Planet IMPAKT
Planet IMPAKT
Check out Planet IMPAKT yourself using the link.
Planet IMPAKT is the web portal designed as the point of entry for all digital events organised by IMPAKT. The portal is usually passcode protected– codes can be provided upon purchase, or reservation of a ticket. On the one hand, this allows tickets to be sold (or at least kept track of, for events with limited attendance). On the other hand, it is also a centralized point of access that allows us to contextualize the event: talks with artists are supplemented by links to their website and examples of their work; panel discussions can be placed alongside commissions and other related projects.
The portal navigation is designed to mimic an elevator: The visitor enters on the ‘ground floor’, where the stream video player and chat box are. They are given the option to journey through the different floors (each of which holds additional information relating to the event). On the top floor they can find the rooftop bar: an embedded zoom call where they can meet with the bar host, Andrej, who is available to provide technical support, updated program information, or happy to just chat.
Recent changes to the portal saw the addition of a Help chatline: alongside the other elevator buttons, guests of Planet IMPAKT can click the button that announces (via a pop-up speech bubble) that "I'm here to help!". The chat pops out in a new window within the portal environment. The chat helpline is not a bot– someone manually responds to the messages that are received. As such, there is an automated message that announced when the chatline is in service.
A further development speaks to the desire to make online audience members more visible in the livestream/during events: each time a guest logs into Planet IMPAKT the background graphic of the portal is populated with an additional bubble. The bubbles are coloured in a range of hues, but otherwise unmarked. Each bubble represents the number of guests present in the portal.
The discussion of the portal design necessarily follows from design decisions made for the festival. I would recommend reading the section about the festival for more in depth info relating to that. However, the portal is also used to access other digital events throughout the year.
Keep it Simple
Planet IMPAKT is always the point of access for IMPAKT events. Before the development of the portal, events were streamed across various sites (Youtube etc). This lead to divided publics, and less interaction between attendees.
The simple design of the portal is also in service of streamlining the attention towards the live stream.
Cultivate Collectivity
Having digital and physical attendees pay attention simultaneously is what ensures an active discussion during the event and promotes a greater feeling of collectivity. The bubbles that represent each attendee in the portal provide a sense of the collective without distracting from the livestream, nor requiring heavy computer processing.
The additional materials that are available on the other levels of Planet IMPAKT provide contextualisation that would otherwise only be available by being in a physical space, such as an exhibition hall.
The Rooftop bar is a place for aftertalks, continuation of discussion past the allotted livestream time.
Create Comfort
The elevator design of the portal pages was a choice to mimic the experience of navigating a building as closely as possible. Using this kind of mimicry mirrors what an on-site guest would experience in the physical exhibition hall. Compartmentalising the information according to this elevator metaphor helps to contextualise the material.