Rev Mentor

Tips, tricks, news & commentary for Revolution developers

The Aesthetics of Web Apps in 6 Questions

GREAT article on app design. It's geared toward web apps, but could just as well be Rev internet-aware apps.

Design for Startups: The Aesthetics of Web Apps in 6 Questions

Written by Jolie O'Dell / September 8, 2009 1:42 PM

Think twice about that huge font and those glassy icons: Look and feel is the first thing we see and notice about most web apps and is often critical to an app's user experience, adoption, and ultimate success.

We chatted with a panel of expert aesthetes in the space, including Spymaster designer Eston Bond, veteran creative director Rich Barrett, designer/developer Warren Benedetto, Mike Rundle of 9rules and Beak fame, and the Paul du Coudray Lowdown, the winner of this year's Rails Rumble appearance category. Here's what they had to say about developers doing double duty as designers, trends they'd like to see disappear, and how aesthetics can help a startup sink or swim.

You should CLICK HERE to read the entire article.

Good, good read!

Big Bang Concepts and API's

John Gruber wrote a great piece entitled "Bang" this week. He spent some time talking about how to come up with concepts for an app. I always like his "bare minimum" approaches.

Gruber also drew in comments from Craig Hockenberry (Twitterrific) and Fraser Speirs (Exposure, a Flickr client). A fairly thoughtful, pithy read, this one.

John was talking specifically about iPhone apps, but, since the role of APIs in design/architecture was also discussed, I thought it worth posting a link to it here as we ponder using APIs in content management systems.

Safari 4.0 beta - favs within top sites

Safari 4.0 beta - top sites edit mode

This is the Top Sites view in the edit mode:

Notice the close box and push pin on each curved thumbnails as well as the different sizes you can choose via button at bottom right.

Safari 4.0 beta - now they're showing off

Clicking that grid icon just below the right arrow renders your top visited sites within a wrap-around motif.