At Flash sites, the busiest forums discuss code rather than design.

This is odd considering the number of Flashers who straddle the developer/designer divide.

One explanation: 1) It’s hard to discuss interfaces in a way that can be represented in a forum. In fact, it’s hard to prototype interaction period. (In order to discuss an interface, you basically have to build an interface…at which point you are committed.)

Another explanation: A lot of design is proprietary: your client would not care a whit if you post a snippet of code you are using on her site…but she sure as hell would care if you offered its design for public scrutiny.

I’m not sure how to overcome these obstacles. As it is, I don’t bother posting in the sitecheck forum. Once people show their sites, all the major decisions have been made, and the only polite thing to do is niggle.

Tags: prototyping · workflowNo Comments