June 2007 Archives

Yes, I use Apple products. No, I am not a groupie. Well, not totally.

I have been using Apple products since the 8th grade, when they were cool but before they were really cool. So I guess in some ways Apple hooked me young and is now just reeling it in. I’m not one of those die-hard, religious fanatics that won’t touch a PC for moral reasons. In general, I’m a pragmatist, using the appropriate tools to solve the problem at hand, and finding out what makes me the most productive. With computers, this happens to be Apple products 90% of the time.

For other products, such as cell phones, it’s my junky Nokia that makes great phone calls and wakes me up in the morning. The iPhone looks awesome, but it’s not really something I’m interested in at this time, only because I’m not a big fan of bells and whistles on anything, be it a cell phone, camera, or a website. Again, I’m not totally against cool features, as long as they make sense. For a lot of people the iPhone is their holy grail of PDAs, so they really should run to the nearest Apple store, fight the crowds and buy one of those suckers NOW. I’ll wait until I find a need for one, then get one after the bugs are worked out and the newer versions are released.

At any rate, congratulations to Apple for pushing the envelope yet again.

Smashing Magazine has done it again, with an article that lists over eighty AJAX solutions that include widgets, tool sets, libraries, and effects. I know the list is a bit overwhelming, but if you’re a professional web programmer I recommend at least trying out 5-6 of the listed solutions. For a quick highlight list, just go to these sites. I’ve used these tools extensively and find them to be very useful:

• script.aculo.us
• Lightbox
• MooTools

In my recent experience with designing business applications, there’s a natural tendency amongst many programmers to create complex user interfaces to solve complex business problems. The approach that I have been taking in designing applications is to start with the business problem, and, with my limited knowledge of how these businesses actually run, distill the problem down to it’s fundamental elements. Usually this process involves dumbing myself down (hold the jokes back) in order to eliminate and ignore all the complicated business requirements that tend to get in the way of clean interface design. Oftentimes during this exercise I can even simplify the way the business operates by giving them my watered down version of their process and showing how it still fulfills their requirements.

Technically, this has little to do with software design and a lot to do with business process analysis. By approaching application design with a laser focus on the business process you ultimately end up with several benefits:

1. You create software that directly addresses a business problem. No frills.
2. With a preference for clean, simple user interfaces, I do everything I can to simplify the business process, which ends up making everybody’s life easier.
3. Simplifying business process leads to simple user interfaces. Nothing goes on the screen unless there is a direct and deliberate need for it. I mean it.
4. Simple UIs means faster ramp-up time for new users. Only your dumbest employees will need to read the instruction manual. Everybody else should be up and running in no time. Joking. I’m sure you don’t have dumb employees.