Excellent Multimedia Design - Part 2

In my latest post Excellent Multimedia Design - Part 1 I reviewed Avoriaz's website and how they made used multimedia to enhance the site. Today, I will be discussing the United States Air Force's E.C.H.O website. E.C.H.O stands for Enhanced Cognitive Humann Ops. 

Overview of Website

This site is designed to be a bit of a 'training' module for those that are perhaps considering joining the Air Force or those who are just interested in testing their skills.

As the site loads, the above page is displayed.  The number increases until it reaches 100. Once the site completes loading, the homepage appears.

The background of the homepage fluctuates as you move your cursor over it.  The design is overall minimal, but it efficiently communicates their message.  Once you click the "Begin" button, you are taken to the page below.

This image is a digital rendition of an Airman who will be your guide throughout the three challenges that are going to be presented. 

The first challenge is "Track and React".  To complete this, you will use your cursor to move a hoop around an axis to catch various "balls".  You will need to have good hand eye coordination to do well in this challenge. The longer the challenge goes, the more challenging it becomes. 

For the second challenge, "Hide and Seek", you are tasked with locating where a sound is emanating from within a 360 degree pixelated graphic image. 

There are four different stages to this challenge and in between each one, the pixelations go to this static state before reforming into different images. 

The last challenge, "Detect and Intercept", requires that you follow a "virus" to different so-called "bases" and then connect the dots in a predetermined pattern.  Each base has a count down and if you do not connect the dots within the 100 seconds, the base is destroyed. 

After you complete all three challenges, you are then given a overall score, along with a breakdown of the areas where you have strengths and where you have weaknesses. 

Multimedia Review

One of the immense strengths of this site is that it creates an interactive experience with the user while also educating the user, to some extent, about what it takes to be an United States Airman.  

The ingenious use of the pixelated graphics provides a "techy" feel to the page, that personally appeals to me. While one would think that it would give a distorted feel to the page, the page is still cohesive and easy to navigate and understand. 

This site also stores your "scores" and catalogs the users attempts at the challenges and then provides a comprehensive analysis of those scores.  

Overall, this site is very well designed and it almost feels like you are interacting with a AI.