I’ve said it many times before, “the webcasting industry is leaving out the most important part of any webcast – the participants.” Unfortunately, thousands of hours and dollars are spent on the analytics and data concerning audience engagement.
But what about the viewer's experience? What are we doing with all of that data? The usual answer is “marketing more products and services!" But what about when teaching or conveying an important message? How effective are we? Information retention and recall – what about those metrics?
The truth is that we really have no credible metrics of retention. However, there are studies done on audience engagement and reception by the almighty television/movie industry. Hypothetically, they may introduce fundamental truths about what makes an engaging screen performance compared to one that puts the viewer to sleep.
According to the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, movement and graphical changes can increase the mental energy required to comprehend a message. Presumably, this can help hold attention (think of shiny objects moving around!). In other words, we are drawn to the content that's moving and being displayed in an active manner. Our minds are curious and stay interested longer. You might even consider how many times the windows and camera angles change in a local newscast. Or you may notice how a financial segment may have multiple tickers of information going.
On a deeper level, when the mind decodes subtle changes in what it sees, it creates a new way of perception. Because of this changing atmosphere, we pay attention longer and comprehend better. This increases the audience engagement. Conversely though, the article adds that too much movement can be distracting. Specifically, it can cause confusion when decoding the information. Like an Oliver Stone movie with the cameras moving at a rapid pace - too much of a good thing…
While the mind is a very complex place, understanding the way we visualize could increase the effectiveness of exchanging information. In this day and age of information overload, we might just want to stop and examine what is going on before we create another pop-up ad.
At Xyvid, we challenge the status quo and are constantly looking for new ways to “Present Better”. Based on the information above, we have incorporated concepts of screen movement into our platform, emulating television sporting events and news broadcasts. Stay tuned for more exciting developments…
