December 2006 Archives

Yesterday I discovered Axure RP, a piece of software which claims to "enable application designers to create wireframes, flow diagrams, prototypes and specifications for applications and web sites". Well, forgive me for a degree of skepticism, but I've heard it all before. But guess what ? It delivers everything it promises to, with style and grace. Axure RP is a totally wonderful application.

Since I downloaded the fully functional 30 day demo, I have managed to build the foundations of a prototype for a complex web application. It has full interactivity, it supports all sorts of extremely useful things such as re-usable functional blocks, and it is totally, but totally intuitive.

I haven't explored all of Axure yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it delivers specification outlines in Word format - within the layout tool, I can add comments at page and component level, and on components I can specify priorities, risk, and several other characteristics. So we not only have an excellent visual brainstorming tool, but one which delivers useful reports as well.

The only downside I've discovered so far is the lack of a manual of any kind. Sure, there is comprehensive online help, and the website has a range of tutorials and demos, but call me old-fashioned, but I still like to have a reference manual.

Other than that, all I can say is that if you're working on application or web product design or usability, try it out. It is priced at $589, which is pretty reasonable considering its specialist nature.

Oh, and remarkably for such a brilliantly designed piece of software, it is PC only. But it works fine within Parallels on Intel Macs.

Reboot 8 sounds like a very interesting meeting. In fact, so interesting that I'd love to register.

Only, so far, since the site has been offering the opportunity to register, all it delivers is a blank page.

It also offers to help "If you need to sell reboot to your boss(but really don't believe what they say, come and be it yourself)"

Yeah. Whatever. My boss is extremely sold by the idea that a leading edge web conference can't even get a registration page working. I wonder when they'll notice ?

BELATED POSTSCRIPT (8 July 2007) - seems that I was actually looking for reboot9. Somehow the reboot7 site was still up, and this pointed me to "next year", i.e. reboot8, which was actually last year. reboot9 didn't go on line until much later. Nevertheless, the signup should have said something like "sorry, registrations are closed" or something. So anyway, I missed reboot9, although I met some great people at the post-conference party. Hopefully I'll get to reboot10, and actually have something interesting to say.

I've noticed that in the recent flood of job applications I've been reviewing, I'm starting to see quite a few that start off like so:

Yes, the European Commission has managed to invent a EuroStandard CV format. It probably took an army of 200 researchers from 16 countries to do it, and a management and review panel of 30 eurocrats and associated assistants to, er, co-ordinate and steer the project.

And then candidates are strongly recommended to use it.

And they send it to me. And I file it in the bin.

Why ? Well, because I'm looking for evidence of independent thought, creativity and some spark of intelligence in a CV. The CV is the first contact with the employer, and it gives the first impression - and potentially the last - of the candidate. So what impression do I get from this ? Well, if I was a data entry operative, I'd love it. Easy to insert into a megacorporation's HR database, because it is totally standardised and formulaic.

For me, it is easy too - if a candidate cannot tell that filling in a pro-forma CV is an extremely bad news - even one that actually proudly declares itself as such - well, that is a clear sign that the individual in question has no place in our company.

I'm actually a strong supporter of the EU, in general. But in this case, they're getting into areas which they just should not be meddling in.

Advice to candidates - unless life as a soulless bureaucrat in a huge impersonal corporation appeals to you, avoid this like the plague.