Janet H. MurrayRezensionen

Outstanding at parts, particularly in the meatier sections in the middle of the book that deal with emergence, agency and the possibilities of kaleidoscopic progression in digital narrative. This is certainly a must for anyone who wants to work with story-telling on digital formats. The only issue I would have would be in the slightly shallow handling of the first and last couple of chapters, which wind the book up and round it down a little poorly. Either way, I would still recommend this as a fascinating and in-depth study that draws many interesting conclusions.

A forecast of possible ways in which the future will use our desire for narrative. The projections repay further study.½

An introductory textbook on interaction design, distinguished by its foundational perspective on digital technology as a medium. Murray identifies four defining characteristics of the digital medium -- it is computational, participatory, spatial and encyclopedic -- and for each of them, introduces a wide range of design examples and tactics. She then concludes with a number of chapters on other design perspectives, such as computer as tool and computer as medium. The pedagogical approach is consistently based on a large number of quickly sketched examples, which offers great coverage at the expense of reflective depth. Another notable feature of the book is Murray's ambition to introduce the technical foundations of the digital medium, including binary arithmetic as well as programming principles. Personally, I would recommend more specialized sources for the aspiring interaction designer aiming to learn about digital sketching and the basics of the materials.

The computer as a medium for storytelling opens up many new narrative forms. Murray, who brings a classical literature background to the field, argues for the role of the author also in interactive media. The picture she paints is most closely related to roleplay, where an "author" has created the arena, the props and the core plots for the participating actors. Improvisation in a commedia dell’arte sense, where the actors play fixed characters in a repertoire of standard scenes, is another important element.