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Sphere Magazine Launches


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lol, James, it's obvious that you don't know much about web design. Flash is a very powerful tool that can be used to create flowing, seamless interfaces which will actually increase the usability of a site when done properly.

 

Disabling Flash because of a few bad flash sites you've seen is kinda like pulling out your eyeballs because somebody took a bad photo.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

 

AJB

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Plus:

Pretty. Great photography. An option to click through to larger versions of the photos would be nice.

Minus: Doesn't need to be in flash. The "dragging the page corner to get to the next page" thing is extremely annoying - just a button (in the same place on every page) with "Next page" on it would be much better because the user doesn't need to do anything except click.

That's my Web site usability expert 2 cents worth. My boss pays me $30 and hour plus benefits for it...RF

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Cool, Aaron, very cool!

 

But nonetheless, I don`t think that your answer to James' critique is correct, netiquette-wise. It is obvious that design is not a means in itself, it's not "art pour l'art" ("it's obvious that you don't know much about web design").

 

That's not the point, and that's not what James is pointing to. When you want to reach the largest-possible audience, you should use a medium with the widest-possible circulation, and this simply is not Flash. Flash annoys a lot of people, so they turn it off/don't install it/don't upgrade it.

 

Otherwise, it's a great site.

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Aaron, while flash can be great for some things, but the greatest thing since sliced bread it ain't. For example having the whole magazine in one flash move makes people with slow connections wait, alot, which makes them just click elsewere because people have little patience waiting for web pages to load, and then people can't bookmark an article either, which is my main annoyance with sites that use one movie for multiple pages. The site does also commit one of (in my opinion anyway) the biggest moral sins in web design since the blink tag and the huge animated gif, opening another full size window without telling me, worse doing it in flash, so I can't at least middle click in mozilla or netscape and just have another tab. The content isn't bad though

 

Peter

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not to steal from your magazine launch...

 

but...damn, Sasha Dean Biyan is awesome!

 

just looked at 2 of his websites.........thanks for introducing him (his photography that is) to me thru your magazine. yeah, I know, he's probably been around forever......but thats ok, he's new to me ;o)

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I enjoyed the content and photos. The text was a bit small and hard to read for me (using

Safari browser on a Mac G5 with 23" LCD at high resolution). The interface was slick, but

mildly annoying. The load time was adequate for DSL or Cable, but would be /way/ too

slow for anyone on dial up. Tell me I don't know anything about web design if it'll make

you feel better, but I don't like Flash either (though I haven't turned mine off). I have yet to

see a single application of it where it actually significantly improved the audience's

experience, including your site.

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Well Aaron, what a very rude answer. Perhaps you should remember that the editor is supposed to be an ambasador for their publication.<p>

For your information, I work in the IT industry, and have been designing web pages on and off since about 1996. <p>

I try to follow the rules that <a herf="http://www.useit.com">Jakob Nielsen</a> sets out in his book on designing web usablity. I was trying to find his comments about gratuitous use of flash... <p>

I am sick to the teeth of people who think<br>

(a) I don't want to bookmark individual items on their site.<br>

(b) I want to learn the new navigation their oh-so-clever web designer coded into flash. <br>

© I like being distracted by images constantly jiggling around <br>

It shows a lack of respect for visitors to the site. I also think that it is often used by organizations who don't know what they want to say, but feel design is everything. To quote Nielsen - "the medium is not the message - the message is the message dummy!"<p>

 

Flash has great capabilities, but 90% of the flash I see is crap (from a viewers standpoint - it might be really clever code but what does a viewer care about that), and the content could be delivered better with "plain" HTML. When you talk about tearing your eyeballs out, again you've missed the point. I don't go shopping in places with annoying music - doesn't mean I want to render myself deaf. Your comment about "You don't know anything about web design" misses the point - readers know about reading and looking at pictures... designers are supposed to create web sites for readers, but when using the site AT ALL depends on flash the designer is showing that they haven't considered the reader.<p>

 

Do you have any decent content ? It's odd to me that your comments praise flash and insult me but you don't say "Well if you'd enable flash you'd see with have some great stuff and flash really was the vehicle to present it". So I'm just going to carry on assuming that flash is there as content in itself, to cover the fashion/beauty/art and design content being a bit lightweight.<p>

 

As it happens I am testing Windows XP service pack 2, which has an update for internet explorer to disable add-ins. 5 mouse clicks and flash is turned off. An Icon appears on the status bar to offer to turn it back on for a page if I want it. If a new site needs flash and I have no reason to think it is worth turning it on I'll just go somewhere else. Expect SP2 to be widely taken up, and expect within a few month a large proportion of people to turn off flash as a crap filter. <p>

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well, seeing as we're going to vote on the flash aspect

 

keep flash coming, the more the better. And btw, the idea of using it for turning the pages of a magazine or book is very well received by me.....and apparently PDN. One of their website "best of 2003" was the first time I'd seen it..........thought it was perfect.

 

yes, there is good and bad flash usage. Just like anything else new. "Rollovers" got out of hand there for a while too. Flash is not going to go away, it's just going to get used "better".

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Aaron,

 

I agree with you that Flash is an important component of the web. A person who "disables"

it it truly losing a great deal of 'positive' experience. That said, though, i think this site has

an over-reliance on Flash. The page turning thing is a cute trick, but probably isn't

necessary on a continual basis, past the cover.

 

I'm using OSXJaguar, with Safari, and i get a flickering effect on the opening/splash

page.... With a fast DSL line, everything loads instantaneously. I believe the current web

environment pretty much demands faster than dial-up connections. People will be forced

to 'keep-up' with tech requirements, and i don't believe you should design-down to

accommodate everyone. Your target audience is not Joe Kansas. Assuming DSL/Cable +

Flash compatibility is in your best interest. In a couple of years, when ultra hi-band is out,

people will still complain that your site loads too slowly on a 56k phone line....

 

The design is clean, as it should/needs to be for this application. Looks good. Content is

pretty cool - i especially love Sacha Biyan, but i hope you'll profile his other site in the next

issue (www.sachabiyan.com).

 

Good luck in your future pursuits.

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Sorry, Aaron. You can say that "Disabling Flash because of a few bad flash sites you've seen is kinda like pulling out your eyeballs because somebody took a bad photo", but it much closer to the truth to say that watching the typical Flash site is like pulling out your eyeballs. James reply that "90% of the flash I see is crap" is actually an understatement.

 

Having been warned of the flash, I won't even try your sight.

 

Your Flash ain't nothing but trash, and I ain't gonna get me some more...

 

With apologies to Huey Lewis.

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As I said, the site is pretty cool, but here's one thing that could be improved: IMO it should be possible to have active links on the contents page to jump directly to an article. After all, with this interface you're using a real-world magazine analogy, and in real-world magazines it is possible to jump directly to a section of interest, i.e. the Sasha Dean Biyan article.

 

Cheers

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I don't understand the reasons for being apposed to flash. Flash can be creative and entertaining, refreshing from the bog standard html sites. Is dial up time the only complaint? Not enough patience or curiosity to navigate through something new? Like traveling to a different city? Html sites are predictable, limiting, and boring; apparently just like the people that prefer them.
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<i>"yes, there is good and bad flash usage... Flash is not going to go away, it's just going to get used "better".</i><br>

 

Better means <i>Sparingly</i> not "No Flash: No Access.", and to <i>add value</i> to the site. Most flash <i>subtracts</i> value<br>

Today flash is used to compensate for poor content, and to create annoying ads. If that continues to be the case more and more people will do what I have done and switch it off soon after getting XP SP2.<p>

 

This is BAD flash. I turned it on to have a look. Aaron says flash can "actually increase the usability of a site when done properly.", this makes the site LESS usable. <br>

* Why do I want to download the entire magazine and read through all the pages squentially ? That's not how I read a magazine. If I want to read the MP3 article, why can't I click it on contents page - just like I turn to that page in a magazine ? <br>

So what has the flash given me? Fancy page turning effects. I'm underwhealmed. <br>

In any other on-line mag I can think of I can send a link to something interesting. Can't do that here.

A reader must wait for the whole lot to load - a bit of a yawn even on 1bit broadband - and then I have something with NO shortcuts and a completely unknown number of pages - who is going to leaf through to the end ? So both publisher and reader are wasting bandwitdth sending content that won't be read. <p>

 

So <b>Aaron:</b> Tell me, how is using flash better than plain HTML with 2 JPEGS to a page? Page effects I can see, but they don't add real value - or in your words which will actually increase the usability of a site when done properly. <i>"create flowing, seamless interfaces which will actually increase the usability of a site "</i>. In the negative side I have to wait for the whole thing to download, have no shortcuts to the interesting bits, and can't book mark it or give links to potential readers. Your use of flash is making it harder for people to see the content (which isn't bad at all). So come on tell me what is flash giving me which outweighs this ? Based on this I'd conclude you know less about web usablity than I know about design. By the way, when you cricise web knowledge of people who post HTML formatted messages and it takes you two goes to post a clickable link it does undermine your case a bit.

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Making blanket statements about Flash without context is dumb. Viewers who are

receptive to fresh ideas, concepts and presentation will have Flash enabled. Those who

aren't won't. I wouldn't worry about the latter category - they're not your market.

 

I like your photos and presentation - very nice job and good luck with your venture. I have

a couple nits, but they're minor. The presentation hijacks the entire screen even though

the actual content, on my large monitor, is maybe 20%. Also, it would be nice to not end

the presentation so abruptly. Something needs to be on the last page for closure - maybe

a teaser for the next issue, or additional credits.

 

Yeah, SDB's site blew me away too - talk about awesome presentation, images, and

music... Damn...

 

Maybe Bueh B should send SDB the above "informative link" to help him see the way.

Sheesh, what a pile of cr@p on that page...

www.citysnaps.net
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hey all, thanks very much for your feedback. It is all appreciated.

 

To address some of the issues that have been expressed:

 

 

1. The entire site must download because I personally hate it when I click and get "Loading" everytime I turn a page.

 

2. It's built entirely in flash because of the advertising we offer. The ability to stream audio and video right in the ad requires that Flash be used because FlashVideo and FlashAudio has by far the highest player penetration.

 

3. It's linear because it prevents the ability to skip ads. Which is our only source of revenue and keeps this going. So, although I'd like to have the ability to skip sections I can't do that. That's just business and that's just life.

 

4. The page flip effect is being judged. We haven't decided to remove it because the majority of people find it fantastic. Especially those in our target market. I'm quite surprised by this but the majority of the feedback is positive.

 

5. Lastly, Jakob Nielsen is a bit of a nutter. Look at his site, it's damn ugly. If he designed Vogue do you think anyone would buy it?

 

Thanks again,

 

AJB

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heh..........ooooooooohhhhhhhhhh, that is an ugly website.........sheesh.

 

by the way, as far as i'm concerned the whole concept of images and music is to be desired. When I first got into photography, back in the mid 70's, my photo friends and I use to have slide shows of our latest pics, and show them to the latest music we had discovered. So, flash is a godsend as far as i'm concerned. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....think I'm gonna sit my ass down and learn how to do a flash site now. Somebodies got to counteract that borish/garish/old fashioned/stick-in-the-mud dinosaur of a site I just looked at.

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So furtunate to surf and scan negs at the same time. I've been to Sasha's site three times since last night. It is the first time i feel I've aproved of such blatant photoshop work in fashion photogrpahy. A very long time since I've turned up the 5.1 sound system for a site as well...What a dynamic experience.
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