Working in the Interactive Media Sector
Working in the Interactive Media industry:
What will I be doing?
The sector's activities can be broadly grouped under these headings:
Many companies and organisations employ interactive professionals, including:
Working in interactive media is a team activity. Knowledge sharing and brainstorming are crucial to any project and everyone is expected to contribute. People employed in this sector must be able to communicate clearly and understand each other's demands. An understanding of time and budget constraints is also important. The people likely to succeed will be multi-skilled, able to move comfortably from one medium to another, and with the ability to go on learning, adapting quickly to new software packages and business developments as they arise.
What will I be doing?
The sector's activities can be broadly grouped under these headings:
- Business - this includes requirements analysis, strategy and concept development, product specification, project management, account handling and marketing;
- Content - this includes editorial, script and copy writing, and asset creation and preparation;
- Design - this should be seen in its broadest sense and includes information architecture, technical specification and graphic and interface design, audio design, usability and user interfaces, game-play, environments and functionality;
- Technology - this includes game engines, site building, back-end applications and the implementation of payment systems and security;
- Sustainability - includes localisation, search engine optimisation, quality assurance, usability testing and on-going maintenance
Many companies and organisations employ interactive professionals, including:
- Marketing and advertising agencies
- Broadcasters
- Charities
- Government information providers
- Educational institutions
- Games publishers
- Broadcasters
Working in interactive media is a team activity. Knowledge sharing and brainstorming are crucial to any project and everyone is expected to contribute. People employed in this sector must be able to communicate clearly and understand each other's demands. An understanding of time and budget constraints is also important. The people likely to succeed will be multi-skilled, able to move comfortably from one medium to another, and with the ability to go on learning, adapting quickly to new software packages and business developments as they arise.