Years ago, I developed a fairly basic shopping cart. It served its purpose and went into service, where over the years, it was heavily modified but remains in use today. Now, for 2010, I’m introducing a new shopping cart. Something worth the wait for web designers.
Cut and Paste, PHP/CSS Shopping Cart
November 26th, 2009Bring Designers in from the Start
April 4th, 2009As I type this, I’m finishing up watching a TED talk from Jacek Utko: Can design save the newspaper? where he brings up a point that contributed greatly to the success of the newspapers, a point often overlooked by every company most of the time. That point? To bring designers in on a project from the start. Ultimately, it’s the designer’s job to take the end idea and mold it into something for the consumer, to their appeal, so it makes sense to bring them into the foray of discussions and planning.
E-commerce – Placement is Everything
March 24th, 2009From my experience in e-commerce design, placement is everything. Just like a grocery store with end cap displays, it’s what you see first that can impact your buying decisions. With e-commerce, it’s showing the price and button to purchase that become extremely important (as important as showing a photo), because online purchasing can be extremely impulsive.
Finding someone’s true skill level
March 23rd, 2009It’s a favorite interview question, as well as a favorite question to identify someone’s skill level, but does it really reveal anything? It’s often asked in two ways… “Do you use [insert software/tool]?” or “What do you use to do [task]?” Usually this revolves around two packages in the online design world– Adobe Dreamweaver and Adobe Flash. Both products provide great support for the production of their respective materials, but just as the age old Mac vs PC debate as to which is better, everyone always prefers their tools and argue they are better than the other option, all the while judging the individual who answers the question.
WYSIWYG
Dreamweaver is one of the classic WYSIWYG editors, and one of the best HTML editors available. [Disclosure: I've used it for many, many years, and I stand by the fact that Dreamweaver is a wonderful HTML editor. Note: I say HTML editor.] Most of the time anyone who argues against this fact is basing their opinion on it being used as a WYSIWYG editor, and showing their bias/ignorance. As someone who began writing HTML with Notepad and Netscape 2.0, I come from the camp who prefers text-based HTML editors. I used HomeSite for a very long time and eventually switched to Dreamweaver with the HomeSite/Macromedia merge.
At its core, Dreamweaver is a wonderful text editor with code hinting, coloring and formatting built in. Its “Design View” (or WYSIWYG mode) is a decent quick Preview mode, but obviously never surpasses a real browser viewing, and its built in CSS editor and File browser make editing and uploading quick and easy.
Using Dreamweaver isn’t the same mark of an amateur as FrontPage once was, as there are many ways Dreamweaver can be used. So to ask if someone uses Dreamweaver as a way to note their skill level is inappropriate and misleading.
Of course, there’s always different tools for the same job available nowadays– and I’ve tried various offerings such as GoLive, Coda, BBEdit, NotePad+, and so on; and while some have benefits over the others, Dreamweaver is just as capable if you’re looking at the HTML code and typing everything in yourself. In fact, I find it the most useful for a fast paced environment requiring many edits. However, I do admit, I am very tempted to switch to Coda.
Never should someone ask if they know Dreamweaver, but they should ask if they know HTML/CSS. This is the mark of skill, as everyone knows software packages change, working knowledge doesn’t.
So, do you know Flash?
With this question alone a true interactive designer or developer can sniff out a inexperienced or uninformed individual. This is similar to asking “Do you know Dreamweaver?” for a Web Designer. Answering yes to either question reveals nothing about skill, and unfortunately I feel I’ve had to inform too many people of the error in these questions.
If we take a look at Flash, we find there’s really two methods of working with it — and each method applies to a different mentality (developer and designer). Usually designers work in the timeline, animating objects and maybe adding simple actions, like stopping and starting a Flash movie. Developers take pre-designed materials and write ActionScript code to accomplish tasks. A Flash Designer usually isn’t going to be able to create a dynamic XML image gallery, yet a Flash Developer should be able to develop one in just a few hours. The proper question someone should ask is “What is your skill level with Flash?” Every “interactive designer” should have experience with Flash, and noting their experience should be critical in your decision making processes.
Defining a Role
These days, all web-related jobs are encountering changes. At first there were Web Designers. Web Designers were split into Web Designers and Web Developers. Then they were split into Front End Designers, Web Designers, and Web Developers. Now we also have Information Architects as well. Flash too, is quickly encountering the same principals of divisions — Designers and Developers. With the introduction of Adobe Flex, we’re also seeing the role of Flex Designer and Developer appearing.
The web is becoming too complex, and changing too quickly for one person to do everything all the time. So please, next time you’re looking for someone to hire, or create your web site, ask the appropriate question to determine their skill level. You’ll appear much more informed, and you’ll learn much more about their abilities.
It’s a favorite interview question, as well as a favorite question to identify someone’s skill level, but does it really reveal anything? It’s often asked in two ways… “Do you use [insert software/tool]?” or “What do you use to do [task]?” Usually this revolves around two packages in the online design world– Adobe Dreamweaver and Adobe Flash. Both products provide great support for the production of their respective materials, but just as the age old Mac vs PC debate as to which is better, everyone always prefers their tools and argue they are better than the other option, all the while judging the individual who answers the question.
Know Your Audience
March 20th, 2009When it comes to design it’s always important to know your audience. You don’t want to layout a new web site for baby-boomer aged women in a style meant for the MySpace generation using current techniques of hidden content and exploratory interfaces. There’s learning curves in the interactive world, that a lot of designers have a hard time grasping.
Don’t Let Technology Guide Your Design Decisions
March 1st, 2009If the first thought about a design project (specifically on the web) is that it has to be Flash, or has to be 900 pixels wide, or has to be PHP, or has to have that new AJAX sliding image effect, you may want to re-evaluate your methodologies for design. Yes, MySQL is different from SQLServer. Yes, PHP is different from Ruby. Yes, you can do a lot in Javascript now days. But this doesn’t mean the technology should be a predetermining factor for your project. Far to often designers/developers/managers get stuck on one technological aspect and continue with it because it’s comfortable. Not every web site needs to fill the browser window, just like not every web site needs to be in Flash. Let the design of information (and budget) guide your decisions in what technology or tools you decided to use.
If the first thought about a design project (specifically on the web) is that it has to be Flash, or has to be 900 pixels wide, or has to be PHP, or has to have that new AJAX sliding image effect, you may want to re-evaluate your methodologies for design.