Tec's soup

Aaargh! IE7's getElementById is effectively getFirstElementByIdOrName. Why? J...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:31:02 GMT

Aaargh! IE7's getElementById is effectively getFirstElementByIdOrName. Why? Just why? http://t.co/Qi5sq0f3

First @vimberlin meetup at @launch_co tomorrow. Details: vimberlin.de

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:02:06 GMT

First @vimberlin meetup at @launch_co tomorrow. Details: vimberlin.de

RT @pidoco: Pidoco is hiring web developers, and interns in programming and m...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:19:59 GMT

RT @pidoco: Pidoco is hiring web developers, and interns in programming and marketing! To find out more go to https://t.co/oJissKaU #job ...

Pidoco is hiring!

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:56:58 GMT

We’re looking for web developers, freelancers and interns in software programming and marketing. If you would like to work for a fun and exciting startup email us at info@pidoco.com. For more information go to https://pidoco.com/en/company/jobs.

We would love to hear from you!

RT @pidoco: New feature preview of pidoco: folders and custom stencils for yo...

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:23:29 GMT

RT @pidoco: New feature preview of pidoco: folders and custom stencils for your prototypes. Try now: https://t.co/NcbzLjNu

Adding Folders and Custom Stencils

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:04:57 GMT

As already mentioned in our previous blog post about the new navigation that we implemented, there were a few new features that had to be finished before we can continue deploying the new version of pidoco. That is also the reason why we weren’t able to deploy this yet, since the features first had to be tested and stabilized to include them into this new preview. Up to now we have finished four out of the five open issues that we mentioned in the other blog post:

Navigation to other pages

We added a little menu to each breadcrumb that opens when you hover over the little grey arrow as shown in the screenshot. It lists all the elements on the same level and you can pick one to switch to that view. We also added a button that opens the desired view in a new browser tab such that you then can easily switch between several views. This way, navigating through your prototype should be as fast as before.

Folders

You can now add folders to your prototype where you can put anything inside. This allows for better organization of all the pages, layers, etc that your prototype contains. In order to move an item to a different folder, use the context menu. A drag and drop moving into a folder has not been implemented yet.

Custom stencils

We already have layers to reuse groups of elements across several pages, but they are always at the same position. From now on you can convert a group of elements into a so called custom stencil that then appears in the palette and can be added anywhere in your prototype. You can add several instances of it to the same page, you can choose different positions, and any change will automatically be applied to all the instances.

New visual design

Since it already took longer to implement things up to now, we skipped this part and will change the design in one of the next versions.

Stability

A whole lot of bugs have been fixed already, but there are still some left to be fixed. As long as we are not satisfied with the quality we won’t deploy the new version. However, it shouldn’t take very long anymore until we reach that point.

Let us know what you think

We would love hearing from you what you think about this new version! If you have any suggestion or feel that there is something important still missing, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

Chat with us.
Feel free to send us a tweet: @pidoco
We are happy about any email we receive: support@pidoco.com
You may even give us a call: +49 30 4881 6385

Many thanks for your support!

RT @UxCampEurope: … organizing UXcamp 2012 just started for real. Date will b...

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:19:01 GMT

RT @UxCampEurope: … organizing UXcamp 2012 just started for real. Date will be 26. & 27. May 2012

Google+Pidoco http://t.co/nCQGohXb

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:09:47 GMT

Google+Pidoco http://t.co/nCQGohXb

Note to self: do not ignore notes to yourself.

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:33:58 GMT

Note to self: do not ignore notes to yourself.

After a long journey: our iPhone app is available

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:07:33 GMT

It has been three months ago that we added the pidoco Mobile Edition for you to create specific iOS prototypes, which you can run directly on your iPhone or iPad using our new apps. Since then we were discussing with Apple to get our iPhone app into the store. Today, we’re happy to announce that the app finally is available in the App Store!

When you search for it you may notice that we have a Pidoco app that is for 99 cents and a Pidoco HD app that is for free. You may ask, why you have to pay for the app? Unfortunately, Apple’s App Store policies prevent our app from being free because pidoco° itself is a paid service. So, for your benefit, we chose the minimum possible price. With the iPad version of our app we were just lucky to get it approved before we made our pricing public, therefore it is still for free. But once we have to add a new version, this is likely to be changed.

If it were for us to decide you would get the app for free. However, we preferred having the app in the store instead of having no app at all. Our hope is that you will understand that to date it was not possible to get a free pidoco app into the store. Having now achieved that the app is in the store we will continue to think about a solution that both satisfies Apple to make some money with our app and you to get the app for free. After the last three months, I’m not yet convinced that this solution will be possible in the short term, but we’ll work on it.

Oh, you haven’t heard about Pidoco Mobile yet? Please read this article that describes how the mobile edition works.

Trying out @WorkFlowy to track my todos.

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 11:57:29 GMT

Trying out @WorkFlowy to track my todos. Really like it so far.

Do you like post-it art? (Pacman vs. Ghost) http://t.co/R5gG0ztz

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:29:42 GMT

Do you like post-it art? (Pacman vs. Ghost) http://t.co/R5gG0ztz

RT @pidoco: Sneak preview the next version of pidoco: http://t.co/NcbzLjNu. R...

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:12:57 GMT

RT @pidoco: Sneak preview the next version of pidoco: http://t.co/NcbzLjNu. Read the background http://t.co/DQGjGlSr and let us know wha ...

Our biggest improvement is on the finish line: the tabs are gone!

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:36:38 GMT

As you may know from previous blog posts (Redesign, First Step, and Second Step) we are working for quite a long time on improving pidoco with a completely new navigation of our prototype creator. We do this in preparation for a few new features like folders or your own stencils.

The most visible change that we did: we removed the tab navigation and introduced a breadcrumb navigation. Have a look how this will look like in the future (we plan to deploy this into our live system in November):

The first row of the pidoco interface now contains three elements: to the left we added two buttons that navigate back and forth in your browser history. Next to them is a breadcrumb component that always shows where you are in your prototype. In the upper right corner we placed some helpful links, like our support chat.

The new features in detail:

Breadcrumbs: whenever you open a page, screenflow, or layer for editing, the breadcrumbs will show where you are. You can do various things with them:
- Open the context menu to edit any property of the given item
- Edit the name by double clicking on a crumb. This works also for the name of the prototype
- Navigate to other items (not yet included in preview) by choosing it from the list of items that are on the same level
- Open the item in a new browser tab by pressing Ctrl or Cmd while clicking
Browser Tabs: you may know our real time collaboration feature. We now use this feature to sync several native browser tabs with the same prototype. This way you can open the same prototype in several tabs (or windows) and have all the pages or layers accessible that you are currently working on.
Browser History: we enabled pidoco to track in your browser history where you have navigated while prototyping. This allows for using the history back and forth buttons. You may use the native browser buttons or the two buttons in the upper left corner, which do the same as the native buttons.
Bookmarks: add the pages or layers that you need most often to your bookmarks. Since we enhanced the URL, the prototype can be opened directly in any specific page or layer.
Global layer in Prototype View: up to now, we only show the pages and screenflows in the prototype view. With this version, we also added the global layers such that you can immediately open a layer for editing, no matter on which page it is visible.

In the current preview we have only two levels for the breadcrumbs: the prototype view and any other view in the second level. With only these two levels, the breadcrumbs may not yet make big sense. However, we plan to add further levels soon. Both within the prototype (folders) and on top of the prototype (maybe something like projects that wrap several prototypes). Especially with the folders you will realize the full power of this feature.

These screenshots show the different views and how the breadcrumbs and the URL change in all the views. For comparison, the following screenshot shows the current (old) version with the tab navigation.

When will this be available?

We know that people prefer what they are used to. And because of the big impact of this change on the way you use pidoco, we decided to give you the chance to preview what is coming up before we deploy this feature. This way you can get a feeling of how to use pidoco in the future and the surprise is hopefully not too big when we have this in our live system.

The current state of the preview is not exactly the state that will be deployed. These things will be done before deployment:

Navigation to other pages: we want to add a feature to the breadcrumbs that shows you a list of items on the same level, where you can open any of these items with one click. Currently, it is required to go one level up and choose the item to open, which is a step we want to provide a shortcut for.
Folders: we very likely will add folders to your prototype such that you can organize your pages and that the breadcrumbs will make more sense.
“Custom stencils” (working title): a while ago we already started working on a feature where you can create your own stencils out of a group of elements. Our plan is to add this feature as well, because we were missing only the breadcrumb navigation to complete this feature.
New visual design: together with the breadcrumb navigation we developed a facelift of our visual design as well. Although we didn’t decide it yet, we may include the new design as well.
Stability: although we did a lot of tests for this preview version, we did not yet fix all the tiny bugs. Until we deploy this version you can be sure that we will fix all of them.

The time frame for all this to become the next version of pidoco is November. We will create another preview version a few days before go-live to show you how this will finally look like.

What if I have an idea / feedback on this?

If you have had a look at the preview and want to get in touch with us, please go ahead and let us know:

Chat with us. You can pick anyone in our chat support, but if I am online you can also talk directly to me, Volker.
Feel free to send us a message on twitter: @pidoco
We are happy about any email we receive: support@pidoco.com
It’s also possible to leave us a comment on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pidoco
We do have a feedback forum where you can add new requests and vote existing ones: http://pidoco.uservoice.com
You may even give us a call: +49 30 4881 6385

We are looking forward to talking to you and hearing your feedback!

Congratulations To Our Lucky Chromebook Winners

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:44:33 GMT

A couple of months ago we announced our Easter Egg Hunt campaign to mark the debut of the Pidoco Web App on the Google Chrome Web Store. To commemorate this occasion we promised to give away nine Google Chromebooks by Samsung as prizes to a few lucky winners among the Pidoco Web App users who managed to find the easter egg hidden in our app. We at Pidoco would like to extend a big thank you to all that participated in the contest and congratulate our lucky winners! A big thank you also goes out to Google Germany for sponsoring the Chromebooks.

For users of Google’s Chrome web browser the Pidoco Web App comes in as a great improvement since it allows users to edit, share, and manage their Pidoco prototypes more quickly and efficiently. Upon installation a large icon is added to the New Tab page that allows you to easily find and open Pidoco with one click! Further more you can set the Pidoco Web App to open in a regular tab, pinned tab, or in full-screen mode. As a web-based wireframing application, the Pidoco Web App offers you the latest in wireframing and prototyping capability and stays up-to-date as we add new releases. Thanks to Chrome’s sync you can access the Pidoco Web App no matter what computer you’re using.

Our lucky winners can now use the Pidoco Web App on their new Chromebooks: It now takes as little as 8 seconds to boot up and start prototyping! The all day battery as well as the built-in WiFi and 3G ensure mobility free from malware and viruses. The Chromebooks will be going out to winners mainly in Germany, but two will travel as far as the United Kingdom and Sweden. Some of the happy winners have even managed to come to our office to pick up their Chromebooks in person. Here are some pics!

Auletta. I like.

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 23:14:51 GMT

Auletta. I like.

Thanks for the great feedback about pidoco! RT @Scott_Allen How to Prototype ...

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 09:06:00 GMT

Thanks for the great feedback about pidoco! RT @Scott_Allen How to Prototype A Website in 10 Minutes (Or Less) bit.ly/oaxPjc

buckwoody: Hint: When an engineer says something is "non-trivial," it's like a pilot calling a Cat5 Hurricane "a bit of turbulence"

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:37:32 GMT

RT @beamagpie: We've been acquired by IZEA! http://lnch.co/orghLy

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:44:26 GMT

RT @beamagpie: We've been acquired by IZEA! http://lnch.co/orghLy

martin_probst: You have a problem and decide to use Java - now you have a ProblemFactory (@sixtus42)

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:36:43 GMT

Pidoco Mobile: Create and Test iOS Prototypes

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:47:17 GMT

We’ve constantly been asked whether we do have some specific iOS stencils for pidoco. Today we can say, yes we do!

We are starting the roll-out of Pidoco Mobile with a private beta phase where you may be added to create iOS prototypes and test them directly on your device. Some of you may now ask, ‘and what about Android?’ Once we have fully rolled out the iOS part of Pidoco Mobile we start working on Android, so please be a little patient about it.

What is Pidoco Mobile?

It consists of two parts: the web application for creating the iOS prototypes (as you know pidoco already, but with new stencils) and the iOS app to simulate the prototypes on your device.

For the web application, you need to have a modern browser on your desktop PC (or Mac, for sure). We officially support Firefox, Safari (Mac only is recommended), or Google Chrome. On top, we heard that Microsoft IE 9 is working well, too, although not yet being officially supported. The iOS prototypes that you can create do run only in these browsers plus Opera and IE 9. We skipped the support for the older IE versions (8 and earlier) to simplify our development efforts. In general, if your browser supports native SVG then it is very likely to run our prototypes.

The iOS app provides you with a list of your iOS prototypes. First, pick one of these prototype and you see its pages. Then pick a page and the prototype is opened in either the sketched or plain mode. Take it from there to test your prototype, get a feeling for the correct sizes and measurements of the elements, and see whether your concepts work. We have added a demo account with which you can try a prototype of the Facebook app to give you an impression of what’s possible. The pidoco app is available for both iPhones and iPads.

How can I participate?

To install the iOS app on your device, please sign up with testflight right from your device. You will then have to register your device so we can add it to the builds of our app. (You might have heard that for such a test, we have to add every single device to the app for it to be installable.) If you followed the above link then we will be informed and can create a new build that we then can send you. To install the build you will have to open the link from the email on your device, the rest is done by testflight. (If you want to know more about testflight, read how to become a tester.)

If you already have a pidoco account, then we need to activate the iOS prototypes for that account. The best way is to send us a short mail (contact@pidoco.com). In case you have not yet an account you may create one and use the 31 days free trial. In this case we also need to activate your account before you can create an iOS prototype.

I have feedback. How do I let you know?

We know that this beta version of Pidoco Mobile might not yet be complete and that you will very likely miss a feature. If we know about this we can add it to our development process. There are different ways of how to tell us such ideas:

You can chat with us: https://pidoco.com/contact/chat
Feel free to send us a message on twitter: @pidoco
We are happy about any email we receive: contact@pidoco.com
It’s also possible to leave us a comment on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pidoco
We do have a feedback forum where you can add new requests and vote existing ones: http://pidoco.uservoice.com
You may even give us a call: +49 30 4881 6385

Just pick a channel to talk to us, we’re happy to hear from you!

(Please note that we created the Facebook prototype on our own and only for demo purposes. There was no involvement of Facebook.)

jan.sh: Kriminalpolizei writes code like it's 1998

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 19:08:05 GMT

yeahrock:

I was super-excited when I looked at the source code of kino.to after it has been taken down by the German Kriminalpolizei (think FBI).

They use tables, fixed widths, and extra rows as spacers. Plus, they don’t close their tags and they can’t even spell height.

I feel much so safer now,…

http://jan.sh/post/6660779461

Use our Chrome Web Store-App and find our Easter Egg

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:57:59 GMT

Together with Google Germany we have developed an app for the Chrome Web Store to ease the access to pidoco.com if you are using Google’s browser. To install the app simply open the (German) store with Google Chrome and search for the pidoco app. After you installed the app, simply open a new tab to see it listed.

Play with the pidoco app and find our Easter Egg

We have hidden a little surprise in pidoco if you are using it through the Chrome App. You just have to play around and try all our features, at some point you will stumble upon it. Once you found it make sure to follow the links and get into the raffle for some shiny chromebooks!

Happy searching!

RT @Scott_Allen: Best website prototyping tool I've ever used. Seriously, I'm...

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:00:35 GMT

RT @Scott_Allen: Best website prototyping tool I've ever used. Seriously, I'm LOVING pidoco.com. My hat's off to a developer that can si ...

Google's press release for our Chrome App (w/ @HRS @otto_de @sternde @planioa...

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:07:51 GMT

Google's press release for our Chrome App (w/ @HRS @otto_de @sternde @planioapp et al.) http://lnch.co/mL7w6D

RT @jkuri: heise.de down? Ja, leider: es gab einen Stromausfall beim Hoster d...

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 22:03:52 GMT

RT @jkuri: heise.de down? Ja, leider: es gab einen Stromausfall beim Hoster der externen Server, der die Connectivity betraf. Sollte bal ...

UxCampEurope: RT @pidoco: The UXcamp Europe Group Photo: http://t.co/AKSMCt2 (small) http://t.co/7vywKKO (full size) #uxce11

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 01:28:05 GMT

Mini = Beinfreiheit #uxce http://t.co/sFMwArh

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:31:27 GMT

Mini = Beinfreiheit #uxce http://t.co/sFMwArh

Mini = Beinfreiheit #uwce2011 http://t.co/2FBBoXw

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:29:49 GMT

Mini = Beinfreiheit #uwce2011 http://t.co/2FBBoXw

RT @justju: btw. will there be the usual brownies at #uxce11 this year? I hop...

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 07:57:10 GMT

RT @justju: btw. will there be the usual brownies at #uxce11 this year? I hope so, it has become part of my UXCamp UX.

justju: btw. will there be the usual brownies at #uxce11 this year? I hope so, it has become part of my UXCamp UX.

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:36:42 GMT

Google Apps to stop support for IE7, FF3.5 and Safari3 (via @trieloff) gmailb...

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 10:30:13 GMT

Google Apps to stop support for IE7, FF3.5 and Safari3 (via @trieloff) gmailblog.blogspot.com/...

ma6: Oh toll. Nur noch gut ein Monat und dann ist wieder Familientreffen beim UXCamp. #uxce11

Thu, 05 May 2011 08:18:59 GMT

guerillagirl_: @ifenn let's do a guerilla uxcamp outside ;)

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:49:54 GMT

Designing Pop-Ups Easily in Pidoco

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:14:44 GMT

KISS – “Keep it short and simple.” This is the mantra behind Pidoco, and it is the reason why we have avoided cluttering the tool with complexities like page states, panels and so on for simple things like creating pop-ups. Meanwhile, there is no reason why you should not use pop-ups in your prototypes. In fact, there are strikingly easy ways of creating pop-ups in Pidoco without complex, intransparent functions. And here is how you do it.

The trick is using two pages and two layers. In one of my earlier blog posts I talked about how to work with global layers in Pidoco. This is one situation where they are particularly handy. In order to create a pop-up in your prototype simply follow these steps:

1. Create the page on which you want the pop-up to appear.

2. Create a layer for the page content and use it to design the page. You will need to put all stencils that will be covered by the pop-up onto this layer.

Place the page content on an extra layer.

3. Create a second layer for the pop-up. Design the pop-up on that layer, e.g. using a rectangle in which you place the content of the pop-up. Once you are done with the pop-up, make sure to de-select the layer in My Global Layers.*

Create a second layer in your prototype to design the pop-up.

4. Once you are done with this, go to the Prototype View and duplicate the page.

Duplicate the page to create a page that will contain the pop-up.

5. Now open the copy and activate the pop-up layer. Then link up the “pop-up page” with the original page and vice versa. Voilà, done!

Link the two prototype pages together to simulate the pop-up.

This simple recipe will allow you to create functioning pop-ups without resorting to complexities such as panels, states and the like. Instead of using a panel, you simply will have two pages. Easy, isn’t it?

You can also use the pop-up method to create lightboxes. Simply start the pop-up layer with a rectangle whose fill color you set to semi-transparent. This is easily done through the context menu. Make sure the rectangle covers the entire page. Now you can lock the rectangle in place and continue designing the lightbox content.

So, how about you? Have you tried to figure out how certain things are easily done in Pidoco? Let us know below!

* Remember: You can order global layers in the My Global Layers panel by dragging them to the desired spot. The layers are displayed in the order in which you place them, i.e. the top layer will show up on top of all the others. For the pop-up layer to come out on top make sure that the pop-up layer is placed above the layer with the page content in the My Global Layers list.

Feature Snapshot: Working with Layers

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 13:34:55 GMT

Layers in Pidoco are a fantastic way to save time when creating and adapting prototypes. Many already know layers from software programs like PhotoShop. Pidoco features a similar concept that allows users to group and re-use elements, but with one crucial difference: Layers are global in Pidoco.

Global Layers are a great way to save time when creating prototypes in Pidoco.

Global Layers are templates that can be reused within a prototype. You can hide and unhide them on any page of a prototype. This means that a layer can be created for the menu bar and website navigation and subsequently be used on all pages with one simple click. This way parts of a website or a web app that appear often do not have to be recreated for every page. In addition, different sections of a page can be compartmentalized into different layers in relation to tasks. An example of this is a webpage with different panes.

Layers in Pidoco are global meaning that any edits made to a layer while on a particular page will affect the layer on all other pages of the prototype where the layer is activated. This is a very handy feature when it comes to adapting a prototype or trying out UI design alternatives: Simply make a copy of the prototype and change the original layer to reflect the new concept. Or create an alternative layer in the same prototype and unhide the original one on those pages where you want the changes to be effective. So here’s how it works.

Creating Global Layers in Your Prototype

Layers can be created easily within a prototype when you are in the Page View, i.e. after opening any page of the prototype. To create a new layer in your prototype simply click on the “Create” button in the My Global Layers panel on the right hand side of the screen. Voilà! Doing so will generate a new global layer that will appear as a new entry at the top of the list of layers in My Global Layers. To rename the layer double click on it in My Global Layers and enter the desired name in the text field that appears.

Creating a new global layer for your prototype takes just one mouse click.

The new layer will automatically be shown on the page you have opened and will be pre-selected so that you can start editing the new layer right away. Layers can be edited in the same way that you would edit the page: Simply drag the UI elements (stencils) from the Stencil Palette on the left hand side onto the layer. You can group them, align them, change attributes, or link them up with other pages. Once you’re done editing the layer, simply switch back to the page by selecting the page above the My Global Layers list.

With the drag & drop function, editing layers is just as easy as editing pages.

By the way, you can edit any layer that is part of the page you’re on by selecting it under My Global Layers. If you want to edit a layer that is not active on the opened page you have to first display it by selecting the checkbox or switch to a page where it is already in use. At this point it is good to remind yourself that layers are global and that any change will affect all pages throughout the entire prototype on which the layer is displayed.

How to use layers

Let’s say you’ve just created a few new layers, for example for the main navigation of your website or the utilities. You can now use them on any page of your prototype without having to redo the work. To display (or unhide) and use a layer on a page, open that page in the Page View and select (activate) the checkbox of the desired layer. Doing so will make the layer visible on that page.

Layers can be added to prototype pages by simply activating them via the checkbox.

All layers that are visible on the page are marked by a check in the checkbox in the My Global Layers list. Hidden (inactive) layers appear without a check. To hide a layer from a page simply do the reverse: Open that page in the Page View and deselect (deactivate) the checkbox of the desired layer in My Global Layers. Doing so will make the layer invisible on that page. Remember you cannot edit a hidden layer.

The My Global Layers panel lists all available layers. Simply select the ones you need on any page in your prototype.

This of course also works not only for the navigation of a website, but also for footers, side menus and various other items that you want to re-use. Layers can also be used to model various states of the same page. Say, for example, you wanted to distinguish between the homepage of a web portal before and after the user has logged in. Simply create two layers for the different states of the utilities and/or navigation and duplicate the homepage. Display one layer on each page. Since the links on your layers are also global, you can even include different navigation paths using this method.

Managing Layers

All layers available in a prototype are listed in My Global Layers panel on the right-hand side of the prototype while in the Page View. There is no natural hierarchy among layers, but you can order them by dragging them to the desired position in My Global Layers with your mouse.

Ordering layers is easy and quick in the My Global Layers list via drag and drop.

The top layer in the list will be displayed on top of all others, and so on. Note that the page entry above My Global Layers is not a layer, but represents the page you are on. Elements contained directly on the page will be displayed on top of all layers.

So, this gives you a brief idea of what layers can do for you. Have you tried the layer feature yourself? We’d love to hear about your experience.

About Feature Snapshots: Feature Snapshots address topics that are essential in the daily work of interface designers and all those using wireframes for professional purposes. As such, they are intended to help you learn how to tackle such challenges using Pidoco. One of the key benefits of prototyping is the possibility of working with design alternatives to find out which best suits business and user needs. This particular Feature Snapshot is about working with layers in Pidoco and how it can support the iterative design process.

Hunting for Performance

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:59:59 GMT

We just applied some hot fixes to our JavaScript Code that improves the server roundtrips while editing a prototype. We received reports about this performance issue for quite a while, but were unable to find the cause for this until now. From a developer point of view, it is always difficult to work on such things if you cannot reproduce it on your machine or in some test environment. In this case, I was lucky to chat with a user last week, with whose prototype I could see the issue and identify the problem. Today, we found a solution that lead to a speed improvement of a factor of 10. We hope that you can feel this improvement when you work with pidoco from now on.

The change of today is one in a series of performance improvements that we did during the past months. In January, we were able to speed up our database and optimize every request to our server. In February, we could improve the loading time of the rendered prototypes and show the contents of a page earlier in a page load. And now in March, we again accelerated the server roundtrips, but this time the part in your browser. Since we do rely on your feedback while working with pidoco, we’d appreciate if you could give us another challenge for April. Which part would you say is still too slow? Where should we continue to hunt for performance? Let us know!

A New Year’s Compilation Of Usability & Wireframing Poetry

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:04:31 GMT

We have moved well into the new year, and this is a great time to briefly pause and look back at the year 2010, which has been a remarkable year in many ways. It’s been exciting, to say the least, with Facebook becoming the most frequented website on the world wide web, Google Android mixing up the mobile market, the number of mobile internet users growing massively, Twitter becoming a viable communication channel for established businesses, and cloud services really starting to take off as companies like Microsoft, IBM, or SAP have followed Amazon into the virtual world.

What role do topics like user interface design or usability play in this setting? Well, with more and more services going “cloud” or mobile, most companies have noticed that traditional interface design concepts need to be reconsidered, not only because navigation patterns differ when you are using software in a web browser or on the small screen of a mobile touch device, but also because the competition is becoming ever more intense online and in the mobile market.

To pay tribute to the rising significance of great user interface design, we have started creating poetry that plays on the variations of UI design topics. Here are a few of the diamonds in this modern category of usability and wireframing poetry. Enjoy!

Ode to the Usability of Interface Designs

Though still unfinished pride of expertness

Thou wireframe of an interface design

A rapid paper prototype used to express

Ideas of layouts and navigation that lurk in the mind

What icons and buttons envelope thy shape

Of links and portals that strive with growth

through the fiber optic cables of an ISP

Streaming gigabytes of info with ease for you and me both

What mad pursuit ever since the struggles of Netscape

When the ripe World Wide Web became destiny

Interfaces designs are sweet, but those uncluttered

Are sweeter: which is a reason why users stay on

When a website is clear it becomes more endear’d

Leading to increased visits and subjective satisfaction

Being used with great ease and not wanting to leave

Accomplishing tasks with minimum error scares

Knowing I can recover if something goes amiss

Though winning near the goal – yet, I do not grieve

For using this graphical user interface design is bliss

With a high level of memorability, this interface design is a breath of fresh air!

Based on “Ode to a Grecian Urn” by John Keats

Ode to a Skinned Interface Design

I went to the link my friend sent me,

And I saw what I never had seen;

An ad banner was built in the midst,

Where I used to click on the screen.

With no choice but to scroll down I did frown,

My friend’s interface design was upside down,

Like a tourist with no clue I looked around lost in town,

‘Cause there were no breadcrumbs to be found.

A millisecond too long I located local navigation,

Thinking ‘they sure could use a wireframe tool for their creations’.

With findability resolved these usability problems would dissolve

And, in tow, his search engine ranking would evolve.

Based on “The Garden of Love” by William Blake

Instant Interface Design Sorrow

My mother groaned, my father wept:

Into their shopping cart unwanted things leapt,

Helpless, overcharged but arrestingly proud,

Feeling like a fiend was hid in ‘the cloud’.

Who to blame when the mouse was in my father’s hands,

Well poor usability & interface design will hurt a brand,

Placing the ‘Cancel’ button a nanometer from ‘Buy’ is not best,

Especially with a return policy worse than the rest.

Based on “Infant Sorrow” by William Blake

The original idea behind these poems was to adapt famous poems and use them to shed light on issues that affect usability, wireframes, wireframing tools and user interface design. If you have some suggestions of poems that you would like for us to interpolate during the coming year, please feel free to leave a comment with your request in it.

uxcafe: 2010: Tickets gone within an hour. 2011: within 24 minutes. 2012: Wondering if people will camp in front of the venue, Apple-style. #uxce11

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:10:04 GMT

jan: Denn das ist alles in der Cloud, das ist alles gar nicht meine, das ist alles in der Cloud, doch das weiß ich nur ganz alleine...

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 23:02:52 GMT