by Scott on June 12, 2007
In this, the fifth entry in the Make a Web App series, we build the v1.0 feature list. The key points are:
- Write down a big list of features.
- Cut the list in half.
- Cut the list in half again.
- Version 1.0 will be only this 25% of the big list – these are the essential features.
Also, read on to find out how this approach can help good web application designers exceed user expectations.
How to Choose Features
So far, we have:
Now we’ll build our version 1.0 feature list.
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by Scott on June 11, 2007
Apple announced a Windows version of their web browser, Safari beta version 3. Apple continues to blur the line between “PC” and “Mac”, giving those that prefer or are required to use PCs an option to experience Apple software. Safari has only about 5% of the browser market, but with Safari on Windows that share is sure to grow. Here in Apple’s words are some reasons to switch. Another reason: if you are thinking of getting an iPhone, Safari is built in, giving you a seamless experience between using an app on the phone and on your laptop (as long as your phone is “on the web”).
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by Scott on June 11, 2007
”The notion of drawing as the core skill within Fine Art has been the subject of a challenging and contentious debate within recent years in education. The commercial galleries have never promoted drawing as a significant activity, and sometimes artists themselves have contributed to the mystification of the subject, collaborating with markets and the media which place a high value on the ‘immaculate conception’ of art works, which means that intermediate stages in the conception process are hardly ever seen, only the finished piece. ... This..gives a false view of what really happens in the studios of artists around the globe.” – Complete Art Foundation Course
Though software is not art (or is it?), “Process” should not be a dirty word. Designers and developers should own up to intermediate work that it takes to design a great web application. Regardless of what the tool vendors and framework proponents would have you think, making a great web app requires as much work as ever. It’s just that now that work can be put into the more creative aspects of design. And that means it will not always be right the first time, even if it looks to be so. Picasso had no fear, in this regard. Do you?
[Though I’m no Picasso, I hope our
Making of a Web App series, which shows one way how to make a web app, removes some ‘mystification of the subject’.]
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by Scott on June 11, 2007
This is the fourth entry in the Making of a Web App series. Key points are:
- Use user profiles to reinforce understanding of the single activity release 1.0 is meant to support.
- Maintain focus and set expectations by distinguishing the activity the app supports from another closely-related, yet different, activity.
Ask a Project Manager about their greatest challenges and “scope creep” is sure to top the list. It’s easy to mentally expand scope to add that “one more thing”. Yet after “one more thing” is added another “just one more thing” comes up. This cycle can continue indefinately and v1.0 never arrives or arrives “late and over budget”. There are many techniques to keep this phrase from applying to your project. One is to state early what the project will not be.
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Posted in Making of a web app, Web Application Design, Make a Web App | 11 trackbacks
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