Luge Crash at the Olympics: a critique

The Luge Crash at the Olympics is an interactive multimedia graphic published by the New York Times immediately following the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili during Olympic training. The feature breaks Kumaritashvili’s final journey in eight parts. It combines a three-dimensional course graphic with video stills of the fatal run. Each still is annotated with a short snippet of explanation, for example: “As he comes out of turn 16, he is very high on the ramp.”

The interface is simple, clean and understandable. The feature begins with an aerial illustration of the course. It’s white design sets the stage for a winter Olympic story and blends with the stark layout of the New York Times website. The navigation, placed in the upper left corner, consists of hyperlinked slide numbers, which (thankfully) put the user in control of potentially graphic material. Each click rotates the graphic through the course following Kumaritashvili’s decent. The three-dimensional graphics are clearly rendered and easier to follow than real time video. A yellow line drawn on the course identifies where the luger was at each point.

The Flash interface allows the publication to offer depth only possible through a combination of motion graphics, stills, explanatory text and an interactive map. There’s no better way to supplement the article than this.

If I were to change anything, I would probably add audio: live commentator thoughts or natural sound for moments captured by the stills, something to bring the user into the moment. Although, perhaps the moment is not where the user wants to be.

I would certainly remove the final “point of impact” image.