{"id":1452,"slug":"rule-pair-interactivity-with-restraint","title":"R5 — Pair interactivity with restraint: add interactive features ONLY where they let the user do something they need to; \"too much interactivity\" reduces deep elaboration","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["agency-methodology","editorial-discipline","interactive-tool-mechanisms","active-learning-icap"],"reference_body":"**Rule:** Add interactive features **only where they let the user accomplish something necessary** to the tool's purpose. Decorative interactivity (sliders, animations, drag-zooms for their own sake) **reduces deep elaboration** and can **net-decrease** engagement quality.\n\n**Why:** Oh & Sundar 2015 ([[oh-sundar-interactivity-reduces-message-thoughts-too-much-cost]]) — modality interactivity reduced message-related thoughts; **absorption can come at the cost of deep elaboration**. Sundar broader work warns of \"**too much interactivity**\" cost. ICAP's behaviour-based coding limit ([[chi-wylie-2014-icap-framework-interactive-constructive-active-passive]]) — overt behaviour ≠ guaranteed cognitive engagement.\n\n**How to apply:**\n- Every interactive feature must answer \"what user task does this enable?\" If the answer is decorative, remove it.\n- Prefer **message interactivity** (the system responds contingently to user input — calculator core) over **modality interactivity** (sliders, zooms, drags) when they compete for screen space.\n- When stakes are high (the user needs to *understand* the output, not just see it), reduce interactivity around the result to support elaboration.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"rule-default-to-directional-range-ungated","title":"R2 — Default to a directional range, ungated, with a loud \"this is a ballpark\" — not a precise gated quote","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"chi-wylie-2014-icap-framework-interactive-constructive-active-passive","title":"Chi & Wylie (2014), Educational Psychologist 49(4) — ICAP framework: Interactive > Constructive > Active > Passive engagement; ~8-10% learning improvement per step","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"sundar-time-modality-vs-message-interactivity","title":"Sundar TIME (Theory of Interactive Media Effects, 2015) — modality interactivity (slide/drag/zoom) vs message interactivity (system responds contingently to user input — defining feature of calculators/quizzes)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"oh-sundar-interactivity-reduces-message-thoughts-too-much-cost","title":"COUNTER-finding: Oh & Sundar 2015 also showed modality interactivity REDUCED the number of message-related thoughts — absorption can come at the cost of deep elaboration; Sundar warns of \"too much interactivity\"","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-engagement-mechanisms-top-up-smb-june-2026","title":"Research notes (capture-layer top-up): why interactive online tools are psychologically engaging — six additional mechanisms (June 2026)","kind":"research-notes","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-20T19:24:16.035Z","updated_at":"2026-06-20T19:24:16.035Z"}