i.am.finch

I had the opportunity to take a look at and use a pre-release of Adobe Flash Catalyst. This is an app that is the beginning of blurring the lines between designer and developer. It is not just a tool, but a vision of true collaboration, and a blending of workflows. Rather than the current project flow where the designer tosses the comp over the fence and the developer has to interpret the user experience. In this case, the designer creates a front-end experience that is fully functional with code ready to be used by the developer.

Adobe has been a bit of a let down with this release though. They have been talking about their project “Thermo” for a while now and previewed its dream functionality to salivating designers everywhere, eager to get their hands on it. Of all the sessions and excitement around MAX, this was the one thing I was waiting and ready for. So at the reveal I learned that it is a very early release full of bugs and a ton of “future” options on some basic things like modify/transform a shape evenly. The truth is we may not see the full app until the end of next year.

So over to Microsoft. They have the Expression suite of products that is available without glitches, and with an actual functional interface. As a designer you can open Expression Blend (yes, it could also be a delicious coffee) and create a rich interactive experience with no code. Beyond the most obvious reason (Silverlight plugin needs time to grow and gain user acceptance) the Expression products have a huge uphill battle.

So why does Adobe still win? They –more than so many companies out there– understand their user. Beyond the issues I have with Flash Catalyst right now, from what I have seen, it is going to be a fantastic application. They continually interact and reach out to their community and gather insight from their users on how to improve their products. And in the next releases you see those requests put into it along with many other great improvements. They have opened up Flash Catalyst using the familiar Adobe interface that is common across their products. It is a much more comfortable feeling than say opening up the completely foreign Expression Blend. And here is the kicker for me, I can continue to use Fireworks or Photoshop to create those experiences and then bring that into Flash Catalyst to build in the interactivity. Even after the developer has started on their FLEX development portion I can make UI refinements, change colors, and even move elements around, not disturbing what is happening beyond the scenes.

So sure, call me lazy for not wanting to learn another application to design in, but I call it efficient. I can hit the ground running rather than have to take time in my already time deficient life to learn another application that ends in the exact same results (a design comp). Rather than just continue to use a product I’ve been using for over 11 years now. That my friends is understanding the user.

I have not counted out any other products (even from Microsoft), and I never will. But I do recognize Adobe for starting out on the right foot with the user first, rather than release something off the mark. I look forward to the full version of Flash Catalyst. And a note to the Adobe team, I plan on working in the pre-release and you could be hearing some feedback from me… in fact I have a list going already.

I designed a site for a company out of the UK called Techlightenment. They specialize in creating Facebook and MySpace applications. In addition they work with their clients to seed the applications and spread them virally. I helped them in beginning to brand themselves and thought that using bee’s and the hive made complete sense being a social insect. Take a look at the final site.