IMAGE OPTIMIZATION [frontent, vd] ****
-good review of save for web in Photoshop and Imageready
-learn how to use alpha mask compression
PHOTOSHOP AND FLASH [vd] **
-a guy from Adobe showed a lot of workarounds in Photoshop that are ten times easier in Fireworks
-airtightinteractive.com has a cool flash based slideshow called simpleviewer
FLASH VIDEO [vd, frontend] ***
-good info here
-65% of users have flash 7
-3 ways to do flash video: 1. inside Flash, 2. Flash Video exporter plugin for video apps, 3. Sorensen Squeeze (SQUEEZE IS BEST)
-make flash frame rate match the video frame rate!! or the sound won't sync.
-2 pass compression recommended
-import the FLV into a movie clip - not on the main timeline
-look into behaviors palette in flash to see what it can do
-look at the video component
-showed his isight live video inside of a SWF. GOTCHA this doesnt work if the SWF is narrower than the size of the contextual menu inside flash
-communitymx.com
Friday, July 23, 2004
Seattle Design Conference - DAY 3, morning
ECOMMERCE [nobody] ***
-good introduction to low budget ecommerce
APPLESCRIPT [nobody] **
-guy showed how he uses applescript to create Quark layouts for those fancy weather reports that you see in the newspaper
FLASH MX TIPS [vd] *-nothing new here. disappointing beginner level
MACROMEDIA CENTRAL [vd] ****
-good introduction to Macromedia Central
-not catching on yet - but a pretty good idea - keep an eye on it
FLASH ACCESSIBILITY [vi, ia, frontend] **
-bottom line is that Flash doesn't live up to its accessibility claims
-lots of bad gotchas getting accessibility to work in Flash
-use Flash only for media demonstrations
-OR have two versions of the site (Flash & html) that both use one source of data
-good introduction to low budget ecommerce
APPLESCRIPT [nobody] **
-guy showed how he uses applescript to create Quark layouts for those fancy weather reports that you see in the newspaper
FLASH MX TIPS [vd] *-nothing new here. disappointing beginner level
MACROMEDIA CENTRAL [vd] ****
-good introduction to Macromedia Central
-not catching on yet - but a pretty good idea - keep an eye on it
FLASH ACCESSIBILITY [vi, ia, frontend] **
-bottom line is that Flash doesn't live up to its accessibility claims
-lots of bad gotchas getting accessibility to work in Flash
-use Flash only for media demonstrations
-OR have two versions of the site (Flash & html) that both use one source of data
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Seattle Design Conference - DAY 2, Afternoon
DREAMWEAVER INTERACTIVITY [frontend, vd] ***
-demonstrated a bunch more behaviors
-Flash Media Objects - learn how to make these (Flash slide show Media Object built into Dreamweaver was intriguing)
BROWSER COMPATIBILITY [frontend] ***
-Dreamweaver has great built-in validation aids
-you can edit the Dreamwaever config files to tailor it to your needs
-DW toolbar shiws "/ ! \" icon when there are errors
-errors are underlined in DW with a red line - roll over them to see the error
-Resources:
-communitymx.com
-webstandards.com-eric myer(s) CSS guru
-csszengarden
-BOOK: Standards Based Web Design, Jeff Zeldman (BUY THIS)
-browsercam.com -renders your site in any old browser and sends you screen grabs
-browsers.evolt.org - a site that has installers of all the old browsers
Wisdom nuggets:
-the longer you are complacent, the longer it will take to get caught up
-if you master the new standards (CSS, XHTML), your site will work in all media- the standards are media independent
-demonstrated a bunch more behaviors
-Flash Media Objects - learn how to make these (Flash slide show Media Object built into Dreamweaver was intriguing)
BROWSER COMPATIBILITY [frontend] ***
-Dreamweaver has great built-in validation aids
-you can edit the Dreamwaever config files to tailor it to your needs
-DW toolbar shiws "/ ! \" icon when there are errors
-errors are underlined in DW with a red line - roll over them to see the error
-Resources:
-communitymx.com
-webstandards.com-eric myer(s) CSS guru
-csszengarden
-BOOK: Standards Based Web Design, Jeff Zeldman (BUY THIS)
-browsercam.com -renders your site in any old browser and sends you screen grabs
-browsers.evolt.org - a site that has installers of all the old browsers
Wisdom nuggets:
-the longer you are complacent, the longer it will take to get caught up
-if you master the new standards (CSS, XHTML), your site will work in all media- the standards are media independent
Seattle Design Conference - DAY 2, morning
BLOGGING/RSS [everyone] *****!
-This session was electrifying - like when I saw the web for the first time
-speaker made the claim that Blogging/RSS is as big as when the web was first introduced
-Blogging is content management that works (and its free). He made the claim that it is just as good as a $100,000 Content Management System
-Search engines favor blogs over traditional sites because they have tons of cross-linking (this boosts rankings. They are also favored because the nature of a blog is frequently updated content (also boosts rankings)
-A blog gives twice the visibility than a web site gives
-adding an entry to a blog automatically:
1. makes you add meta information,
2. adds to your RSS feed,
3. archives your data-soon, browsers are going to be less used than RSS readers. Web sites will not be the first place people will go
-The speaker will hold a Bloging/RSS conference in January
-netnewswire is the best news aggregator for Mac
-feedster.com is like yahoo for RSS-Talk to Lyman Kirkland about blogs (newsroom.lds.org mgr.)
-Pushing google ads on your blog will earn you money
-Movable Type is the best blogging platform to date (VERY hard to configure if you are dumb like me.
DESIGNING FORMS [ia, vd, frontend] *****
-EXCELLENT examples of what to do, and what not to do.
-this would be good for the usability guidelines for the LDS.org redesign
-(this session was actually yesterday - I forgot to blog it)
KEYNOTE [vd] ***
-Just an hour long plug to get us to use Photoshop CS-Now that I am hardly using Photoshop I need to make sure I keep on it so if I ever switch back to Adobe I am not lost. Their software is changing a lot. I should probably use it more where possible (Fireworks is just SO much more useful for web design)
STUDIO MX [vd, frontend] **
-Just an hour-long plug to get us to use MX Studio. There were a few "AH-HA"s but I mostly knew all of this stuff
EXTENDING DREAMWEAVER [vd, frontend] ***
-Went into detail on how to extend and customize Dreamweaver.
-excellent introduction to customizing Dreamweaver
-excellent intro to behaviors-I fell asleep and almost spilled my Sprite (maybe I will get Coke next time)
(I will need to rewatch the above sessions - I stayed up until 3am trying to get Movable Type (my Blogging software) to work. I kept going crosseyed. Thanks, Pete for saving me and helping to finally getting it to work!)
-LUNCH- (and nap time)
-This session was electrifying - like when I saw the web for the first time
-speaker made the claim that Blogging/RSS is as big as when the web was first introduced
-Blogging is content management that works (and its free). He made the claim that it is just as good as a $100,000 Content Management System
-Search engines favor blogs over traditional sites because they have tons of cross-linking (this boosts rankings. They are also favored because the nature of a blog is frequently updated content (also boosts rankings)
-A blog gives twice the visibility than a web site gives
-adding an entry to a blog automatically:
1. makes you add meta information,
2. adds to your RSS feed,
3. archives your data-soon, browsers are going to be less used than RSS readers. Web sites will not be the first place people will go
-The speaker will hold a Bloging/RSS conference in January
-netnewswire is the best news aggregator for Mac
-feedster.com is like yahoo for RSS-Talk to Lyman Kirkland about blogs (newsroom.lds.org mgr.)
-Pushing google ads on your blog will earn you money
-Movable Type is the best blogging platform to date (VERY hard to configure if you are dumb like me.
DESIGNING FORMS [ia, vd, frontend] *****
-EXCELLENT examples of what to do, and what not to do.
-this would be good for the usability guidelines for the LDS.org redesign
-(this session was actually yesterday - I forgot to blog it)
KEYNOTE [vd] ***
-Just an hour long plug to get us to use Photoshop CS-Now that I am hardly using Photoshop I need to make sure I keep on it so if I ever switch back to Adobe I am not lost. Their software is changing a lot. I should probably use it more where possible (Fireworks is just SO much more useful for web design)
STUDIO MX [vd, frontend] **
-Just an hour-long plug to get us to use MX Studio. There were a few "AH-HA"s but I mostly knew all of this stuff
EXTENDING DREAMWEAVER [vd, frontend] ***
-Went into detail on how to extend and customize Dreamweaver.
-excellent introduction to customizing Dreamweaver
-excellent intro to behaviors-I fell asleep and almost spilled my Sprite (maybe I will get Coke next time)
(I will need to rewatch the above sessions - I stayed up until 3am trying to get Movable Type (my Blogging software) to work. I kept going crosseyed. Thanks, Pete for saving me and helping to finally getting it to work!)
-LUNCH- (and nap time)
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Seattle Conference - Day 1
There is so much good information here that I am going to try and send 1/2 day updates (or as often as brain-fulls require). I will never remember it all if I wait to do this until I get home. Please forward this to whomever you think might benefit.
This entire conference will be available in streaming format in a few weeks. Because of this, I have named individuals/teams who might benefit from each lecture in [ ] 's. I also gave " * " ratings to each session.
KEYNOTE: [everyone] ***
-Don't get complacent in skills - the web will leave you behind if you don't pay attention
-Users should complete their errands efficiently and feel special doing it (correspond to IA and VD)
-a click is a commitment - don't let the user down
-"solutions" and "resources" are words that really mean "miscellaneous"
-(there was a camera site where thumbnails of the cameras were all shown and as the user chose price, megapixels, etc. the thumbnails disappeared accordingly). This was done in Flash and was very cool.
-(this speaker showed his process for using sticky notes to determine the design)
CSS: [vd, frontend, ia] ***
-This was mostly a sales pitch for using CSS instead of tables
-This presentation made me want to design our sites around CSS's capabilities rather than let the design dictate the implementation
-If our shop doesn't get good at CSS now we will become obsolete
-some very useful tips were presented
USABILITY [everyone] *****!
-This presentation was INCREDIBLE with lots of new tips. I thought I had heard everything about usability until I went to this session.
-There is no usual path the eye takes through a page. The path is entirely based on visual heirarchy - WE ENGINEER THE PATH THE EYE TAKES BY OUR USE OF VISUAL HEIRARCHY. This desired path should be included explicitly in wireframes and vd's.
-Things that look like ads get ignored (the large feature area on the LDS.ORG redesign, for example)
-(there is an excellent study on the web where people show where certain elements on the page should be located)
-Do users scroll? YES. As long as it is apparent that content continues off the screen.
-For long passages, scrolling is better than segmenting to multiple pages.
-Take out the garden path. The less time it takes to get to the destination, the more time they will have to spend with the content. Lots of features and graphics slows them down
-search and navigating should be considered as a dynamic duo - not as separate navigation tools. The web is moving toward search/navigation hybrid interfaces.
- As a guide to labeling, look at past search logs to see what terms people are using.
-3-click rule is a myth. People will follow the the first link they see that looks "good enough"
-users dont read anything they dig then use their back button over and over again until the find their goal
-this session is worth watching when it comes out on the web
L U N C H -
CSS (continued) [vd, frontend] ***
-Same lecturer as earlier - more great tips on CSS page layout
-We should bring this guy in as a consultant
-discussed float vs. absolute positioning (float wins)
-rebuilt Microsoft.com home page using pure CSS.
-Valuable tips to help us overcome adoption gotcha's
Blogging and RSS [EVERYONE] *****
-Very exciting
-came back to my hotel and stayed up late and could never get Movable Type to work. I couldn't even get Type Pad to work.
This entire conference will be available in streaming format in a few weeks. Because of this, I have named individuals/teams who might benefit from each lecture in [ ] 's. I also gave " * " ratings to each session.
KEYNOTE: [everyone] ***
-Don't get complacent in skills - the web will leave you behind if you don't pay attention
-Users should complete their errands efficiently and feel special doing it (correspond to IA and VD)
-a click is a commitment - don't let the user down
-"solutions" and "resources" are words that really mean "miscellaneous"
-(there was a camera site where thumbnails of the cameras were all shown and as the user chose price, megapixels, etc. the thumbnails disappeared accordingly). This was done in Flash and was very cool.
-(this speaker showed his process for using sticky notes to determine the design)
CSS: [vd, frontend, ia] ***
-This was mostly a sales pitch for using CSS instead of tables
-This presentation made me want to design our sites around CSS's capabilities rather than let the design dictate the implementation
-If our shop doesn't get good at CSS now we will become obsolete
-some very useful tips were presented
USABILITY [everyone] *****!
-This presentation was INCREDIBLE with lots of new tips. I thought I had heard everything about usability until I went to this session.
-There is no usual path the eye takes through a page. The path is entirely based on visual heirarchy - WE ENGINEER THE PATH THE EYE TAKES BY OUR USE OF VISUAL HEIRARCHY. This desired path should be included explicitly in wireframes and vd's.
-Things that look like ads get ignored (the large feature area on the LDS.ORG redesign, for example)
-(there is an excellent study on the web where people show where certain elements on the page should be located)
-Do users scroll? YES. As long as it is apparent that content continues off the screen.
-For long passages, scrolling is better than segmenting to multiple pages.
-Take out the garden path. The less time it takes to get to the destination, the more time they will have to spend with the content. Lots of features and graphics slows them down
-search and navigating should be considered as a dynamic duo - not as separate navigation tools. The web is moving toward search/navigation hybrid interfaces.
- As a guide to labeling, look at past search logs to see what terms people are using.
-3-click rule is a myth. People will follow the the first link they see that looks "good enough"
-users dont read anything they dig then use their back button over and over again until the find their goal
-this session is worth watching when it comes out on the web
L U N C H -
CSS (continued) [vd, frontend] ***
-Same lecturer as earlier - more great tips on CSS page layout
-We should bring this guy in as a consultant
-discussed float vs. absolute positioning (float wins)
-rebuilt Microsoft.com home page using pure CSS.
-Valuable tips to help us overcome adoption gotcha's
Blogging and RSS [EVERYONE] *****
-Very exciting
-came back to my hotel and stayed up late and could never get Movable Type to work. I couldn't even get Type Pad to work.
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