Announcements
Monday, April 27th, 2009
Just updated stage with a working version of an instance viewer. When an object is now selected it displays all of its instances in the footer as little orange thumbnails. More so, when an object with multiple instances is edited as a master, the little orange instance thumbnails also change their opacity to 100% from 50% in order to indicate that they have been changed as well. Upon clicking on an instance thumbnail, the opacity returns to 50%, to indicate that the instance has been viewed. The instance viewer can also be seen in the first layout screenshot (with the title “Updated Instances”).
To have a go at what I mean, do the following: 1: draw an object; 2: copy it (CTRL+C); 3. create a new page and switch to the new page; 4: paste it (CTRL+V). The footer should display the instance viewer with two instances.
Any thoughts, more than welcome.
Cheers,
Jakub
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Monday, April 20th, 2009
Just updated the stage with some additional code. Here is what’s been updated:
- It’s now possible to create multiple ideas for the same element.
- Copy paste now also prompts whether to paste as master (not related) or instance (related)
- Brought back the ability to edit All States
Comments, thought, welcome :)
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
Another quick update on the latest and greatest. The working interface has just been updated with the new footer design. Hopefully this layout will be now a bit easier to use as it more clearly separates the three core functions (ideas, inheritance, and edit modes). The “hold” (Z / X) interactions have also been given some extra attention. The checkboxes in the inheritance box have gained increased cues that they are clickable. Finally, elements are now also resizable on single click.
A few bugs were also fixed. These now include: the ability to finally delete elements from the workspace; single pixels elements no longer get created; and text/labels are easier to edit.
Have a look and let me know what you think (or if you’d like to get involved):
>> stage.fluidia.org
Cheers,
Jakub
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Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
Just finished doing four evaluation sessions which were quite eye opening. I decided to post up one video of a session to see if it’s useful for anyone, even though all four were recorded. The full document with more detailed observations can be grabbed from here.
Here is a summary of the biggest problems in the first testing cycle:
- Users were not aware that a paste action created an automatic instance relationship between the pasted item and the item from which it was copied. This is perhaps as a result that most users are used to a completely different mental model when pasting – one which during a paste operation separates the elements from each other completely.
- Users were not able to toggle between the edit as master or edit as instance modes. This is perhaps that the language of master and instance is a bit technical. Another reason is due to the lack of cues hinting that the two modes can be switched. For example, near the “instance edit” mode 3D buttons are present which look very clickable, yet the area in which they exist is very flat. Thirdly cursor hinting could be improved to suggest that the areas are actionable.
- The general visual structure and relationship between object / instance / state and inheritance was not too clear. This is a very complex relationship which requires more clarity.
- Users also did not understand the nesting behavior resulting from pasting inside objects. (For example: that shifting a parent item would mean that the children or contents would also shift.) This is a new interaction which is relying on a new mental model.
- Users experiences difficulty enabling the resize controller handles on double click.
- Users had trouble creating multiple states. This is because the state controller’s visibility was not visible enough. More so, a hold key interaction is also a new way of interacting which requires learning.
- In addition, there are numerous minor usability problems relating to focusing when interacting with input boxes and text areas. A number of input elements either are too sensitive or not enough sensitive to input.
Thanks to Brett, Sarah, Steve and Casey for participating!
Posted in Announcements, with the following tags: user_testing, by Jakub | 3 Comments »
Monday, March 16th, 2009
Just a quick update in regards to the stage having been refreshed. Today’s update includes things such as:
- Ability to copy paste objects into pages directly (ctrl c / ctrl v )
- A basic text tool now works as well – allowing text edits by means of double click
- Visual feedback on paste
- Some minor fixes
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Thursday, March 12th, 2009
Another quick update. Some new sketches were posted, as well as these two were updated: 1 and 2.
I continue to commit code over at github, and have just updated the stage with some latest working code. A couple of bug fixes were resolved, did some work on the auto labelling feature, upgraded to jQuery 1.3.2, and just began doing the text tool.
A google group discussion list was setup for contributing developers and designers to speak their minds.
Next week I will be doing some user testing. Is anyone in Toronto by any chance who would be interested in participating? IT will probably take one hour and I could come over with my laptop. If so, please let me know by email.
Moving forward… step by step.
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Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
Just thought to write up a quick status on the project. The project is still alive and all is moving forward. I am just doing some user research which has taken me away from design and development. Hoping to sketch some project concepts starting in March.
In the meantime I setup a Git repository over at http://github.com/fluidia/ which I believe is more open and social than SVN. This I think fits more with the nature of this project.
So far around 5 designers and 2 developers have expressed interested in the project. I hope to involve those interested more actively in the next few weeks, as right now I am totally aware that there is not much of design happening.
Stay Tuned. Jakub.
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Saturday, February 14th, 2009
I’m seeking some more inspiration and I need some volunteers willing to take part in user research. Basically I would like to observe a couple of people while they are designing user interfaces. You have to be in Toronto in March, or in the Netherlands in February. The second option which I am asking for is to video record your best and worst wireframing moments (via Jing).
Here are the details: www.fluidia.org/research
Any willing people, greatly appreciated! :)
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Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
The design process has been updated a little bit to give contributors a better idea of how all of this could flow. I made myself responsible for the final visual designs to ensure greater integrity. This does not mean however that I have to be the only one doing detailed visuals. :) What do you think?
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Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
Just setup Vanilla Discussions over at http://fluidia.org/discuss. So far the intended use for this is to discuss mainly more general workflow and collaboration strategies. You can register directly from there if you want to contribute.
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