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Arlene
Kline, one of The Usability team at TUC discusses 'Skip Intro,
MacromediaŽ FlashTM, Usability and
Interface Design, Michelangelo, Capraro & Duncan McAlester.'
As a Usability Specialist I found
the usability advice well balanced with practical tips that those of
us on 'the front lines' have picked up through experience. This is a
good basic guide to User Centered Design using Flash. It discusses
the fundamental issues that need to be considered when designing
usable systems: know what your users truly require from the system,
design the system with these users' requirements in mind, then test
with the system with target users to ensure that it is easy to
learn, easy to use, easy to remember, effective, efficient, fit for
purpose and consistent.
This book is geared towards Flash
Programmers/ Designers and gently introduces the concept of
usability; what it is, why it's necessary and how to begin coding
Flash components that are 'user-friendly' and reusable.
Consolidating them in an easily digestible conclusion reinforces the
key points from each chapter and provides a firm foundation to build
on.
'Skip
Intro' discusses the usability benefits of employing certain flash
components such as gesture-driven scrolling, dynamic cursors, tabbed
windows and hierarchical menus. Using design techniques such as
scenarios and personas, it then provides usability guidelines on
when these components should be used and why. The actual code is
also provided in a step-by-step manner, with guidance provided all
along the way.
I would recommend this book as a
good starting point for Flash Programmers/Designers who are keen to
quickly start building a library of usable components. However,
dropping these components into a flash site will not provide a
panacea for a poorly conceived site. A sound information
architecture and good, appropriate content and features are
essential building blocks of a usable website, no matter what
technology is used to implement it.
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