Brit Mansell :: Life’s Influence on Design

WordPress has just released an iPhone application. It works great for plain text posting, which should be fine for mobile posting.

More information can be found at http://iphone.wordpress.org.

This post was made from this new application.

Last week, I attended a presentation by Bill Abel at the June meeting of the Birmingham UX Group hosted at the Innovation Depot.

The topic was “Communicating Design”. His presentation was filled, and I mean filled, with wireframe examples and various types of charts and planned activities to evolve your users’ experiences within your website, application, etc. It was great to see how others dive into the same issues we face every day.

After the presentation there was a question about what software was being used by the group to develop wireframes. Most said OmniGraffle. Some were using InDesign, Photoshop and others. Recently (literally a couple of days before the presentation) I started using Fireworks for prototyping. At this point, I wasn’t comfortable enough with it to recommend it to the group simply because of some problems I was having getting printable versions of my wireframes.

Today is a new day. I was browsing through the July/August issue of Layers magazine, which ironically has a major focus on Fireworks CS4 (free beta download), and I noticed the cover article titled “Fireworks CS4 Beta for Web Design”. Not expecting to learn much, but optimistic, I read it anyway. As I read more I noticed it was driving more toward Fireworks as a prototyping tool. The inclusion of the “Common Library” window (contains various RIA and HTML buttons, etc.) and the ability to set “Master Pages” within your layout (from which your other pages derive their layout) are a huge help to the wireframe process. This drastically speeds the process of making layout and main navigation changes to multiple pages. The next part was the revelation for which I was hoping. The Holy Grail of printed prototypes; the Export to PDF option! Yes, it actually works as expected and exports all of your wireframes, in order, to a PDF file. It also mentions being an “interactive” PDF. I got so excited to share this news that I haven’t dug into the “interactive” part of the PDF, but I would assume it links between pages or something like that. If you read this and have any experience with this “interactive” feature, please post it in the comments. I will be looking into it over the next few days.

Along with the PDF export there are also a few other options for delivering your content over the Web: HTML and Images and CSS and Images. These also work as expected. Great features!

Until then, happy prototyping!

I admit it. I have a slight problem with buying backpacks and/or laptop bags. But, there are worse things, right? I mean, I’m not buying drugs or anything.

I’ve had a couple of people ask me about the backpack I’m using now so I thought I would just put a post up here about it in case anyone else cared. continue reading »

I have created a new category here on the blog called “The Perfect Studio”. Within this category I will be posting things that I feel will make for the most enjoyable and productive environment for a web design studio. This list will evolve over time.

Here are the initial items to add to the list:

1. Bakery – Yes, you read that right. I will have a part of the studio dedicated to a stove/oven strictly for the purpose of baking. It will be used daily, simply for the purpose of piping out the smell (and calories) from fresh baked bread and cookies. Those smells will put an end to even the worst “Case of the Mondays”.
2. Bright colors – The environment in which we work has a huge impact on our productivity and attitude toward coming into the office. “Bright colors” is simply a term I used to describe a well thought out interior design scheme. This includes the individual work spaces along with the common areas of the studio. Modern architecture is paramount for this industry. As web/media designers we are constantly pushing the boundaries of our technology and emotional platforms. Why should we be forced to work in an environment that does not do the same???
3. Windows – Not just for the one big corner office, but windows for everyone! Natural sunlight is a great aphrodisiac for productivity. They will also encourage you to get your work done so you can get out there and play.
4. Locker Room – Coming from a sports/Marine Corps background, I believe physical exercise plays a large role in the health and happiness in our every day lives. The ability to go for a short run around lunch time or ride your bike into work is something that otherwise wouldn’t be possible without a place to wash the stinky off.
5. Stairs – For whatever reason, stairs give off a feeling of excitement to me. Especially stairs that you can see through (spiral staircases, metal stairs, etc.). That may seem weird, but this is my post. I’ll be weird in it if I want to.
6. Expensive, Appropriate Hardware – Why would I use the word “expensive”? That could easily be substituted for “overpriced”. I say expensive because the staff needs to know that the ownership values them and their input into the studio’s projects. The ONLY asset to a design firm is its staff (well, and the portfolio created by the staff). Treat your staff well, they ARE the studio.
7. A TV – TV’s are distracting, but that’s kind of the point of having one in the office. One of the drawbacks of coming into the office to me is the feeling of being disconnected from the real world while I’m there. A TV in the common area playing CNN/Fox/Speed Channel helps to bridge the gap between reality and the distortion field within your workspace, thus creating a more enjoyable work environment.

More to come…