Whether you’re a new or experienced Axure user, the following links will help you become a library-wielding, animation-blasting, prototype-perfecting Axure ninja. I’d recommend starting with the training items to get used to the basics, and then moving into the pattern libraries with more experience.
This update includes some great new pattern libraries posted by the community.
We’ve just launched our company site over at EngageBIG.com. Our efforts at Breakthrough Innovation Group are paying off with some exciting projects that I can’t wait to see online.
This was my first chance to play with JQuery, which makes Javascript a breeze. Inspired by the fantastic “foliage-o-meter” at Rogie King’s Komodomedia, I’ve added the “Advanced Breakthrough” mode on the contact page. Does it do anything? If “being sweet” counts as doing something, then, absolutely. Shoot us an email!
“All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.” - Occam’s Razor
Feature Creep, the result of giving in to the attitude that “this feature would be nice” in your product, inevitably results in increased design and development costs, bloating of your product, and a reduction in simplicity. Here, I propose a strategy for the discovery and brutal elimination of unnecessary features.
Despite the imminent danger of this blog becoming solely focused on Axure, I have a quick update:
A big thanks to Richard Tsai over at Userxper for translating the pattern library into Traditional Chinese. We’re going global!
More patterns for ya! This is Version 2 of the first Axure stencil library.
Demo the HTML OR Download the Axure (.rp) File
Prototyping click-and-drag functionality in Axure has proven to be a problem. I’d like to show off a little technique I just developed for simulating a “draggable” interaction in a prototype. It’s not the real thing, but it’s the closest I’ve seen, and can be used to prototype touchscreen applications like those of the iPhone. It requires an obsessive focus to detail, but hey, that’s what makes a great designer.
Update: This library is out of date, please see Version 2.
I am excited to present: The first Axure stencil library.
Demo the HTML OR Download the Axure (.rp) file
In some recent usability tests I noticed that users constantly have to click back and forth between “Help” documents and the content they’re getting help on. Most software or web help documents suffer from this problem: They are separate from the content they refer to. Clicking the “Help” link usually does one of four things:
All four of these suffer some serious issues. New windows and tabs impose new window management tasks on the user. The sidebar help is squashed and still only almost-in-context of its content. The worst offense by far is opening help in the current tab, hijacking the content that the user wanted help about!
Picture what I’m picturing: A “Show Help” button that creates a translucent overlay covering all of the screen’s content. This button would change to “Hide Help” for later removal. On top of this overlay, relevant help info is placed in lighter containers that just cover the piece of content they refer to. These containers have information about the element underneath them. The user can thus quickly switch back and forth between help and content without losing state and without interacting at the application level.
Here is a rough demo using the rich Ableton Live 2007 interface:
Like most people, I have hundreds of accounts for various websites, software, and services. Unlike most, I have a unique, strong password for each site - and can remember every single one. In essence, I take the name of the site, run it through a standard mental algorithm that also does a little encryption, and use that as the password.
This means I never have to use a password manager, have many unique passwords, and can even “guess” my password for accounts that I haven’t logged into in years. There are many security benefits to having unique, strong passwords for all your accounts.
Here’s how to do it:
An old man once told me: “The secret to success is to do what you want, and do it better than anyone else.”
Now I may be no mean shakes at writing, but I sure as heck know how to do a thing or two. Like many of us out there, I’ve learned, explored, travelled, worked, read, saw, and met. But in terms of the greater knowledge, the wealth of information out there on the internet, I’ve stopped providing. I’ve become a black hole into which information constantly pours, but not often enough do the distilled results find their way back out into the world.
How many of you:
I’ve been guilty at some point or another of each of these things. In that vein I’ve created this site into which I can pour my creative output, and perhaps you can pick up a thing or two.
So ask yourself: What skills do you have, and what can you contribute with them?
