Two weeks ago we began the process of bringing a new application to life. As mentioned in the previous article, we’re going to document and share every aspect of its development. We’ve firmed up a few ideas, gave it a name and started laying down the groundwork.
Is it a boy or girl?
Actually, it’s a tool to create a self-guided tour of a web application- a new way to point out features and describe how they work on the actual site itself. It’s better than a screencast and more convenient than a live demo. And we decided to name it GoodDemo.
First, a little bit about the name and my approach to coming up with names in general. It always seems easier to rally around a new project once it has a real name (and when you’ve secured the domain name.) So for me anyway, it makes sense to spend some extra time nailing one down early on.
I usually start by simply jotting down all of the relevant words, phrases and concepts that spring to mind, which is an obvious first step. I’ll then use a reverse dictionary, thesaurus and Wikipedia to add some words and word roots that I might not have thought of (and probably wouldn’t have otherwise.) I’ll pluck out the words that seem to stand out most and chug away at three sites simultaneously- Onelook’s wildcard dictionary search; a listing of common prefixes and suffixes; and a domain registrar.
We settled on GoodDemo because it was the clearest and most recognizable. The final list was whittled down to about 15 contenders including Explanans.com (“making plain” in Latin), Sitenopsis.com (a play on “synopsis”- a brief summary), PointerOuter.com (probably the most fun and direct of the bunch), and Plain.ly (a domain hack that would make for a clever URL.) Like the rest of this project, we’ll see what the consensus is for this name and decide if it lives on after the transition from project to product.
Getting going
Most projects never really take off after the idea phase for lots of reasons. Two common ones are the never-ending drive to perfect an idea first and the other is the realization that it requires a real investment of energy and time. And when it’s a side project, it makes it that much tougher. Here’s our approach and what we’ve done over the past two weeks to get off the launch pad with GoodDemo.
We almost immediately jump into a real-world mockup and prototype. It helps us get our heads around where exactly we’re headed and perform some sanity checks to confirm that some of our basic assumptions are sound. Below is one of the rough mockups for GoodDemo.
It was created using Microsoft Expression Design (one of the five applications that make up the new Expression Studio), which I’ve never used before. It was a good opportunity to compare it to our more commonly used tools- Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator (GIMP is a free alternative.)
After we have a good sense of the application, low-fidelity wireframes are a helpful next step for some projects for both the interface and the flow. Balsamiq is one of the new wire framing kids on the block.
We also created a working prototype for a few of the different components to both test some of the potential technology hurdles and to get some actual code together. Starting with a blank canvas/page/screen is tough, so the best advice is to simply start filling it in even if you haven’t figured out every single detail. Iterations are good.
A few more details
GoodDemo will allow you to create a tour/demo/annotated help for any website by simply clicking on a bookmark. All of the instructions and controls will be added to the page that you’re currently on. When you’re done, you will receive a link to the live demo.
By providing a self-guided tour of the actual site, it allows users to get a real sense of the application and how they would use it when they sign in to their own account. It’s better than a screencast because it doesn’t run linearly as a movie from start to end; you can skip around or click on the features that you want to explore in any order. And it’s better than a regular demo account because a user is guided through the application instead of just wandering around in the forest without any lit paths.
GoodDemo is going to run entirely on the web and will touch upon quite a few technologies. So it should make for an interesting project in both what it does and how it works.
Managing it all
We’re going to start with Google Groups as the central repository for all of the details and discussions around GoodDemo. There are lots of options for project and code management but it’s always best to start simple and become more elaborate as you grow up. GoodDemo.com redirects to the group and the direct link is: http://groups.google.com/group/gooddemo
Anyone can follow along and contribute to the active development by joining the group (and please do- you can come from any background.) In the next day or two, we’re going to be adding full details of our initial vision for GoodDemo and how it’s going to work.
Our every-other-Wednesday articles will continue to offer a summary of the project- all of the discussions around the features, technology and proof of concept will be over at GoodDemo.com. We look forward to sharing our ideas and hearing yours.