Here is a small glimpse into the process I normally follow when approaching a new design for an app, or iterating on a current release or old idea. Of course, this is by no means a road map. Merely a process that works for me. It can be the most rewarding and frustrating time of the design process but I’ve found a few simple steps that help me get started.

Don’t think about it
The first thing I do is clear my head by working on something else while trying to suppress any ideas I have into the back of my mind. The first rule I have about mobile design is avoiding clutter. Ideas are easy. Execution is messy. By focusing on something else I can subtly think about what I want to do with a new app without over thinking it. I learned this from reading Archimedes. The best way to have a “Eureka!” moment is to separate yourself. Some people take walks, read, zone out. I code. I pick a singular task and I start coding around it. The clearness of logic helps me design by cutting away the approaches that won’t work. Code is clarity. Either it works or it doesn’t work. I bring this into the design while I’m still in the exploratory phase. Remember, you can’t debug a design.

Look past the obvious
When I am about to start sketching, I list out every possible approach that comes to my mind immediately. Sometimes I sketch them out. Then I throw them away. Well, maybe not throw away but I at least put them aside. This is a great exercise because it usually means I’ve cleared away the obvious. The low-hanging fruit. The standard approaches. We are constantly bombarded by design in our daily lives from advertising, other apps, and so on. This can serve as inspiration but it can also limit you. I like to start past the normal limits and work my way back.

Get dumb
Pretend you know nothing about design. You’ve never designed an app before and you’ve never even seen one. Good. Now design what you want. Design something that improves your life. Even if it’s just for you. Then, slap the grey matter back in your head and get to work.

Pull the limits
It’s a lot harder to start safe and then get dangerous. Complacency breeds conformity. The problem is, most designers start creating boxes within boxes within boxes so when a circle comes along the immediate response is to throw it out. Especially if you’ve spent tons of time building this solid foundation around a safe idea. Grids, modules, templates, etc. will find their way. If you begin by locking yourself in you’ll never be innovative. I like to start way out and work my way back. Screw pushing the limits. Pull them to your idea.

Seek out the uninvested
The best critics are the most ignorant. Asking the obvious questions and offering simple critiques are always going to happen. It’s necessary but it’s the easy thing to do. “I don’t like that color” isn’t going to help design a better app. “Why is that button there?” might. Those are the questions my wife, my mom, or a random person on the Metro might ask. Those are the type of questions I like. The questions that come from not knowing the app or product. Not being invested in the progress of the app or the deadlines ahead. That’s how the right questions get asked because they’re honest.

Kill your babies
This is a saying tossed around in creative writing classes. You have to know when you’re lost and when to start over. I’ve tossed out designs with 20-plus hours behind them. Simply because they weren’t working or they seemed forced. Designing is a lot like playing chess. Especially in mobile design. You have to think several steps ahead. You have a small amount of real estate to design in and every choice means you are left with less choices to make. Not having to make choices seems like a good thing. Until you don’t have any. Highly talented chess players can see they’ve lost or won after the first few moves. Or at least what their probability is. The ability to identify when to kill your babies, kill your designs, is a tough choice to make. But you’ll save yourself a ton of time in the end.

Walk away
This is the hardest and final step for me. Knowing when to stop. I am completely guilty of wasting time tweaking and perfecting when I know all I’m going to end up doing is rolling back to the original design. I know my designs will never be perfect. And they shouldn’t be. If it’s perfect then you can’t improve it. When I’m near the end of a design I take frequent breaks. As many as possible. This makes stopping much easier because at one point I’ll come back, look at the design, and know if it’s there. Then it’s on to the next one.

When I was but a young lemming, I too entered the world of Flash to do the simplest things that would cause today’s modern digital designer to gasp. Whole Web sites. (Yikes!) Widgets. (Ugh.) Ads. (Haunting.) You name it. But then I learned about graphic manipulation. This whole piece of software was supposed to put the Web in motion and become a visual tool for story telling. Not, exactly, what it was intended for.

Luckily I never jumped off the cliff.

New software came along. The Web evolved. And Flash was exposed for what it was: clunky, bloated and easy. Flash is the instant mashed potatoes of graphics technology. But there is hope! Perhaps you’ve heard of this whole HTML5 thing? It’s neat. However, this post isn’t about that, because HTML6 will be here before some people let the Web pry their Tweens from their cold, dead hands. This post is about evolution. Without pontificating too much, of course.

Why I hate when people tweet “Interactive Graphics”

Web graphics are stories. Data stories. New ways to translate complex information in multiple spaces across multiple devices. RECORD SKIP! I know. Yet, many artists ignore this. The days of sitting in front of powerful Dell desktop computers that don’t mind cranking on fans for the smallest SWF that required 30 kb just to draw a purple circle the size of a quarter are as gone as Macromedia. Where people consume these stories is just as important as the content. That’s why I loathe not being able to see the content. And I’m really tired of the standard “You need to upgrade your Flash player” filler. At least be creative with that.

Why can’t I see the content? Because I am usually checking Twitter from my phone or iPad. I rarely go to the Web interface of Twitter. But when I am on my desktop I have Flash disabled in all of my browsers. Why? Because a bunch of digital ad “designers” decided they need to build everything in Flash. So, your interactive graphic that you spent two months working on? My browser thinks it’s trying to sell me Viagra.

Ask yourself questions before you open Flash

Before you click on that pretty little red icon on your desktop I want you to ask yourself the following questions. I’ll supply my answers but you should come up with them yourself.

Question 1: Do I even need Flash?
Answer: See flow chart below…

Source: The Google Cache

Question 2: I’m building a map based graphic. Should I use Google Maps and Javascript? Or should I use a buggy plugin for Flash?
Answer: Really? With questions like this I tend to say “Go with what was first.” Did Google Maps start with a Flash plugin? No. So, maybe you shouldn’t either.

Question 3: Do I want a lot of people to see this graphic?
Answer: Well, yeah. So why are you cutting out a huge chunk of your audience by forcing users to install a plugin or ignoring the mobile space all together?

But I only know Flash

Don’t be a one-trick pony. Flash isn’t a certification. You should be learning new technologies that make your life easier and help your users/readers. Learn HTML5. Learn more Javascript. Learn CSS3. Learn jQuery.

The amount of open source technology out there is ridiculous. Start tapping into it and figure out how you can build old projects without using Flash. My advice to anyone getting started is this: Build something. Books are great for reference. Classes are set to the middle of the road. And tutorial Web sites don’t give you the experience. Also, the barrier to entry is nonexistent. Flash = $. Open source code = Free. So how do you get started?

Google. Or whatever search engine you use. Google for what you need. Check forums like StackOverflow. You’ll be surprised how much guidance is out there. If you get stuck, well hey, you learned something. Your job requires research for data usually, correct? Well apply those same skills to your knowledge of Web development and design. We’ll all be the better for it. Not just you.

In defense of Flash

Of course, there needs to be a counterpoint. Flash obviously isn’t really dead. It’s going to live on for a long time even as HTML5 advances in SVG, Canvasing, and other dynamic spaces. My argument is mainly for the day-to-day graphic/data visualization designer. If you’re making an animated cartoon short. Flash is probably best. If you’re making a game. Again, Flash is probably your best bet. I’m still saying probably though. HTML5, especially in the browser compatibility area, still has a lot of growing to do. The best thing about it though is that as it grows, and as browsers become more compatible, you don’t need to rush out and drop hundreds of dollars on the latest version. There isn’t an HTML Creative Suite.

Here are some views from both sides (some posts are fairly outdated but still relevant):

Scribd CTO: “We Are Scrapping Flash And Betting The Company On HTML5″ (via TechCrunch)

Why I’m Moving From HTML5 To Flash (via TameTick.com)

HTML5 vs. Flash (via RemySharp.com)

Final Thoughts

HTML5 has a long way to go. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start now. Is HTML5 a Flash killer? Probably not. The same as Android is not the iPhone killer. HTML5 is merely an example here to inspire designers and developers to continue to learn. Don’t get stuck in comfort. Flash will stick around for the foreseeable future. But the concept of Flash, as we know it, is f*cking dead.

Oh, and I set us up a little Web site and blog at http://joeyandcas.com

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