[...]... media We then discuss the role it should play in the web community as a truly powerful tool for usability We’ll accomplish this by covering the following topics: The brief, turbulent history of Flash How the Flash environment changed with MX 2004 and ActionScript 2.0 Flash s advantages (and disadvantages) compared to HTML with Flash Flash versus Ajax, a competing technology Breaking the Flash usability. .. exact design standard, but a desired result We can then begin thinking innovatively about solving usability problems, rather than always following some standard, set-in-stone design convention Ultimately, it’s the users who need to benefit the most from usability, and they will benefit the most if they understand both what the existing conventions are and where we can improve upon them For the solutions. .. examining why many Flash- based web applications suffered from poor usability design in the past can we apply the lessons learned from those mistakes It’s up to us, the designers and developers, to figure out how to get around these issues and use the powerful flexibility of Flash to aid—rather than obstruct—our users In this chapter, we explore Flash s history and lay out some of the advantages it has... Optimizing usability when embedding Flash movies Browser compatibility Flash sniffing Choosing an embedding method The default Flash- generated HTML method The Flash Satay method The nested object method The Flash Player Detection Kit The FlashObject method Using FlashObject with Express Install Writing the. .. We’ll talk about how Flash can best enhance the usability of your applications We’ll also give you our perspective on the best way to develop these solutions, from designing the interface all the way down to how to structure your ActionScript code So, while this book is geared toward more experienced Flashers who are well acquainted with AS2, these solutions offer something for Flash developers at any... PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER Chapter 14: Planning for Usability Setting the bar for Flash usability RIA usability: A new paradigm The usability team members Preparing for development Defining the application s purpose Creating an application map Exploring interactions through interaction models Designing... this means: Usability should be intuitive The more obvious you can make the features of your web application, the better Users should be thinking less about how to use your application and concentrating more on how to benefit from your application The most intuitive interface is one that the user isn’t even aware of—an “invisible interface.” The interface is so fluid that the user and the application. .. Building the Flash solution Designing the UI components The content area movie clips The header bar clip The navigation items Setting up component data Delegating layout responsibilities Building the content area class Building the stage manager class Setting the size of the content areas Setting the positions of the content... boundless design flexibility of Flash will enable the usability on the Internet to catch up with functionality While there may be a few learning curves for users early on, the benefits in the long run will far outweigh whatever growing pains (if any) occur in the beginning And as we’ve mentioned, the growing popularity of Ajax (as well as Flash) just goes to show that building rich applications on the Web... solve specific usability problems with Flash Think of this book as an analysis of usability case studies, rather than an A-to-Z primer on usability After digging into these pages, you should feel comfortable with how to solve specific usability issues and how to approach new ones down the road In Part Three, we’ll focus on how to plan for usability in the design process and present a final application . alt="" Flash Application Design Solutions The Flash Usability Handbook Ka Wai Cheung Craig Bryant 5947FM.qxd 1/27/06 1:26 PM Page i Flash Application Design Solutions: The Flash Usability Handbook Copyright. (www.actionscript.org), and HOW design online (www.howdesign.com). He writes about topics from web standards to usability design to software development theory, but his main passion is Flash application development . . 282 PART THREE: PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER Chapter 14: Planning for Usability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Setting the bar for Flash usability . . . . . . . . . .