Why Visio wireframes are outmoded (Was [Sigia-l] NYU IA classdescription lin

[Stewart Dean]

>From: Anders Ramsay <andersr at gmail.com>
>Reply-To: Anders Ramsay <andersr at gmail.com>

>. ...by producing the wireframes in Visio, we
>are once removed from the actual technology and increase the risk of
>producing something that simply will not work or makes sense in HTML

The web is changing at a rapid rate. I would say for any interactive project 
is better to be removed from any techincal solution and then work with the 
engineers to find the right solution.

For example I don't think how am I going to do a time line - I create the 
timeline as part of the site funcationality then I might help to work out 
how to do it - but that should not dictate if one should be there.

Abstracting the solution from the implimentation I would say is one of my 
primary philosophies which I believe leads to more compeling and functionaly 
eloquent sites.  I deliberatly switch off the programmer side of me as any 
one solution can be implimented many different ways - even to the level of 
it being totaly accessable.

Work with good engineers and the answer to any techinical question is 'yes' 
- although often time and money are the limiting factors.

Cheers

Stewart Dean
User Experience



>From: Anders Ramsay <andersr at gmail.com>
>Reply-To: Anders Ramsay <andersr at gmail.com>
>To: "Lyle_Kantrovich at cargill.com" <Lyle_Kantrovich at cargill.com>
>CC: sigia-l at asis.org
>Subject: Re: Why Visio wireframes are outmoded (Was [Sigia-l] NYU IA 
>classdescription link)
>Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 09:39:53 -0400
>
>On 7/11/05, Lyle_Kantrovich at cargill.com <Lyle_Kantrovich at cargill.com> 
>wrote:
> > I hate to ask the obvious, but what about non-web applications?  Let's
> > talk traditional GUI, handheld, mobile and rich-client applications for
> > a moment...
>Maybe I didn't make that clear earlier, but I am not talking about
>non-browser-based applications - that changes the entire discussion,
>and XHTML/CSS wireframes may not be at all suitable for that
>
> > I feel conceptual designs, prototypes and working end-products CAN be
> > created successfully in different media.  It's like blueprints on paper,
> > scale models from balsa wood, and final steel-girder skyscraper.
>Yes, as far as prototypes, models, proofs of concepts, this may be the
>case, but I'm talking about wireframes as specifications -again,
>something I did not spell out earlier.
>
> > I'll make another (maybe too) strong assertion: you can't serve two
> > masters.  If you want to be/stay a great coder, you'll never be a great
> > IA...and vice versa.
>Who said anything about being a great coder?  There is a huge
>difference between understanding the principles of computer
>programming and logic (something I think is absolutely necessary for
>an IA) and being a coder (something I think is not at all necessary
>for an IA.)
>
> >I'll gripe about Visio any day, but until coding
> > (well) in XHMTL/CSS gets easier, or until we get some decent dedicated
> > IA tools, "rework" - converting from one media or format to another -
> > will likely be necessary for most projects.
>The very fact that it is not easy is actually a key reason why you
>should be immersed in it - by producing the wireframes in Visio, we
>are once removed from the actual technology and increase the risk of
>producing something that simply will not work or makes sense in HTML -
>we have to instead continually extrapolate based on our understanding
>of the technology - while with the XHTML/CSS model, we stay close to
>the technology, and can more quickly discover these issues..
>
>And sitting around waiting for the technology to get easy or for some
>perfect tool to come around is just not realistic
> >
> > I'll also add that IAs who "force the hands" of other worthy team
> > members aren't taking full advantage of the skills those team members
> > can contribute to a better end product.  IA shouldn't be about the "lone
> > genius" handing off deliverables that "lock in" or "lock out"
> > contributions by other team members.
> >
>Yes, agreed (I thought that's what I was saying earlier)
>
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