Skip Intro: Flash Interface Design and Usability (Voices (New Riders)) [Paperback]

Skip Intro isn't a philosophical monologue, but neither is it an ActionScript manual, instead it shows you how to build sites and applications founded on useability principles using case studies and programming examples. The first chapter takes a look at what's wrong with so much Flash design and how to avoid making the same mistakes, followed by a "Basic Training" chapter which mostly offers some useful advice on debugging.

There are three sections dealing with the particular usability issues encountered in designing a digital art gallery site, an e-commerce site and a software development company site. The case study identifies the client's aims and a typical user profile is provided, these are used as the basis for a set of specific design goals which are implemented in the ensuing chapters.

The specific goals for the gallery site, for example are "Loading awareness", "Controlling the situation", "Keeping things in context", and "A smarter cursor". A chapter is devoted to developing specific interface elements--a preloader, gesture-driven scrolling list, movable contextual menu and custom cursor component--to achieve those goals.

Skip Intro is one of those rare books that tell you not just how, but why you should adopt a particular approach to Flash design and programming. --Ken McMahon

Are you a Flash user constantly fighting the usability war?

Skip Intro is designed to help educate the Flash community specifically and designers/programmers at large that usability isn't a dirty word. It doesn't mean making boring pedestrian web sites, and it doesn't mean abandoning Flash. Quite the contrary, Flash offers advanced usability elements that traditional HTML websites could never hope to achieve. This book will show designers how to start thinking about their users and, more importantly, how to translate that understanding when they start designing or coding.

Skip Intro moves beyond traditional usability books by shying away from listing examples of "why this is wrong" or "why this is right." Instead, it guides designers through understanding the site requirements and their intended users and then starts them down the road of developing for those users, by taking them step-by-step through design scenerios, rather than providing strict rules of usability.

Are you a Flash user constantly fighting the usability war?

Skip Intro is designed to help educate the Flash community specifically and designers/programmers at large that usability isn't a dirty word. It doesn't mean making boring pedestrian web sites, and it doesn't mean abandoning Flash. Quite the contrary, Flash offers advanced usability elements that traditional HTML websites could never hope to achieve. This book will show designers how to start thinking about their users and, more importantly, how to translate that understanding when they start designing or coding.

Skip Intro moves beyond traditional usability books by shying away from listing examples of "why this is wrong" or "why this is right." Instead, it guides designers through understanding the site requirements and their intended users and then starts them down the road of developing for those users, by taking them step-by-step through design scenerios, rather than providing strict rules of usability.

Duncan McAlester (breathedesign.com) (BFA, Art Institute of Southern California) is an award-winning multimedia designer working in Laguna Beach, California. He has worked on projects for Lincoln/Mercury, Fox, Warner Bros. and Epson. He currently teaches a variety of classes, including a class on interface design at the University of California, Irvine Extension.

Michelangelo Capraro has designed user experiences for TV, web sites, CD-ROMs, and handheld devices. He believes that art and usability do not need to be opposing forces. He has designed everything from games, to Intranets, to desktop applications for clients such as IBM, Disney, Fox, and Amnesty International. He currently lives in the California Bay area and works as the Visual Experience Designer for PalmSource, Inc.