Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Don’t skip the fine details of your mobile site.

If you’re not already looking at the mobile landscape and plotting out your own addition, you should be.  Now that I’ve been able to live with my own mobile site for a while, I wanted to share some quick tips for those of you that are looking go mobile yourselves.

 
• Redirect mobile devices to your mobile site.  This will give your site visitors a better browsing experience through these devices, plus it will let them know that you have a mobile site, that is if you haven’t been tweeting from the rooftops already.
• Provide your visitors a way out of and back into your mobile site.  This is a great way for people to access functionality or content that might not be on your mobile site.  I will throw out a quick disclaimer on this item though.  If your site is small enough to have everything on both your mobile and traditional sites, or there aren’t any real benefits to leaving these doorways open, you can forego this item, but it’s still something to keep in mind.  Also, make sure your redirection and backdoor links don’t create a giant, frustrating loop.  Just sayin’.
• Your mobile site doesn’t need to be a carbon-copy of your traditional site.  Look at what you think your visitors would want to access on their handset or better yet, check your site’s analytics to see what content they are accessing from their mobile devices.
• Give your mobile site an easy-to-get-to address.  Something like www.yoursupercoolproduct.com/Mobile is ok, but m.yoursupercoolproduct.com is even better.

Sunday, August 08, 2010

IPad sketchbook app shootout

I’ve realized that my iPad has become my sketchbook on steroids. It's been a while since I've cracked open the pages of my notebooks, largely because of some great apps that have let me skip the pen & paper route and go with a completely digital workflow.

There are many apps that can let you sketch out ideas and get thoughts down on...glass. Here are my favorites.

iDraft - Free

I just picked up iDraft (iTunes link) a week ago and it's been my go-to sketching app ever since. What I'm the most drawn to with this app is the ability to make individual "project" notebooks that I can then email the entire book or just a few pages to anyone I'd like.

The drawing tools and markings are very natural, in fact, the pen width decreases the quicker you move your finger over the canvas. I've found this app to be a great alternative to my traditional sketchbook with some great benefits. It should be mentioned that the ability to zoom is missing from iDraft, an omission that I've noticed on a few occasions.

Pros

• Grouping of project sketches with notebook sharing as a PDF


• Differing width based on speed for a somewhat realistic feel


• Simple and intuitive UI


• No photo importing

Cons

• No ability to zoom


• Limited color choices for brushes

Adobe Ideas - Free


One of the first apps I downloaded for my iPad was Adobe Ideas (iTunes link).  This is a great app if you use Photoshop, Illustrator, or any other app in Adobe's Creative Suite line.  Sketching out quick ideas is easy and the app tries to "correct" or straighten out your lines.  One big appeal of this app is the ability to export and mail the sketch as a PDF that retains the vector imagery for further development in Photoshop, Illustrator, or your vector app of choice.

As with any drawing app worth it's salt, you can choose pen colors and erase lines so that goes without saying.  One nice, added feature is the ability to zoom into the drawing or zoom out to reveal more drawing space

Pros

• Vector drawings that can be tweaked in other full-blown apps


• Photo importing


• Layers (minimal)

Cons

• The "auto-correcting" can get annoying if you're not used to it.


• While Ideas has the ability to do layers, there are only two. A few more would be nice.

Brushes - $7.99

Last, but not least on my list of sketchbook fighters is Brushes (iTunes link).  I bought this app for my iPhone and found it fun, but also a bit frustrating due to the small screen size.  With the iPad, I decided to give it another shot and have grown to enjoy the experience more and more.

With a robust toolset of multiple brush types and sizes to great zoom and detail control, Brushes is more geared toward creating an artwork vs sketching out a layout but you never know what an might grow into

Pros

• If you want to create a great work of art, this is your app. I guess that's a pro, right?


• Great variety of brushes and tools allow you to push the limits of this app and your imagination.


• Ability to import photos.


• Zoom in and out to make fine, detailed adjustments

Cons

• Bitmapped final image

The winner?
What kind of a shootout would this be if there wasn’t a winner declared?  Truth be told, I can’t pick just one app, they’re all great and excel in different areas.  Some shootout this turned out to be.  More like a love-fest.