Monday, 28 October 2002

Book Review: Macromedia Flash MX Express. Title: Macromedia Flash MX Express Authors: Leon Cych, Benjamin J. Mace, Glen Rhodes Publisher: Friends of ED <www.friendsofed.com/> Published: 2002 Pages: 338 Illustrations: Monochrome CD-ROM: No ISBN: 1903450950 Rating: 5 In some quarters of the web design community, Flash is still seen as a great animation tool, but its other nature as a fully-fledged web application environment is barely comprehended.       In other quarters, designers are still using Flash in the most basic way, as a straight-through animation tool, but simple scripting that might nicely spice up an animation remains a mystery, and even tweens are a worry.       For too long in Flash’s early days there were too few, in fact almost no, books about it. Then the long drought became a flood, and there are hundreds now. I am not complaining—the era when those who had puzzled out some obscure mystery were keen to show it off but refused to explain it was a frustrating one.       But now, when a designer wanders into a big city bookshop and claps eyes on all those big thick books on Flash, whose titles link Flash with daunting words like Applications and ActionScript, eyes are apt to glaze over to mutterings of “later, later, one day….”       What has been badly needed is an easy introduction to the latest version of Flash, written with clarity and respect, amply illustrated, structured so readers can easily dip in and out to grab some pearl of wisdom that can be applied to the job in hand, and that invites repeated perusal. What we needed has now arrived, and Macromedia Flash MX Express is it.       Designers are visual people, and they need their books well illustrated with screenshots and examples. Flash MX Express includes so many that it has a 2-column layout—one for text and one for images. Illustrations are annotated and captioned where necessary, and there is a reasonable balance between screenshots made on Mac and Windows computers.       An error common in those big thick Flash books is the authors making too many guesses about their readers, skipping over crucial steps on the assumption that “it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Cych, Mace and Rhodes do not do that there, covering every step of the way through each exercise. You really can jump in and out, grabbing only what you need that day. The authors then gently introduce that designer’s bogeyman, ActionScript, two-thirds the way through, and follow it with introductions into components and video, both new with Flash MX.       Macromedia Flash MX Express is one of the best introductions into Flash MX for those new to Flash or who know they have been underusing its immense capabilities and want to dig deeper now. I hope that Friends of ED uses the same editorial team to write further Express-style Flash books in future. 10:00:49 AM    Add a comment.

Book Review: The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web. Title: The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web Author: Jesse James Garrett <www.jjg.net/> Publishers: New Riders <www.newriders.com/>/AIGA <www.aiga.org/> Published: 2002 Pages: 190 Illustrations: Monochrome CD-ROM: No ISBN: 0735712026 Rating: 4 Small book, big subject.       Information architecture is a phrase beginning to be bandied about in web design and development circles, but its speakers are often unfamiliar with the meaning of the term. In one case I witnessed it was greeted with giggles and guffaws of incomprehension.       Yet an industry-wide understanding of information architecture is crucial, especially now that the days of corporate web sites as little more than online brochures, or marketing eye candy, are well and truly over. Web sites, if they are to provide real value to their readers and publishers, must fulfil real business functionality. Above all their functions, look and feel must be aimed squarely at satisfying the reader and her needs, at providing the optimum user experience. According to Garrett, planning is the key. Five Part Plan. Garrett divides a web site’s planning into five parts, from top to bottom—Surface, Skeleton, Structure, Scope and Strategy. Bottom comes first, then you work your way to the top, the design and programming of the site itself. Garrett recommends that all sites are planned using this conceptual framework.       But, how many times have you seen a web site built in reverse—look and feel coming first, perhaps with some small concession made to planning the structure and the content to go into it? Practices still vary widely across the industry—Garrett makes an excellent case for adopting a more structured method, supporting it with sound arguments and good examples throughout the book. An Odd Omission. I have reluctantly rated The Elements of User Experience at four stars, not five, due to a surprising omission. It would have made so much sense to have published the diagrams and notes about information architecture located on Jesse James Garrett’s website at www.jjg.net/ia/ as appendices.       Books are made to be read in places you might not want to take computers—the bathroom, the bus, the train, in bed. I found myself wanting to relate Garrett’s revelations in the book to the more technical stuff on his website, especially his Visual Vocabulary. I could not do that, unless I also happened to be carrying my stack of dog-eared single-sided web page print-outs—not a pretty sight.       That small complaint aside, The Elements of User Experience should be bought and read by everyone involved in a web site’s conception through to birth—client, creative lead and chief programmer at the very least. It shows why someone must take responsibility for the project’s architecture, even if that person does not go under the title of Information Architect. The time when the title is in common use, no longer laughed at, is when the Web will really begin fulfilling its potential.       From small beginnings good things grow. 9:59:08 AM    Add a comment.