The Warp Pipe Theory of Interactivity
In the original Super Mario Brothers game for Nintendo, you could play the game straight through normally and be fully entertained. But once you discovered that you could press down on certain pipes to enter entirely new areas, it added a new dimension to the experience. Nintendo games still carry secrets today; there is always a hidden cave, racing shortcut or unlockable character somewhere.
The feeling of reward from finding these secrets is a satisfying sense of accomplishment. It's something that should carry over into interactive experiences more, whether it's for a website, DVD, museum kiosk or whatever. There's probably some economic law about the diminishing returns of secrets...but I'll just call it the Warp Pipe Theory of Interactivity™. Just like the first time you made Mario go down that warp pipe, secrets can add new layers and depth to interaction, but they are not necessary to the experience's success. They are the icing on the cake...well, probably more like the hidden marshmallows inside the cake. This goes beyond what some people call "easter eggs", which seem to have the connotation of being pointless with very little reward involved.
The advertising industry is infatuated with guerilla and viral marketing right now. Burger King's Subservient Chicken was an overnight success, but what gave it lasting power - the reason it has over 396 million hits today - were its secrets. Bloggers, email forwarders and communities everywhere were sharing keywords like Taco Bell or Crispin. Whether it actually helped sell Whoppers is debatable, but there was definitely depth to it. The campaign would have been nowhere near as successful if they had just put in a drop-down menu with 25 actions. The fun was in the discovery.
This is an idea I've tried to implement often. When drawing Second Nature in college, I hid a small star in every comic strip, and only explained it once. But people looked for it, and I would get angry emails if I forgot to draw it in one day. So even if the comic wasn't funny, at least you could find the star. Waldo is hidden on that treasure map poster from fifth quarter (if you're a PC student, go into Tania's office and look for him), there's a secret warp zone if you click on the green eye behind the sword in Miyamoto, and all sorts of small details are hidden in last week's robot illustration.
This isn't to say that Citibank needs an invisible question mark block on their retirement FAQ that gives you a 1UP (although that would be pretty sweet). But what if you clicked on the umbrella in the logo on the top of the page, and it took you to a video explaining the history behind the symbol? It's not necessary to the experience, but would be satisfying and rewarding regardless (as long as it doesn't interfere with the navigation or detract from the brand quality). The site would be that much richer, deeper, and more interactive.
If PC had a thesis program, this probably would have been mine. Either that or The Effects of Caffeine and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts on Sleep Schedules or Why Does Howard Hill Rock So Hardcore?. Those probably would have been more interesting. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going down the South Colonial Homes Apartment sewers; I heard there's a secret tunnel to the golf course.
Monday, October 10 at 11:19 PM
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