Ahhhh... Flex.... Hey all. As someone who doesn't post to the list much, I finally feel compelled to speak up regarding the whole prototyping/thermo and flex subject. Alas, it is something that I arguably know something about.
As a guy who has been using flex for close to 5 years and has seen it grow from a server-side product at Macromedia to the current 3.0 version, I can stand up and state that flex is much more widely used than you'd think (or seem to think based on your email). So, all this talk about Thermo and how it integrates into Flex... but > do people use Flex for real projects? Absolutely. A lot of "real projects" have been built using Flex. Before going any further, I think there needs to be some demystification of what flex is. People seem to treat Flex as if it is some unknown product on the far reaching corners of the web galaxy. Flex is just a way to create RIAs or other "Flash" content without using the Adobe "Flash" IDE. Flex has Flex Builder, the tool created by Adobe to write Flex apps, but in reality, Flex is just a framework to build RIAs that play in the Flash player (or AIR now that we have it). > I have yet to see any web > app/site that really uses Flex for an RIA.. most apps still use (and > will use IMHO) web standard technologies like html, css, javascript, > etc... I spoke at the Adobe MAX conference last year in Chicago on "Next Generation User Experiences" and how you can develop them in Flex. Here are some examples of Sites that are built on Flex, and these projects have been worked on by myself, someone I know or have met in one capacity or another. I am just stating that so you can understand that this is first-hand information as opposed to "that could have been built in Flex". Out of the giant list of Flex apps that have been launched to the public, here is a handful that you might recognize: - www.scion.com - Full Flex application with Flash assets being loaded. - Ebay Desktop - AIR Application that my old crew at EffectiveUI built using Flex - anywhere.fm - online media player replacement for iTunes. - Picnik - Online image editor application - Mixbook.com - Book creation and sharing - Snapfish - http://www.snapfish.com/ - Mastercard - http://www.mastercard.com/us/business/en/smallbiz/findacard/findacard.html - Finetune Desktop - http://www.finetune.com/desktop/ In addition to this quick list, I've seen Flex be used for others including NBC, EA, Discovery Channel, matchmine, Harley Davidson, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, The US Air Force, Citi, Sherwin Williams... the list just goes on and on. One amazing new application that is built on Flex was built by the folks at Adobe Consulting: www.searchme.com. Also, most of the applications that you find Adobe putting out (labs.adobe.com) are built on Flex. Why Flex? I could go on for ages on this topic. First, it isn't the perfect tool for everyone. It is, however, the perfect tool when you've got a group of developers who are working on an enterprise-level application. Flex is going to be quite daunting for someone who knows the Flash IDE, but is not familiar with OO programming, design patterns, MVC, etc. Flex was intended for "programmers". As the market has created demand for better user experiences and RIAs, there just aren't enough Flash developers out there to meet the demand. Flex allows non-visual developers (i.e Java developers) to jump into RIA development by giving them a tool that let's them build apps using the skills that they have as opposed to trying to learn Flash itself. There is obviously a lot more to the discussion and I've only barely touched the surface of the who, where, why and what of Adobe Flex. I would be more than happy to answer individual questions outside of the list though. So... please feel free to email me :) Dave Dave Meeker Roundarch Adobe - "Flex Champion" > > > What are people suing Flex for? intranet apps? industrial? anything? > and in that light, is the Flex integration with Thermo really that big > a selling point? > > On Sat, Mar 22, 2008 at 1:07 PM, Dan Harrelson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > Smitha makes some good points. I agree that from what I've seen of > > Thermo, it will be a good prototyping tool. It's time that we get some > > decent tools for mocking up real interactions that have movement. It's > > such a pain that so many of us have to use "flat" tools like InDesign > > or Visio or Illustrator or Photoshop or Graffle or, or or. > > > > I think that Thermo will position itself as the high fidelity > > prototyping tool. Given the likely high price-point and the expected > > high-end feature list, I doubt that it'll be the tool we reach for to > > draw a quick box and arrow. Thermo will probably be the tool we reach > > for when it's time to spend a couple of hours designing something more > > interactive. > > > > I am also looking forward to better design tools than are available in > > Flex Builder. I find that the GUI design palette in Builder is what > > I'd expect from a tool aimed at developers. You quickly find yourself > > in the code view working on MXML or ActionScript. Thermo will allow > > designers, and possibly even developers to accomplish many of the same > > interactions without diving into code. > > > > If they get it right, Adobe will be able to offer us a great workflow > > as well. We'll be able to pull in assets seamlessly from Photoshop and > > Illustrator. We'll also be able to round trip an RIA between Flex > > Builder and Thermo. Yes, I foresee that Flex Builder will remain in > > the ecosystem. > > > > <plug> > > What I'm most excited about is getting the Thermo team from Adobe up > > on stage during my workshop at UX Week this August. > http://www.uxweek.com/workshops/beyond-wireframes-making-interactive-sketches > > </plug> > > > > ...Dan > > > > On Mar 21, 2008, at 5:32 AM, Charusmitha Ram wrote: > > > > > Oleg, > > > What is most compelling to me, as an Interaction Designer, is that > > > Thermo > > > would allow me to do rapid prototyping using some very simple > > > interactions. > > > I usually create my wireframes in InDesign and publish them as PDFs. > > > Thermo > > > would save a lot of time and effort when I need to create these > > > click-thrus. > > > I also think this is very useful for high fidelity prototypes. > > > Whether or not the built-in interactions are scalable enough for > > > actual > > > development needs is yet to be tested. But at this point it looks > > > quite > > > promising as a prototyping tool. > > > > > > - Smitha Ram > > > > ________________________________________________________________ > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > > > > > > -- > Matt Nish-Lapidus > work: [EMAIL PROTECTED] / www.bibliocommons.com > -- > personal: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > -- Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction. -- Albert Einstein ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
