Tips on Presenting to an Audience
Design + Interactive Strategy
Thoughts on Actionscript 3
I've been meaning to write a little about the transition to Actionscript 3 from a designer's point of view. Of course, there are no shortage of reviews and posts on this very topic out there, but I figured I'll add my $0.02 anyway. As you're no-doubt aware by now, there are many designers like myself — even as I write this — banging their heads on any hard surface they can find and pulling their hair out trying to figure out Adobe's latest flavor of Actionscript. The move to a completely Object Oriented approach makes a lot of sense to someone out there, but certainly not to us — at least not yet.
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Woot!
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The hyperlink has grown up
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Staying Relevant
As I'm sure is the case with many people in my field (interactive media), I constantly get the feeling that my skill set is quickly becoming obsolete. With every passing day it seems like new technologies emerge and there are people all over the world pushing the boundaries of interactivity to a new level. So how do you compete or even keep up with all of these new technologies? You don't. You learn to evolve and adapt your skills to relevant situations and problems. And above all, you need to let go and realize that technology will change faster than you can handle. Of course there are things that you should be keeping up with. These are the things that keep you relevant in the field, regardless of what your field may be. 1. Read up! I am guilty of this myself, but I have found (for the most part) that designers don't usually like to read. Our brains like the big pretty pictures and skip over the "fuzzy grey stuff" otherwise known as copy. Well, there's no better way to keep current and relevant than to know what's going on in your surroundings, and most of that information is acquired by reading. Whether it's Wired's latest issue or yesterday's paper, having your focus shifted to something other than design might bring fresh new insight to your thinking process.
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Out with the old…
During the past couple of years, I've been focusing more and more on accessible design - especially in interactive media. I have become a big believer in design following function, and above all, letting usability dictate design as opposed to the other way around. All too often I find situations where usability in design has taken a back seat - and the result is not only unusable, but for the most part, it's aesthetically challenged as well. Anyone who's been around me or my design knows that I prefer a more classical style - almost Swiss International - so it should come as no surprise that I dislike much of the design that's happening these days. With the mind-boggling return of the insanely appalling 80's clothing - I have noticed other equally disturbing things trying to make a come-back (i.e. 80's hair bands - and yes, I'm guilty). But what I don't get is the obnoxious fluorescent colors and plain ugly graphics that seem to be popping up just about everywhere! Who is buying into this junk?
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To iPhone or not to iPhone?
That seems to be the question as of late. With Apple's marketing saavy and an eager fan base hoping for the next revolution in mobile technology, the iPhone has quickly gained an almost cult-like following - without even being released yet! An amazing feat for sure! So six months after its initial "introduction" to the world, the iPhone is finally reaching eager hands on Friday at 6pm, and in typical Apple fashion, the event is surrounded by secrecy and anticipation. So the question is, should you take the (gulp) $600 leap? Or should you wait it out until the hype dies down a bit and Mr. Job's Reality Distortion Field fades a little? Well, if you're a techno-goob like me - and you happen to have $600 lying around (not like me) - then why the heck not! After all, the iPhone's web browser and cool multi-touch interface are enough to make anyone drool! But if you're still unsure about it, check out some of the early reviews that have been pouring in! Mr. Mossberg seems to give it a thumbs up, and if that's not enough to make up your mind, there are any number of reviews out there that might be more to your liking. So will I make the leap? Honestly, I'd love to! But the idea of changing networks and dropping that kind of cash on a phone makes me cringe. Perhaps generation two? I will tell you this...I'll be sure to get my grubby little hands on one of these as soon as I can - I just need to experience the multi-touch interface for myself! And for those of you crazy enough to start making a line 4 days before the event...well, you make us proud! Techno-goobs forever!!!!
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Are you LinkedIn yet?
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Track Flash Events in Google Analytics
Since its introduction, Urchin has been a great tool for analyzing usage patterns on your web sites. With Google's acquiring of the Urchin tool, it has gained a lot in terms of functionality and more importantly - usability. Now that Google Analytics (free) has rolled out its shiny new interface, it makes things even more interesting.
I must confess, at first I found the new interface just as confusing as the first, but it doesn't take long to get used to it and fall in love with data analysis! One thing that has been showing its ugly head a lot lately is the need for Flash event measurements.
As many of you know, Flash has always presented some challenges when it comes to SEO and overall data metrics - since it's not native to HTML. There are a number of ways to circumvent these issues - which I will not get into at the moment - but almost all of them are pretty complicated, buggy, time intensive, etc. In essence, they make life in Flash even more difficult than it already is.
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The more the merrier?
Well, a lot happened in the world of tech today - at least in Apple's world of tech. Sure, there was a bit of a disappointment at the lack of hardware introduction during today's Stevenote, however, His Steveness did introduce a new item that I think will affect us interactive designers. As a matter of fact, I believe Apple may have just made our lives a little more difficult...or maybe not. We shall see. With today's introduction of a Windows-compatible public beta for Safari, I quickly started running through development nightmares in my mind. I'm not what I would consider a well-seasoned CSS developer, but I know enough to be quite dangerous at it - and one thing that became painfully apparent during my first projects using all CSS layouts, was the vast differences in browser renderings between platforms. And of course, all of you who have done ANY CSS at all know who I'm talking about (yes, the infamous IEv6). So needless to say, I'm a bit nervous that yet another browser has been introduced into this seemingly never-ending saga. I'm hoping that it uses essentially the same rendering engine (WebKit) as Safari for Mac, but I'm curious to know what kinds of "quirks" it might introduce when dealing with fonts...as PCs and Macs deal with these little rodents quite differently. On that note...I also found it curious that there wasn't much more said about the iPhone's "development" environment - if you can call it that. Perhaps I need a little more schooling in the land of AJAX, but as far as I know, Web 2.0 and AJAX are hardly worthy SDK candidates...especially for a cell phone. I wonder if this was a typical Apple cop-out of "let's give them something so they shut up." What a bummer. I was hoping that someone as innovative as Apple would understand the importance of letting people develop in this largely un-tapped market that is cell phones. (And by largely un-tapped, I mean development of applications that actually work correctly...and well...and by and large, that are well designed - as opposed to the 98% of Java crap that's out there today). Phew...I think I had a bit to say about that. :)
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