What new challenges does the internet give to designers? One of the biggest problems with internet sites today is that they don't help the user. Websites as a whole are geared towards people who are willing to work at a slow pace and wait for pages to load. A few years ago that was a technology issue whereas now it's more of a design issue.
Could you explain the Noodlebox part of the Amaze website? Noodlebox was me setting myself an agenda to look at the technology from an absolutely empty space and then see what I can do with it. The purpose of the project was not the little rooms themselves, rather the way all the rooms are strung together in a truly immersive environment. One other feature is that the loading screens, while something's being done with the network, always have something random moving around them - so you have a much more televisual feel.
How would you say the net has changed since you started using it? Not enough. The technology has changed beyond all doubt and the bandwidth has changed - though not that much. But there are accepted web "standards" with regard to design, such as frames and spinning-buttons etc, where there's no real technical reason to keep doing those things. There was a period in about 94/95 when people were saying that the future would be plug-ins. Now, if you look at the penetration of these things, it's actually going down as the average new user is using an "out of the box" installation.
How do you see the net evolving? I'm very dubious of Wap. Why would I want to use my mobile phone as an information network when I'd much rather just phone someone up and ask them? With regard to the future of internet design, I think there's a real need to look at interface and navigation. A much more interesting role for the interface is for it to look at what I'm actually trying to achieve as one whole process.
Any favourite websites? I believe there are very few websites worth using. I'm sure there are a lot of people like myself who don't want to look at boring screens of information or spend all day looking round for something. At the moment web-pages are aimed at someone who's willing to surf around. What happens if someone doesn't want to learn the interface of a site? What if they just want to get something done? Saying that, for industry stuff I like NinfoMania and Sabre Magazine. Other good sites are Colors Magazine as it's not just an online copy of the magazine. Creation Records has elegant design and branding. For seamless integration of the branding between site and product there's the WipeOut3. For fun/wacky sites there's Kid Koala sound toy and NetBabyworld.
• See Noodlebox at: www.amaze.com/noodlebox
