Deadbook
Interaction Designer, Usability Analyst and Engineer
2008
Description
Deadbook is an interactive story conveyed using social networking conventions. Participants register for an account on Deadbook.org, the social network for the dead, and engage in a developing story involving three characters who have recently passed away. Upon registering, participant receive a friend request from one of the main characters. If participants accept, they will have access to that character's Deadbook profile. The story is pieced together by the comments, photos, videos, and other information listed on each character's profile. Profiles and friendships are dynamically updated as participants progress until they learn the true nature of these relationships.
The Deadbook logo and splash screen
Roles and Responsibilities
I came up with the original concept of using a social network to tell a story. From there, I worked with my team to design and flesh out the interactions that would take place on the website, including friendship requests, comments, and video blogs. As content was being produced, I conducted a series of usability studies to shape the story and presentation in a way that was effective and meaningful to our audience. This was especially important due to Deadbook's untraditional storytelling format.
Browsing Travis's profile, a main character, reveals one side of the story.
Technologies
Deadbook was developed on top of the social network role-playing game platform created specifically for this project. It was written in Ruby on Rails interfacing with a SQLite database.
Downloads
A brief making-of video was made to offer a glimpse into the development process:
See Also
Please check out the following related resources: