To start off I’ll fill you in on the past. I’ve used everything from InDesign, Visio, Illustrator, Pen and Paper, and the list goes on… I made a decent effort at using flash components for prototypes and tried to use Flash Catalyst in the same manner. Each one of the different applications had about the same hurdle (in my opinion). Each of them required the individual doing to work to have a good working knowledge of the application. It was hard to share your work with others and openly collaborate. It was very specific to that persons computer (software license) and in the end I have never felt that any of those tools really did the job well because that wasn’t really what they were built for. Visio was close but I hate PC’s so it was a no go right off the bat.

In my search I cam across iPlotz. It is a web based application that allows you to wireframe your site and then make the whole thing clickable. so in one big swoop you can do the UX needed and prototype the idea in a really fast amount of time. Its web based so you can log in from anywhere. It has an Air app that runs pretty well so you can work offline. It also has a decent commenting system built in so that you can pass around your ideas for other to comment on things.
Here is quick example I put together in about 30 minutes to show everyone what I am talking about.
http://bit.ly/5twbMs

Here is a link to sign up if you want to demo iPlotz

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johngilbert/sets/72157622655344185/

IMG_1226.MOV (1048 KB)
]]> http://www.lednine.com/misc/evelyn-is-finally-sleeping/feed/ 0 http://www.lednine.com/blog/rails-or-cake-you-should-care/ http://www.lednine.com/blog/rails-or-cake-you-should-care/#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:11:13 +0000 john http://www.lednine.com/misc/rails-or-cake-you-should-care/ I have a personal project I have been waiting… trying… or hoping to start. I guess I’ve made the realization that I need to expand my ability in order to build something that could be considered a web application. I’ve done the simple php stuff, wordpress hacks, and even a little java (not so much). I have even built a stupid simple cms for myself back in the day. It sucked. So the big question on my mind is do I take up Ruby on Rails or do I go the Cake PHP route.

As a part of the “What is this whole Interactive thing?” post, I think its important to understand whats behind the scenes. As a CD in an interactive firm I find it very important to understand the limitations of all aspects of the work. Some people scoff at understanding the backend and only concern themselves with the appearance. I’d encourage any creative on the interactive side of things to really dig into the dev side of life.

So Rails or Cake? I’m thinking Rails.

Ethan all comfy in his chair and surrounded by his blankets.

  
This guy will kick your a$$.

(This is me thinking really hard)
 
Yet another Posterous test – well kind of… I have been wanting to post more and more on my site (www.lednine.com ) but I always run out of time trying to log into things and then write what was on my mind. Along comes Posterous.com. Its such a brilliant idea. Email almost anything to Posterous and BLAM! Everything you could think of updating gets updated. Email is natural and friggin easy to complete from almost anywhere. So we’ll see where this leads me. Hopefully its a lot more info and ramblings from yours truly.