If you're an Atlanta area (or even Macon / Augusta / Chattanooga area) developer and want to learn more about how a developer sees user experience design, make sure you come to the Atlanta Flex User Group meeting tomorrow. I will be giving my presentation:
It's guaranteed to make you laugh, cry, or angry. I'd like to say it's entertaining, but that's just a bit more shameless self-promotion than I'm willing to do (at this time). I think that this presentation is well suited to any type of developer (not just Flex) that wants to learn more about what exactly user experience design is. I've heard, even Sledge Hammer! might be making an appearance.
We're just over a week away from Flash Camp Phoenix and tickets are almost sold out. If you're interested in going, but have been on the fence, all the sessions are posted here.
In the past year, I've been witness to a dramatic shift in how we deliver solutions to our clients. I have to admit that the full impact of it has caught me a bit off-guard. It used to be that technology blazed the trail and design was something that was tacked on later in the process, almost an afterthought (pixie dust, if you will). The shift has been seen in that now design leads, and technology supports that design. It's the difference between night and day when you really stop and think about it. It's no less than a complete thought shift from how we, as a community have previously developed applications.
As we focus on the story that the client is trying to tell with their applications, this has to be this natural progression. The story at hand is best told by the right combination of art & science. It's not to say that technology becomes an afterthought. It's actually quite the opposite. If we are becoming addicted to sexy design and experiences, then technology is our enabler. Technology is the key player that empowers these nifty designs to be the engaging experiences that they are.
Innovation doesn't come purely from the technology being used. This statement is hard for a lot of developers to swallow, so let's think about it just a little bit and not just glaze over it. New interactions spur innovation. Cutting edge designs spur innovation. It's the place of the technology team to take up the challenge and make those interactions & design realities. What is needed is a design team that has an intimate relationship with the technology team. These teams have to know and trust each other so that they can continue to push the envelope of innovation together. Design and technology absolutely cannot and will not function in an "us vs. them" mentality. Together we innovate, divided, we imitate.
This is like any other relationship, it takes work. It takes communication that is open and honest. The technology team, absolutely, has to have some input into the design process. At the same time, however, the technology team has to have faith that the design team will deliver something that will challenge them to push their skills further. Open communication between the two teams throughout the design and development process will produce the most satisfying interpretation of the story that the client is trying to tell. It does take a team, a fully engaged, and communicating team to turn vision into reality.
As many of you know, Universal Mind grew from the ashes of Macromedia Consulting. At the time, there was no talk of Web 2.0, Flex, or anything like that. We grew our business on ColdFusion. ColdFusion is in our DNA. It's always been a part of what we do, but lately I've heard rumblings from the community that Universal Mind has abandoned ColdFusion. Nothing could be further from the truth.
While people have been saying that Universal Mind has left ColdFusion behind, we have been quietly building up our ColdFusion talent with some of the strongest people in the community. Some are names you know, some are names you do not. Chris Scott, Dan Wilson, Laura Arguello, and Dan Skaggs are just a few of the great ColdFusion developers we have working with us.
Yes, we build RIAs. That includes Flex, AJAX, Silverlight, and the technologies that power them, including ColdFusion and Java. We've got some of the best Java talent around too, but that's a post for another day. This all means that we can build not only your RIA, but the complete solution from back to front. When it comes to building ColdFusion back-ends for your Flex application, nobody has more experience than Universal Mind.
So despite rumors to the contrary, our ColdFusion practice is very much alive and kicking. What do we build? Enterprise Class Rich Internet Applications, including those powered by ColdFusion. After all, ColdFusion is in our DNA.
We're just over a week away from Flash Camp Atlanta and tickets are almost sold out. If you're interested in going, but have been on the fence, all the sessions are posted here. There are cheap flights and hotels available still. Sign up today at www.flashcampatlanta.com and ensure your seat before they're all gone!
Time to digest another CFUnited. I didn't go last year because I was not too happy with the event after 2007. It had gotten too kitschy and too, for lack of a better term, silly. This year though, it seems things have turned around. I think we have to attribute that to the conference being under Stellr's guidance.
Overall, I'm very happy with how the flex tracks turned out. Great speakers, great content. The venue was good and it was a bit spread out, but that's how it is. The content in all the sessions was very strong. That's something that has been lacking in years past; the content was too rudimentary. This year, however, it's come back around. I think that competition from 360|Conferences and cf.Objective() has been taken to account and the content has been upped, in concequence.
The high point, for me, was the end of the demo mania when Doug McCune brought the house down. Now, note the irony here, one of the biggest names in the flex community brought the house down to close the show at CFUnited.
If you missed Doug's video (a mashup of the Adobe OSMF and FlexLingo), here it is:
The early bird pricing for Flash Camp Atlanta ends in less than 24 hours! Tickets are on pace to sell out soon, so if you don't want to pay more later, go sign up now. The early bird pricing is dirt cheap, only $40 for the main session and $15 for the introductory session ( an intro to Flash, Flex, and AIR ).
A few days ago, we were having some internal discussions about Flash Camp Atlanta. We had gotten a couple of topics in, and oddly enough, they all had a common theme. So, through part of our discussions, we decided that we were going to have a theme for Flash Camp Atlanta. The first theme we came up with, "80's day", had been done before and was a bit tired. The second idea we had was much better: "Enabling The Convergence of Art & Design With The Flash Platform".
A couple of things inspired this theme. Firstly, this document, by Christian Saylor, has been a huge inspiration in everything we do at Universal Mind. Go ahead, take a minute or two and read it; this post will still be here for you to read. Second, Ben Stucki submitted a topic along these same lines (session descriptions are coming soon). So what does this mean? It means that we are going to strive to have all of our topics tie into this common thread through the day. We've got a great littany of speakers lined up and it's an event that you won't want to miss.
I'm also working on lining up a great venue (not Stats, it's been played out) for the community get together the night before. Also, Delta Airlines announced a slew of cheap fares (as low as $80 roundtrip from Charlotte, NC) today that are valid for the dates of Flash Camp Atlanta.
Flash Camp Atlanta is a full-day event featuring some top industry
experts on the Adobe Flash Platform from both inside and outside Adobe.
Come advance your Flex and Flash skills, meet members of the Adobe team
and network with local companies and fellow developers. Sessions will
be geared towards developers and designers with little to advanced
level of experience with Flex and/or ActionScript. There will be plenty
of giveaways, raffles and swag (and lunch).
In addition to a great Main Session (9am-5pm) there will also be a special Introductory Session (8-9am)
for developers who are new to the Adobe Flash Platform. This special
session only costs an additional $15 (until July 30th and $25
thereafter). This session will get these developers up to speed
aspects of the Flash Platform like Adobe Flex, AIR, and Flash Builder.
This friday, Flash Camp Orlando will be one of two launch events for Adobe. There will be big news regarding the Flash Platform announced at the event as well as free software including CS4 Master Collection and FlexBuilder. If you're interested in attending, head over to www.flashcamporlando.com and sign up today.
In addition to the Adobe announcements there will be great sessions on AIR, Flex, and UX.
You can walk in to the event, but if you sign up today, your seat will be guaranteed!
Better Than It Was
We Will Fall Together
Justified Black Eye
All Star