it has experienced it.

Definition

The image above states the contiuums of interactivity, where you in vision the experiences and products that are in the process of interactivity and interaction.

Interaction can be defined as a kind of action that occurs between two or more objects which later has an effect upon one another. Examples of interaction would be communication of any sort and the feedback during the use of an operation.

Communication can be described as two or more people talking to each other creating an interaction amongst a group. The feedback aspect is that of the interaction between an object and the final result from it, an example would be a person using the computer to use the internet, the user could be using Google to search specific information, the computer would perform the request and will return with information (feedback) which is where the user can feel satisfied and can utilise the information gathered.