Simple, Fast, Cheap: Success Factors for Interactive Multimedia Tools

In this paper we discuss some factors that contribute to the “success” of interactive multimedia development tools in non ICT professional contexts. We define “success” in terms of acceptability and large scale usage by entities and institutions who may need to build interactive multimedia artifacts but do not have a technical competence “in-house” and must cope with very limited economical resources. Think of schools or museums, for example, who may want to exploit interactive multimedia for communication or educational purposes. We propose that simplicity, low-cost, and short “time-to-market”, are key requirements for interactive multimedia development tools to be accepted and widely adopted by non ICT professionals. In this paper, we discuss an example of such a tool that meets these requirements and was developed at our lab within the Policultura Project. The tool was successfully used by cultural heritage experts in Italian small museums and by over 1300 students of 55 schools in Italy. We report an evaluation study involving students and teachers that highlights the educational and social benefits of our approach.