New technologies
allow creativity to
blossom, whether for
reasons silly or sublime.

Simple text messages or
short videos qualify as
production, regardless
of their value. This
new movement is
about participating
and creating, invoking
the creative spirit—
this is what the
transmedia experience
should be about.

January + February 2010

interactions

the activity, whether as producer, participant, or creator. When playing a musical instrument, I am producing, and all the senses are involved. I feel the sound pulsating through my body. My mind is completely engaged with the music, not only with the emotional aspects and the sound, but also with the physical and cognitive complexities of the mechanics of playing. To me it is simultaneously frustrating and pleasurable. To the listeners, it is probably awful, but I am not playing for them; I am playing for myself.

The same holds true for the objects of our lives. We can purchase them in stores, bring them home, and either display or use them. They may give pleasure. But contrast this with objects that we ourselves have created or, perhaps, co-created.

Consider the old story so beloved in marketing 101 courses about the invention of cake mix. When the Betty Crocker Company first introduced a cake mix, so the story goes, it was supposed to revolutionize the making of cakes. Instead of toiling for hours, one had only to open the package of mix, add water, and bake. The result was a simple, satisfying cake. But the product was not a success. Housewives (at the time, the target audience— college students and single people were not then considered a market) rejected it. After a bit of market research, the Betty Crocker Company realized that they had made the mix too simple: There was no pride of ownership. The cake could have been purchased at a store. It tasted fine, but it wasn’t truly made at home, even if it was baked at home.

The solution was to modify the recipe to require the addition of an egg. This worked: Sales soared. Requiring a bit of extra labor gave the cook some feeling of accomplishment, a feeling of being the producer.

Today a reasonable number of
products are designed to require
work and effort on the part of
their possessor. The purchaser
must assemble IKEA furniture.
Harley-Davidson aficionados
often customize their motor-
cycles—many take their bikes
straight from the dealer to the
custom house, and even though
they do not do the customization
themselves, they spend consider-
able time and thought specifying
just how the finished bike should
look and behave. Similarly, many
home electronics can be cus-
tomized with “skins,” adjustable
features, add-on components,
and hand-painted exteriors. So
too with automobiles. One could
argue that part of the popular-
ity of social sites is that they are
personal: One is sharing personal
ideas and thoughts.