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Making of a Web App: Choose a Small Feature List for V1.0

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 theContinue reading “Making of a Web App: Choose a Small Feature List for V1.0”

Safari on Windows

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 shareContinue reading “Safari on Windows”

Making of a Web App: Choose a Font

Making of a Web App is Synap Software’s step-by-step look at designing and developing a web app. This is the eight article in the series. In this article we get a little bit ahead of ourselves and talk about choosing fonts. Key points: Fonts reinforce an application’s personality. Fonts reinforce the attributes of an application.Continue reading “Making of a Web App: Choose a Font”

How to Choose Colors

Blue Blue means stability and history. Blue means everything is ok. Think of terms like “blue chip”, “blue blood”, “blue shield”, police cars, and what color is the first place ribon – blue! (I’m not sure about “code blue”…let’s forget about that one for a moment.) Green Green means action and growth. Something expected happenedContinue reading “How to Choose Colors”

Don’t Write Specifications, Do Write Help Files

You have to write help files anyway, so as you are designing the application, write definitions of key terms in html that can become your help file. Write descriptions of how the application works (aka use cases) in html that can become part of your help file.

Process

”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 mediaContinue reading “Process”

Making of a Web App: Set Expectations

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 aboutContinue reading “Making of a Web App: Set Expectations”

The Value of the College Experience

There are certainly many ways to learn and many stories of successful people who famously did not attend or dropped out of higher education. Yet for my time and money, there is no better path to professional and intellectual growth than immersion into an environment where you are guided by industry experts through an exchangeContinue reading “The Value of the College Experience”

Making of a Web App: Describe Users in Writing

This is the third entry in the Making of a Web App series. Key points are: Write profiles of users’ roles, responsibilities, and needs Two profiles is good, three is borderline and four profiles indicates the scope for release 1.0 is too large. User profiles are important tools for design and scope decisions. This seriesContinue reading “Making of a Web App: Describe Users in Writing”

Why a Big Budget Will Kill Your Software Project

In “Making of a Web App: Determining Scope” I said that new software projects should reduce their scope in order to simplify. Simplification being a good thing for many reasons including: increased likelyhood of success much greater end-user satisfaction much better support and maintenance at lower costs scalability Yet, on large projects with dozens ofContinue reading “Why a Big Budget Will Kill Your Software Project”