Manovich deliberately uses a broad definition of new media and consequently his term new media object is also broad (Manovich: 2001). My focus is narrower. While I have chosen to adopt his term - new media object, I need a more focussed term to work with. I will use the term, interactive new media object when a person must use the work by manipulating a mouse and/or by typing on a keyboard. Examples of interactive new media objects are: application software such as a word processor or spreadsheet; interactive computer games; World Wide Web sites; and works placed on CD ROMs such as Puppet Motel.

This thesis includes a thorough deconstruction and examination of the interactivity in Puppet Motel. Most studies of new media projects have not deconstructed and examined interactivity. There are two factors contributing to this lack of investigation. First, new media is in its infancy, but the rate of development of new works is rapid. Because there are so many new works being created, there simply has not been enough time to thoroughly examine new media objects. Second, given the extremely large and growing number of works, the forms and genres of these works are not clearly discernable beyond basic categories. Works are difficult to describe because categories are in constant flux. It is through the design of interactive new media objects that we can find references to the more fundamental forms that interactive new media objects share.

Whether it is written in the standard computer language C or constructed using a higher-level construction tool such as Macromedia’s Director, an interactive new media object is a computer program. The planning of an interactive new media object has its roots in the computer programming tradition. I do not want to commit to a detailed history of computer programming, but it is appropriate to discuss two planning techniques relevant to Puppet Motel: the interactive storyboard and the object-oriented model.