Thirsting for Conversation — 3D Carousels
Day 2: A case for Non-vertical (in)finite scrolling. Y u no innovate, internet?
Why is it that we still have primarily one way to experience the internet? Only one way to peruse content and one way to navigate? Why is it that any other UI elements are mere addons or extras rather than a true intent at new experiences?
Scrolling up and down… or just down, forever, is cool and all… it is indeed effective. I mean, it works… but why have we failed to really look for something better?
Something that doesnt have you swiping and scrolling forever and ever and ever creating artificial engagement; swapping the joy of discovery and content exploration, for the humdrum of vertically abusive scrolling.
It is with that in mind that I figured Id play around with alternate modes of virtual navigation.
Todays design idea takes the concept of the carousel and really fleshes it out.
Here, there are 4 versions optimized for specific navigation experiences.
All of these are intended to be the whole web page, rather than some ignorable part.
The first is for a more traditional 2D feel, but allows for the content elements to be interacted with flexibly (ie resized, dragged around, etc). I imagine it would be great for multimedia based pages with different content which can be experienced dynamically; like Facebook or Twitter. The spawn/end point would be how you'd fit ‘infinite’ content.
The second is for a traditional but innovative approach to static or controlled content, where most elements are of the same format… Like a YouTube or Medium. This could have the same infinite content, or a fixed amount. The fact that the whole site rotates to bring different pages to you, rather than the usual, is the main focus and effect of clean, controlled design.
The third is much the same: clean, controlled, different; but also adds a greater immersion factor via a 3D carousel that houses the content. It also holds hidden flexibility; such that one can still resize, drag, and even tilt or rotate the content elements. This is great for personal or company sites that want to literally immerse the user in their brand/site.
Lastly, we have the controlled chaos, the static immersion, the clean dynamics of a completely 3-dimensional experience. This would be optimal for huge platforms with widely, wildly varying pages and profiles. Perhaps a browser game hub or a creator platform meant to showcase unique things, or even a personal/company site with different projects and case studies.
This is just a non- exhaustive introduction to the innovation possible. Each of these examples and functions could easily be mismatched with any type of carousel or other UI thing.
The point is… let's get innovative!!
Create unique ways to experience the web!!
What do you think? Share? Recommend? Like? Hate? Let's Talk!
