Siska's Design Exploration: Interactive "Public Service Announcement"

Hi, how are you feeling today? :) Yay~ I'm the first one to blog in this class...
Anyway... on with my first chosen exploration blog--design. I choose to focus on PSA or Public Service Announcement in the form of interactive multimedia website.

PSA, we all have seen them or heard about them on TV, radio and prints. Most of the announcements are about the deadly effects of smoking, health issues, drugs, etc. But have you really ever pay attention to them? Sometimes they can be creative and interesting or they can be down-right boring, straight-forward and bland.

In this blog, I will explore a couple of websites which attempt to educate our young generations on the deadly effects of smoking and junk food/drink. There are many different websites that promote ways to quit smoking but this one really caught my eyes and interest: http://www.quitdoingit.com/

It is a unique and futuristic interactive website that targets 18-24 years old to quit smoking. It applies 3D experience and clean interface for easy usability. The message the site trying to convey is very straight-forward and (amazingly) easy to digest and understand by its audience. When you entered site, choose the macro selection for full experience of the site. You'll be then introduced to a sarcastic but totally hilarious host in white lab-coat; my favorite line of hers: "no lolly-gagging". She acts as the tour guide to the site so we do not have to figure it out ourselves. I am impressed and amazed at the clean interfaces of this site: user-friendly selections, clean graphics, etc.

There are three important sections in this site: Research, Development and Results. Sounds boring? In the contrary, its actually a very creative effort on their part to break down the negative effects of smoking and to counteract smokers' resistant to quitting. In the Results section they have provided us with links to: fixnixer.com and Quitline to help us quit.

Hey, actually I am not a smoker but I think this site is pretty effective in delivering the message across to its audience. What do you think (you smokers out there)? :)

Moving on, the second PSA website I choose is on the topic of junk food/drink. The site is provided by the British Heart Foundation and believe me it is something that you would not have expected from a heart foundation of any kind: http://food4thought.bhf.org.uk/

Its target audience are mainly kids and teenagers (maybe some adults like me?). The message that they are trying to deliver across to us is basically junk food is bad for you, period. But the way that they deliver it is what sets them apart from other PSA media of the same message. They utilized interactive games to motivate kids/teenagers to learn about the negative effects of junk food/drink.

As you entered the site, you are being introduced to a 3D role-playing style game (has a Japanese game feel to it too actually). It involves a lot of user participation in every aspect of its message deliverance. Coupled with awesome graphics, we role-played as a cute little character hopping (or shuffling) across the town to complete different tasks. There is a "main site character" called Sick Rick who would show us the foulest and most disgusting videos of junk food/drink. Basically, it made me rethink twice before picking up that can of coke... :|

Overall, this site is definitely one of my favorite interactive site because it serves its purpose in providing entertainment and learning experience at the same time. A great blend of humor, education and awesome design to keep our young audiences interested--a great way to learn about the danger of too much junk food! I totally recommend this site to all kids who is chowing down a Big Mac right now...