Wednesday, November 23, 2011

With the launch of iTunes Match I’ve encountered one of the first Apple products/services that has truly baffled me.  It’s not the service itself that’s causing the confusion, rather the signals that it sends me.  First, a little background information.

All (or most) of your music in the cloud.
While it’s not the first cloud-based music service to hit the scene, iTunes Match is the one that makes the most sense to me (thanks to years of iTunes purchases coupled with a steadfast dislike to purchase multiple copies of music just to have them available on multiple devices).  Other offerings from Google and Amazon let you stream your music to your computer or mobile device for easy listening but they can take a while to upload content that wasn’t purchased through their services.

iTunes Match takes a slightly different approach where you can access not only your music purchased from Apple, but also any of the other music you might have added from other sources such as ripped CDs or Napst…eerrr…friends.  The difference comes in where Apple is only scanning your library and matching this music and granting you access to (usually) higher-quality version of music that you have in your library.  You can upload songs that aren’t available in iTunes which can mimic the storage-locker-style approach that both Amazon and Google have taken.

Say what?
Signup for this service is straightforward, I’ll admit that right now.  The confusion and mixed signals sets in after the matching process begins, and in some cases fails.  The error messages that Apple has implemented aren’t very “Apple-like”.  They’re confusing.  They don’t give the whole picture, or even a snapshot for that matter, of what the real issue is.  In addition to the cryptic error messages, Apple has brought new iCloud icons into play that, unless you have a legend for, you have no clue what they mean.  Thankfully Apple has shed a bit of light on this issue.

Issues and interface inconsistencies aside, I’m loving iTunes Match, though it keeps sending me mixed signals.

Quick Tip
The November 19 episode (#143) of We Have Communicators makes mention of a MacWorld article that explains an iTunes column sorting option that is extremely handy when dealing with iTunes Match music.

“One way to cut through the confusion is by turning on a new view option in iTunes. Choose View -> View Options and check the iCloud Status box. This will add a new column to your iTunes list detailing the status of every item in your library.”

- Jason Snell of MacWorld.com

A very handy tip indeed!

Posted on 11/23/11 at 11:28 PM by Tim - Categories: Apple Apps & Software Design Tutorials Tags: iCloud, Google Music, Amazon Cloud Player, itunes match

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Monday, November 21, 2011

When I set out to create an online project board powered by ExpressionEngine, I wasn’t sure how the project would turn out.  After seeing the setup that the guys at Panic created, I immediately lusted after it, but quickly realized that I didn’t need all of the bells and whistles that they were implementing.  My solution needed to encompass two main aspects.  It needed to be simple and it needed to be clean.

Before working on any of the interface elements I made sure this project had a solid foundation and would be able to give me the information I was looking for when I needed it.  As mentioned in my latest Thinking Out Loud post, preventing scope creep was important, but some additional items did find their way into the process.

Custom Fields are your friend.
The main reason I opted to build the project board with ExpressionEngine rather than creating my own front and backend system was the sheer power that’s under the hood of an EE system.  I can create a custom template, a custom input channel, and top it off with custom fields that will do exactly what need them to do.  In short, it’s the smart thing to do.

Making a list and checking it…many times.
After setting up the template and the channel for the project board, I needed to set up the fields that would make everything work.  After jotting down some initial ideas that I needed, I began thinking about this project down the road and had visions of where I could take it and what it could turn into.  The result was a list of entry fields that go beyond what a project board needs, but laying this ground work in the beginning will make expanding the functionality easier in the future.

Power and flexibility.
I’ve never paid too much attention to the Custom Field possibilities that ExpressionEngine offered until I began working on this project.  Once I started looking around, I was shocked at the variety of field-types I could choose from.  I had wanted a dynamic, JavaScript-driven date box to handle my project Start and Due dates, figuring I’d need to either build one myself or find a suitable option through searching.  No need.  One of the field types is a calendar-style date selector.  Here’s a brief list of other custom field-types:

• Text Input
• Textarea
• Checkboxes
• Radio Buttons
• Multi Select
• Date
• File
• Relationship

There are some additional field-types that become available when you install select plugins and modules.

Posted on 11/21/11 at 08:35 AM by Tim - Categories: Design Tools Tutorials User Experience User Interface Workflow Tags: Expression Engine, Project manager, Project Board

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Does this sound familiar: you’re working on a project and discovering many new additions or even new projects that could be built off-of or from it?  I’ve encountered this experience on many past projects and the most-recent instance made me take a few items into consideration.

Posted on 11/16/11 at 11:37 PM by Tim - Categories: Podcast Thinking Out Loud Tags: Project manager, Scope creep

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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

I’d like you to take a look at the tools you use each day, for work and for play.  They can be computers, music players, phones, golf clubs…anything.  Now look at which tools and toys you enjoy using and what you are, for the lack of a better word, forced to use.  What’s the difference between the two? The experience or, more importantly, how enjoyable the experience is for you.

Finding tools that suit your style.
I’ve brought up the fact that I’d much rather type and do work on my iPad to co-workers on a few occasions.  Their responses are mixed with puzzlement and disbelief whenever I make that claim, but it’s a true statement.  That device gives me the best experience for viewing and handling digital content.  Why not use something that makes a job more enjoyable rather than just tolerable?  Why not find a tool or set of tools that remove themselves from the picture, if only by illusion, and let creativity and focus rule the day?

I challenge you to find tools that you enjoy using and see how they’ll fit into your workflow.  Don’t just take a high-level look at them either.  Try them out and see what works and what doesn’t.  You might surprise yourself.

Posted on 11/15/11 at 09:30 AM by Tim - Categories: Design Tools User Experience Workflow Tags: iPad, Workflow, Tools

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Monday, November 14, 2011

Children don’t have any preconceptions or expectations when they encounter something for the first time. This is all-too apparent when I watch my two boys (ages two and five) use our family iPad. Not to take anything away from the simplicity of the device, but I’ve shown countless people the iPad, demonstrated it for individuals of all ages, and the results are as varied as the individual experiences.  Nothing compares to the experience of placing one of these devices into a child’s hands.

They seemed to understand how it worked only moments after touching it, and appeared to have mastered the basics of navigating it after a minute or two.  I’m not exaggerating either (as tall as this tale sounds now).  Some trial and error was up next, figuring out what each of the chicklet-shaped icons would do, what apps they would launch and what entertainment they would provide.

After the first few apps were launched, they both had established a pattern of how all apps worked.  The app they chose to base this belief on was Angry Birds.  Close, but not apps are made equal…regarding their navigation.  The kids would each adapt their use after finding out that Angry Birds doesn’t control the universe.  After seeing that, I made sure I was paying very close attention to their facial expressions.  I wanted to see if either of them would express frustration or would become angry if something didn’t work the way they expected (or wanted) it to.  To my surprise, they appeared happy and delighted to be puttering around and making the screen come alive.

As they get older and the tools and technology that they encounter become layered and burdened by expectations, I have no doubt that they’ll get mad at the outcome of some interaction.  It’s inevitable.  But as the world continues to move and become more fluid, there’s hope that these instances will be few and far between (along with the hope that they’ll help usher in the next wave of gadgets and gizmos).

Posted on 11/14/11 at 02:00 PM by Tim - Categories: Apple Apps & Software Design Tags: iPad, Apple, iOS

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