Foul Writer’s World

I’m in the process of doing some research for a personal user assistance project. While I’ve looked at using wiki’s, considered using a blogging platform, I am now tempted to try the programming route.

Initial thoughts are using Flash and Flex to build a decent UI while also using RoboHelp or Dreamweaver to create the content. I’ve found a good example of how someone has used Adobe AIR to create a usable platform independent help. If your interested take a look at:

http://www.leximation.com/airhelp/

Leximation describe their AIR help as:

“AIR Help” – Cross-Platform Help System – “AIR Help” is a cross-platform Help format that has been made possible by Adobe’s introduction of the AIR^TM (Adobe Integrated Runtime) development technology (previously code-named Apollo) which lets you deploy rich Internet applications on the desktop. This means that you should be able to take your “web help” files, and wrap them up in an AIR application that can be installed as a Help system. The same AIR application can be installed on Windows, Mac, and Linux (soon) systems.

I’ve also been looking at design patterns for good UI design and I have found a brilliant resource in UC Berkeley’s Web Patterns Project. The project is described as:

Building good user interfaces is no trivial task. Many UC Berkeley web developers lack time or formal training in UI design. Campus budgets do not include allotments for UI designers or usability experts. Even when a web application developer consciously focuses on user interface design, the resulting application can have usability, consistency, and interoperability problems.

The information they provide is both useful and practical. Well worth a browse.

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