TV or not TV?

National Geographic, along with its Magazine, Website and numerous other ventures, is also the proud owner a T.V channel filled with weird and wonderful documentaries. The subjects of these specials range from a close look at the legal marijuana business in California, to a week in the life of some deeply paranoid people from the northern states preparing for the Apocalypse. A fine mixed bag of the strangeness the world has to offer.

There is a section of Nat Geo’s website called ’Nat Geo TV’ in which it has photos, blurb and schedules advertising what’s on going to appear on the channel over the next few days. The descriptions of what are on offer are thorough and there is an ample amount of videos to be perused; but unfortunately this is the first section of the website in which I’ve become a little confused about what’s going on.

It seems that a variety of videos from different corners of the site have been thrown in together in a sort of haphazard fashion. There’s no real rhyme or reason to the bunch of videos available, it’s difficult to tell if one of the videos is a taster for something that will appear or NatGeo TV or just a random upload. So far it’s the first part of the site that hasn’t adhered to the policy of “balanc(ing) high impact visuals with uncluttered typography”. The whole thing is quite cluttered, fairly confusing and the visuals had an impact akin to a left-hook off an eight year old.   

Reassembling Crocodiles and Other Welcome Distractions

13 minutes and four seconds. That’s how long it took me to put a salt water crocodile back together… and I enjoyed every moment of it. This week, to my delight, I discovered the wealth of interactivity National Geographic offers on its website - and spent many a happy hour deep in research. 

 
The crocodile happened to be the subject of a jigsaw puzzle that I found in this interactive part of the site. The games and puzzles tend to be based around the website's vast reserves of photos in what appears to be a successful bid to get users to engage more with the images - and I found myself doing just that.

  Aside from jigsaws there are a handful of other enjoyable time-fillers to get involved in - including a match game in which you have to test your memory by clicking on two of the same photo and a slide puzzle that is, in my jaded opinion, very difficult indeed.

All this is, of course, lovely but the feather in Nat Geo's interactive cap must be what they've called the 'Infinite Photo'. This is essentially a photo that's made up a thousand photos, and each one of those photos is made up of a thousand photos, and each one of those is made...  ahem, I'm sure you get the idea. This is a genuinely spellbinding experience and it really forces the user to see the subtleties and fine detail of these beautiful photographs.

The thing that makes this this whole section of the website so interactive though is the fact that it's the public's photos that we are engaging with rather than those of professionals. The interactive section is located in a larger area of the site called my shot. This is where the members of the site upload their photos and, if they make the cut, they'll be displayed for all to see - and even possibly transformed into a jigsaw or some other bit of interactive tomfoolery.

           

  

Back to the Future... Via Hyperlink

It came to my attention this week while perusing the National Geographic website that the entire site was subject to a major overhaul two years ago. The official line National Geographic is taking on the change goes something like this: “The new aesthetic balances high impact visuals with uncluttered typography to provide a new standard in usability as well as a larger canvas to view National Geographic’s world-renowned photography”… and it’s difficult to argue with them on this point.

Breaking on Through to the Other Side

Upon my first arrival at the National Geographic website I was extended a kind invitation of membership by those in charge –and partly the interests of good well rounded reporting, and partly in the interests of stopping irksome popups (see right), I readily accepted.

In my first tentative step in the sign up process I was asked whether I wanted to sign up with my Google, Facebook, Yahoo or several other accounts that I may possess. What alarmed me was the fact that if I wanted to become a member of Nat Geo’s site I had to expose part of my online life to the publication – thus adding another tangle to the web of interlinking sites in which I’ve managed to get myself embroiled.

Though, in what I told myself was in the name of technological advancement, I persevered in the sign up. Almost instantly I began getting attacked with special offers on items from Nat Geo’s shop or chances to win a holiday to somewhere far flung, or whatever else might coax a dollar or two out of me. 

So I decided to explore the other gainful avenues my new membership of the website might offer me, and upon closer inspection I was met with a cul de sac. Aside from the chance to set up a profile page I could find nothing extra opened up to me. There is no denying that the amount of information on the site is bountiful, but I felt I was due more for handing over most of my personal life… even the bloody popups were still there.

I can see the obvious benefits for the website in having people sign up; there is the revenue that can be created from members through offers sent via email, not to mention the money that comes from advertisers knowing that the site has a large and dedicated fan base. A better tactic for encouraging people to sign up could be the promise of behind the scenes access unavailable to the great unwashed.

Websites such as The Boston Globe’s or The New York Times’ offer minimal information until membership is agreed. Granted the fact that these sites charge money for the privilege changes things, but it might be a good idea for Nat Geo to take, if not quite a leaf, at least a few paragraphs out of their respective books.

While obviously not putting huge limitations on the information available on non-member’s pages maybe it should be taken back a bit – the website can then paint a tantalizing picture of life on the other side of the sign up process, raising the incentive for membership. By changing very little it may be possible for the both the company and the viewers to gain from the wonders of exclusivity.