Navigators, Explorers, and Engaged Participants

Originally posted on 8.22.06

Over the weekend I had three different kinds of interactive experiences.  In each of them, I acted like three different kinds of people (more accurately mindsets). 

A Navigator.  An Explorer.  And an Engaged Participant.  Before I get into how I define these along with examples, allow me to make a few analogies:

Getting to the destination: Have you ever hopped in your car for your weekend getaway and all you cared about was getting there? You couldn’t care less about the scenery you passed on the way to the destination.  All you want to do is get to that beach house, cabin, or whatever so your weekend can begin.  Once you get behind the wheel—it’s all about navigating the path of least resistance.

Taking in the journey: Now suppose that you are on a different kind of trip where you’ve decided to take the side roads and make a few stops along the way.  You’re curious about the area you are traveling in and want to explore what it has to offer.  You still want to get to your destination, but the direct path doesn’t appeal to you as much as the more interesting nooks and crannies that you take in on the “scenic route”.

Stopping by for a spell: So let’s say that time isn’t an issue at all, and you really don’t have a pre-determined destination.  Let’s say you buy a train ticket to a location you’ve never visited and you spend the day there,  You visit with the local people, get to know a few of them by the end of the day, and even take some pictures back with you to share with a few friends.

So back to my three distinct interactive experiences that I had over the weekend.  While doing my online banking, I realized I was being a Navigator. I knew exactly where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do and I quickly plotted my course to arrive at my destination (getting my bills paid).

But then, I turned into an Explorer while going through the RPA site. The site has this really interesting way of “navigating” through it that allows you to move through 3 dimensional space.  There was also a more straight forward navigation bar at the top—but I choose to use my arrow keys to explore the space.  I didn’t care as much about getting to point B as much as I did they way I got there.

And lastly, I acted like an Engaged Participant while playing Verizon’s Beatbox Mixer which I came across on 3 Minds. Since it was Saturday night and I had all the free time in the world—I killed some of that time by playing with the very cool mixer.  I was delighted by the sounds and how I could manipulate and mix the vocals from each artist.  And when I was done, I shared what I had done with some people that I knew would appreciate it.

So that’s my story.  Sometimes we are Navigators.  Sometimes we are Explorers.  And other times, Engaged Participants.  And sometimes we’re all three of these and more.  Food for thought as we think about how we incorporate digital and non-digital experiences in our everyday lives.

Comments

[Jared M. Spool]

We see all three types in our research participants, depending on what their overall goals and context are.

[DA]

Jared,

Not surprised. Part of my inspiration for the post was to encourage us to look past the first mindset. Our goals dictate how we behave in an experience and sometimes it is more than the most direct path from point A to B.

[Bob Warfield]

People tend to have a marked preference for the experience they seek, although it is also somewhat task driven. It's no coincidence that your Navigators, Explorers, and Engaged Participants are really similar to some of the Myers Briggs personality types: MBTI is based on Jungian theories of learning style.

I've written extensively on how this sort of thing can inform the design of user interactions on the Web, particulularly in a the Web 2.0 world. See my blog:

http://smoothspan.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/web-20-personality-types/ (Introduces the idea of personality types)

http://smoothspan.wordpress.com/2007/09/03/what-personality-type-is-your-web-20-fave-part-2-of-web-20-personality-types/ (Discusses how existing services fit the model)

http://smoothspan.wordpress.com/2007/09/14/reaching-all-the-web-20-personality-types-part-2-on-web-20-personality-types/ (Discusses how to target various types with your own service)

http://smoothspan.wordpress.com/2007/09/07/twitter-and-fred-thompson-leverage-web-20/ (Gives an entertaining view of how one Presidential campaign does a good job targeting using this tool)

Cheers!

BW

[John Dodds]

I like this but think the thirs one is not just similar to an explorer but is in fact more of an explorer than your second option. I'd name them Navigator, Traveller (didn't like the implications of tourist) and Explorer.

[giL]

Hi David, another one of your excellences. I picked this story up yesterday just before I had to leave for a business meeting in a distant city so I printed it and took it with me.

I don't go out much and the train was late. So I had time to explore the people at the station, They all looked so lost with their office day jobs that I just had to take this video and post about it in my video blog (see here if you are interested http://individualathome.wordpress.com/2007/09/19/41/).

I guess you can say I started as a navigator but then became an explorer without expecting that to happen.

While staring at people at the train and looking for identified bluetooth devices (my favorite pastime at the train) I suddenly remembered I have your story in my bag so I took it out and read it. I then realized I just experienced what you wrote about and told myself tomorrow I am going to come back here and tell you about it.

Now I did that. and by that became an Engaged Participant. Thanks for your post.

[Jason Falls]

Another great thought. As I explore social media for clients, I actually suggested my title here be "social media explorer" as a joke. They're ordering my business cards today.

Sure hope they aren't counting on navigation. If so, I'm sending along your permalink!

[Rick Williams]

Great post David.

I watched a talk given by John Maeda at TED the other day where he talks about Simplicity.

I've written a piece which compares your insight with that of John's:

[link:http://www.pixelpod.co.uk/blog/2007/09/22/simplicity-vs-complexity/]