Developing Multimedia Principles from Design Features F. Nemetz P. Johnson Department of Computer Science Queen Mary and Westfield College University of London Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK Tel: +44 (0)171 975 5224 Fax: +44 (0)181 980 6533 (fabio, petej@dcs.qmw.ac.uk URL: www.dcs.qmw.ac.uk Abstract The rapid growth of multimedia technology has made it possible to deliver high quality audio, graphics, video and animation to the user. However, this growth in technology has not been met by a growth in design knowledge. While it is possible to have multimedia it is not at all obvious that we know how to design high-quality multimedia systems that are fully usable to the degree we should expect. To improve the situation much work is under way to develop guidelines, style guides and principles for multimedia design. In this paper, we consider what areas might be in need for investigation in order to derive design principles. Examples of these areas are given and a research agenda for developing principles for multimedia systems is offered. Keywords Multimedia system design, principles for multimedia design, multimedia features A. Sutcliffe et al. (eds.), Designing Effective and Usable Multimedia Systems © Springer Science+Business Media New York 1998