For some time now I have been musing on the subject of mapping engagement through digital interaction. There are many ways one could envisage this being achieved - for example mapping by primitive interaction 'type' (eg drag and drop), by a more abstract sense of 'mode' of interaction (eg game play) or by 'user goal' (eg product selection), all of which are valid and useful (and possibly yet to come!).

However, all of these ideas struck me as being too granular a position to begin a mapping / modelling exercise from. Instead, I have evolved a more abstract, hopefully more encompassing, concept which uses the idea of 3 divergent axes to plot 'depth of interaction' against 'emotional engagement' and 'rational engagement'.

So what do these terms mean?

Depth of interaction is a term I will attempt to qualify more fully elsewhere but suffice to say it can be imagined in simplistic terms as the polarity between 'sit back' and 'lean forward' forms of interaction. Sit back being classic vegetating in front of the TV and lean forward being all mouse buttons a clicking, wii controllers a thrashing around etc.

Emotional engagement should speak for itself - this is an axis that extends from zero to a fully fledged emotional and empathic response, likely to be a mix of emotions such as excitement, awe, trust. From a marketing perspective this is the ultimate goal of brand communication - how does the notion of a brand make one feel? Hopefully the intended emotions!

Rational engagement is the axis that exists between zero and fully fledged intellectual stimulation. From a marketing perspective this could be typified as the successful communication of product detail.

This is what the model looks like....



Next to plot the position of common artefact types within this construct. (No mean feat!)