Recently, I have been hearing a lot of talk about whether certain tasks are for a designer or a developer. Depending on who you ask, different items are the responsibility of certain people. Based on other blog posts and some discussions on various podcasts, I’ve been thinking on this a little more of late as it pertains to web development.

Traditionally (in my experience), the roles have been somewhat disjoint in many ways. A developer has been responsible for delivering the code in the infrastructure that provides the business logic and creates the information for a web site/application. A designer has traditionally been responsible for outlining the look of the site, delivering the visual message, cutting up images, and laying out the visual elements of the site.

Looking at those two definitions, though, there are 2 roles missing for any web project: 1) The actual web coding; and, 2) the usability of the site.

Usability is how a person will use the website. What information is on each page? How is the navigation executed? How does the site flow? These are items that need to be considered before delivering a final product. The ability to navigate the website and find the information you want is a key element in making or breaking the website. Usability and navigation should be considered when designing the site, including the user interface, so this element should be done either before or in conjunction with the layout of the site. (I would argue that this is more important than the look and feel – delivering practical content of a webpage determines how effective it is more than a design which can change frequently.)

The web coding is done following the understanding of the content and the layout. This is made up of the HTML, CSS and JavaScript that delivers the UI.

(It should be noted that HTML, CSS and JavaScript are not part of any computer science or any computer programming course I have seen when looking at curriculums at a number of educational locations. A specific web design course, yes, but not a comp sci or development curriculum.)

But, who should be doing these 2 items?

I think this would fall on a 3rd role which could be someone with either a developer or designer background – a User Experience (UX) Architect. Some people may have issue with me using the term architect here, but why? The person is architecting the user experience by understanding the flow of the application, they are defining the usability, and in many cases would actually be implementing the interface themselves. They would work with developers who could build the infrastructure pieces to deliver the content and information and work with the designers to identify the layout and components of the site that need to be visualized. These individuals become the heart and soul of the visual delivery and understand all of the underlying technology. They know what needs to be done for new technologies as they arise (for example, HTML 5 and CSS 3 integration) and understand limitations of the technologies out there (such as limitations of IE 6). (An individual I know already does this in his current role locally, which is great to see.)

But how feasible is this role in actual organizations? From what I am seeing, this is growing slowly. These are people who have some development skills and some design skills. They may be more proficient in one area or the other, but can discuss comfortably in both (from a certain vantage point). They don’t need to have the arguments over the hex colour of a menu element or which IoC container is being used, but they set the smack down on how the site is used to make the experience better for the user.

This is a role that I think needs to become more prevalent. Much more attention is being made to user interfaces and usability on the web as many tools and products are becoming cloud-centric. With this focus, and with web technologies advancing forward, individuals whose focus is the delivery of the content and information will play a key role in any website’s success.

For those who regularly look at my blog (read: all 6 of you), you know that my posts are far and few between. This is due to work, personal life, or me just having nothing that really jumps out at me to blog about. And I don’t want to type for the sheer sake of typing – if I did that, I would never finish a single post!

I have already accomplished some of the goals that I set out to do last time, and now I want to do a pseudo-mid-year review and update my list.

• Speaking gigs. I did quite a few since December 2009 – one at TechDays Winnipeg 2009, one at the Winnipeg Code Camp in February, 2 at DevTeach in Toronto and one at Prairie Developer Conference in Regina. Although I enjoyed it, it definitely showed me where I need to improve, both in presentation skills and in subject matter expertise. I want to present more, but I think I need to work on the latter some more, which leads me to…
• Technology skills. The last year, I have started doing more development again because I miss it. It’s what I have wanted to do since I was 7 and playing around with my Vic-20. To that end, I want to get back into it more. There are some specific areas I want to focus upon: SketchFlow (for software prototyping), Silverlight, and more on ASP.NET MVC. Notice that most of those are web-based technologies, which I love to play with. I am also going deep into HTML 5, CSS 3 and jQuery for skills I am interested in, so everything there seems to mesh well together.
• Mobile development. Although that falls under technology skills, it’s also disjoint from the ones I listed. I have recently installed Windows Phone 7 Development Beta and Android development tools on my laptop, so I will be going into those shortly. I had issues with both (as previous posts showed) but a fresh install of the laptop and starting from scratch appears to have corrected some of that. Huzzah!

So, those are what is next on my plate. I hope to present at TechDays 2010 here in Winnipeg again, either on something web-related, WinPhone 7 related, or else something I am tempted to propose within the local flavours section. That should be sent off this weekend so we will see what happens there!

I also plan on posting more. Maybe pre-configure a bunch of posts to auto-launch, I don’t know. I may rework my blog again. I may try to expand it to have blog thoughts and a separate tutorial/tech section. I don’t know. A lot to think about…

Today I picked up the book "Beginning Android 2" from Apress. Much of what I am doing (and am interested in) revolves around the mobile space these days, so I thought, why exclude Android? (Especially since I am in my preliminary analysis of what new phone I want at the end of the year, when the new iPhone, Android, and Win Phone 7 all are available on the market.)

First review: The book does not show you how to install the tools. That's fine; it said as much. Plus, installing on Windows vs Linux vs Mac would definitely be different across all three platforms. So, for that, I download and install the tools on my own - the JDK, Eclipse IDE, and the Android SDK. After a little bit of chugging away, they all get installed and configured (the docs were not as clear as to how to enable the SDK within Eclipse for a complete Eclipse newbie). But now, I am ready to start going into the book.

Second, I download the source code from the Apress web site. This makes it easier to manage (and makes any typos in the code not 100% my fault).

So now, I go through the first few chapters to run the Hello World application. I get an intro to all of the files and folders made when a project is created (looks like I didn't need Eclipse - the examples all use command line) and an explanation of what each is for; there is an introduction to the emulator system that is part of the SDK (LIKE: You can choose various versions of Android OS to target what you want; this is VERY nice).

So I go to the point where I want to build the project. It tells me to run "ant install" to install the package. Well, for someone new to ant and to Android, this is confusing. I have a basic Java background, most of my experience in .NET, but the code isn't the hard part. I go to the command line and run the command - "ant is not installed" or some such message. Makes sense; I know it's a third party library. So, I try in Eclipse. 

I created a new package in Eclipse and retyped the file (when Eclipse worked - it liked to not respond a lot, especially when its version of Intellisense kicked in. This got old, real fast.). Once the file was created, I ran the project. Eclipse immediately launched a new emulator (after a few configurations where done) and lo and behold! My app was not there. So, when I ran the app, it did now allow me to access it as the item implied. But, wait... I look in the settings in the emulator and see my program *WAS* installed and is on the device. So where is it? I look back in settings... and it's gone.

OK. So initial experience: not too great. Issues with the IDE, issues with the build capabilities. Will this stop me? No; it may cause some frustration in getting it to work, but I will make it work. It may make me want to do this in a Linux VM which I will setup tomorrow (it's 11 PM and I gotta work in the morning). 

After resurrecting my laptop, I tried to play with developing a Windows Mobile 7 application through the new interface in Visual Studio 2010. The development example on Scott Guthrie’s blog was very basic and straightforward, but that’s what was needed for this intro.

I didn’t make it far, though: I added the text box and button and ran the simulator. And my machine rebooted.

OK, maybe try it again. Reopen the project and run. Reboot.

Maybe it’s something to do with an AMD chipset on my laptop; I don’t know. Something to look into the next few days… But if I can get it working, WinMo 7 looks like it may be an interesting environment to play with, especially as it uses Silverlight as its UI piece!

So another DevTeach, this time in Mississauga, has come and gone.

Previous ones I have been an attendee; this time I was a speaker. I was honoured to be selected and proud to be chosen to discuss a few topics that I have been learning and playing with for me. Overall, I think it was a great event. It was a new venue (was held at the MS offices in Mississauga), so was slightly different than the hotel experience. My first presentation went pretty well; thanks to James Kovacs for selecting me for it as well as providing some assistance during the talk. My second one… not so much.

Some hardware failures immediately before (read: 5 minutes) meant that I started a bit late and some of the features I wanted to show were not working as well as I wanted. So, this leads to 2 things that I have identified for me: First, Windows Updates can kill your machine right before a presentation as you never know what it will do. Second, buy a new laptop. I now have justification.

For those who attended and saw my talks, I thank you. Although I have spoken locally in Winnipeg before, this was my first speaking event to such an audience. I took a lot of the feedback (good and bad – especially the bad) and am working it into an action plan of how to move forward with doing better the next time. More demos, less jumping to the meat but putting the plate out first, that kind of thing. For those that were not as thrilled with my SketchFlow talk because of the issues with the machine (and I am one of them), I plan on creating a few webcasts of what I did. These webcasts I will post on my site (or elsewhere with links from here) to the videos so as to make up for the not-as-great-as-I-wanted talk.

Well, time to board the flight home. A lot of lessons learned, and some new things to consider as I move forward.

Cheers!

Although I write this before the event is complete, my part in presenting is. For those who are learning to present more in public (like me), I write this with some lessons learned for me and for anyone else interested. (For a summary of all sessions at the event, check out http://www.winnipegcodecamp.com )

First, do not trust your computer. It’s a tool and tools break down. Create a fallback plan. This is the 3rd time I have presented on ASP.NET MVC and it’s also the 3rd time that my laptop has died shortly beforehand. At least this time I had several days to recreate everything. I think I did OK, but not as well as I could have. Instead of practicing my presentation I had to begin over again. So as a fallback – always save your work on a second drive or USB key. (I had done 2 other presentations for DevTeach and had completed those mostly so have those backed up but this one I had not moved to my backup drive.)

Second, get some sleep. Because of my tool failure and recovery plan, I got only 3 hours sleep. I also presented at 9 AM. Put those both together and we have a problem. Coffee helps but only in the short term; you still need sleep.

Third, don’t drink the night before. I only had one drink so I was fine. A colleague’s statement holds true, however: “I should NOT have played that much beer pong the night before I was to present.” I have heard various statements in regards to various types of drinks the night before presenting but also quantity which can lead to some serious hangover sessions (“Someone said my presentation this morning was pretty dry… not as dry as my mouth!”). Although I had one drink to calm some nerves, I only had the one and that helped. (OK, there was a shot as well but China White’s don’t count.)

Those are some base learnings I am taking away from here. The last 2 times I have done some public speaking have been amazing learning experiences and I take that information with me to make DevTeach an amazing event.

Being a geek, I’m a bit of a caffeine nut. My tastes usually revolve around pop and coffee; I don’t need any of those chocolate-covered coffee beans, nosiree. But I do like my caffeinated beverage.

I don’t really want to go into the cola wars, as those have been hammered out on television during every major sporting event and pop culture show, usually whenever it’s not a commercial for beer, male-enhancement drugs or feminine products. (What’s sad is that I did keep count through a few shows to determine that those 4 categories make up, on average, 75% of commercials that are not network advertisements.)

When it comes to coffee, though, you don’t see a lot. You used to see those old Taster’s Choice commercials here in Canada which starred Anthony Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Uther Pendragon from Merlin). There was the melody from Folger’s about the best part of waking up. But now coffee has gone into every third corner store. And yet it was something I always just took for granted – a cup of coffee. Depending on how someone at work made it, it was all right. Nothing spectacular but all right. But it was coffee.

I recently read the book "Pour Your Heart Into It - How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time" by Howard Schultz and Dori Jones Yang. (The image to the left will take you through to the page on Amazon.ca.) Howard Schultz is the Chairman and CEO of Starbucks, and reading how he came across this small company in Seattle and turned it into what it is now was an amazing read.

Now, you may think coffee is just coffee, but the book covered a lot of how one chooses the bean, the types of beans, the roasting process, and the inclusion of flavour. Now, the book was intended to be more of a company biography (which is why I picked it up), but reading on the details and the intricacies of the coffee is something that made me want to taste the difference.

I’ve never really paid too much attention to the coffee at various places but this book made me do just that. Most coffee is watered down and you get no flavour, no enjoyment. But then at a place like Starbucks, you do; the downside is you pay an extraordinary price for it, but sometimes you don’t mind paying for quality. However, a co-worker had a French Press at work and recommended it. I was curious, and saw that there was one at the grocery store for 15 bucks. I decided to grab one and took it home. But now I needed the beans.

I guess I could have gotten the beans at the grocery store too, but one thing I took from the book was that the fresher the beans from roasting the better. There was a small coffee shop about 2 minutes from where I live so I decided to try that place out. I had never gone in before, but figured what the hey; can’t hurt to look, right?

The place is called Forbidden Flavours and when I went in I was greeted by the co-owner of the place. Even though it was a Sunday night and her staff were cleaning up to close-up for the evening, she took some time to talk to me about what I was looking for, my likes, my preferences, etc. I think this is what sold me on going there from then on – the personal touch. (The fact that I introduced myself only once on that first meeting and she knows me by name whenever I go in now is great as well.) She and her husband own the shop and they do everything there. The roasting is done on site weekly, so the beans that you get are extremely fresh. They offer small sample bags of coffee so you can try different ones. Their house blend, known as the Prairie Blend, is amazing – a light bean/medium bean/espresso bean combination. Amazing.

The flavour from this coffee is amazing, and in the French Press it’s astounding – made to how I want it. A richer flavour, a temperature for me, and I have it at my desk as well so no getting up to get more (except when I need more water). It makes a good 3 cups worth as well, so those 6 AM mornings are definitely helped. The fact that it gives my coffee that personal touch, and from a place that gives me the personal touch, is greatly appreciated. For those who are picky and love their coffee, try a French Press. For 15 bucks plus the coffee (which has a different level of grinding so you have to go somewhere that grinds or get your own grinder), it’s definitely worth it.

(On another note, as I wrote this post I found out that Forbidden Flavours is closing shop permanently on Sunday 21 February 2010. I only just discovered this place. It is one of the few non-chain shops in the area and it’s quite saddening to see it go. I used to go to another coffee shop here in Winnipeg which closed down over 10 years ago, and it was definitely a community place to hang out. Although I don’t know the reasons why, I wish Allan and Katherine, the owners of the shop, all the best. Katherine took her time to talk to me and for that I am ever appreciative – it’s rare that you find a business who takes that much time to understand a single customer and make them feel welcome.)

As a side project, I am helping a friend update and maintain a family website. They want a complete redesign (from scratch), and want to start to add in adding functionality to the site. After a brief discussion with them, they want to begin to lay out the project.

Hmmm… They want to prototype it. Wait a minute! I’m doing a presentation on SketchFlow in a couple of months – what an idea! A practical use of the tool for my presentation AND give these guys the prototype that they want! Sweet!

Oh wait, they also want some cool effects and visualization on their website? Well that can all be done with JavaScript and either Prototype of jQuery… Hold the phone! I’m doing a jQuery presentation as well! Well, look at that! Another merger!

What does this mean for me? That working on my presentations will actually work out better for my friend and his family, but also give me a direct goal with which to work on my presentation! This is perfect – this will give me exactly what I need to move forward. It’s always nice to have a goal. Many presentations with demos are put together to show a piece of the puzzle without an end goal; hopefully this project I am doing will have a “go live” date so that I can refer individuals to the plan during the talks (permission from my friend to use the information, of course).

Ah well, back to working! I just wanted to mention that finding the ability to actually put some reality to concepts is a nice change!

So my last post had a few things I wanted to achieve over the foreseeable future. It's just over one month since that post, not even a full month into the new year, and I have already achieved much more than I had thought!

• A better balance between personal and work life - Last year, while finishing up one project, I was doing regular 12-15 hour days because the work needed to get done and I wanted to make sure it got done so I did it myself instead of delegating some tasks to others. So far this year, while working on a new project, I have already begun to get into the normal 8 hour day. The thing will be holding to this once I get that momentum going.
• Be a better motivator and coach rather than a boss - Already this year I am working with a number of individuals to bring some best practices to my department. This last week we rolled out some new formats of documentation for the company to follow, and after my current project ends I am hoping to begin working with the team on individual improvements, provide them resources to take their careers to the next level, and bring out some better habits around the organization. (Can you tell I am a manager?)
• Speak more - Like I said before, I was accepted to speak at DevTeach. I am presenting at the Winnipeg Code Camp. I have submitted several abstracts to the first Prairie Developers Conference. All in all, looking up in this regard... but lots of preparation work! However this is definitely making me more knowledgeable in the areas I have chosen to speak on so it only helps me grow in this regard.  
• Become more proficient in new technologies - I am working on this piece by piece. There is a lot out there to choose from and that makes it difficult. I have always been interested in UI and UX so a lot of my focus is going there. Not necessarily the backend technologies, but the experience the user needs. This is where a lot of my focus is.
• Read more “inspirational” books - Since that last post, I have read a few on both leadership and company profiles. I love reading the books on individuals who build up a successful company and/or brand. My reviews of a few will probably be up in the next little bit, so definitely keep your eyes tuned.

I haven’t made a New Year’s Resolution in many years. My last one was to never again make a New Year’s Resolution. I am holding to that by creating an Early Resolution (TM) – well, several. This is more to give me goals to strive for within 2010 but also to keep myself acknowledged on my achievements so I can reflect, see what I did, and set the following year’s goals. I have already posted a few on Twitter, but wanted to put this out there as my personal checklist.

Last year, I gave myself the goal of wanting to speak on technical topics more publicly. I was happy to present at Microsoft TechDays here in Winnipeg with an Introduction to ASP.NET MVC on December 16.

Little did I know I would be speaking to around 100 people on this topic. For a novice speaker, a little intimidating, but gratifying. (It seems no one knew my laptop crapped out the night before and my demo was thrown together 9 hours before the presentation.)

But this gave me a step forward to help with my 2010 Early Resolutions.

• A better balance between personal and work life. I have a tendency to work too hard, to be a perfectionist, and let the personal life slide. Sometimes working so hard I make myself ill – like today as I write this. This will be corrected in the new year.
• Be a better motivator and coach rather than a boss. Instead of dictating everything, work more in collaboratively. Listen. Not get upset. Build up the team environment rather then the “US vs. THEM” mentality. I’ve read a few great books on leadership recently (reviews pending) and it inspires me more as to the kind of leader I want to be.
• Speak more. I have already committed (and been accepted) to 2 presentations at DevTeach in Mississauga in March (one on SketchFlow and another on jQuery). I am planning on doing a presentation at the Winnipeg Code Camp in February (topic TBD). I am considering putting together a few abstracts to submit to MIX (one of the largest web conferences). Speaking means you know your stuff, and this forces me to become knowledgeable in these areas.
• Become more proficient in new technologies. My day-to-day is no longer coding, but I need to know what’s out there. We are becoming, more and more, of a full service provider to our clients so we need to know what’s out there and what is available. As an analyst, I need to know to provide options and direction. I need a stronger pulse on what’s going on in industry.
• Read more “inspirational” books. To me, these are more business biographies and stories, either about the company or the person. Some of the most interesting I have read have nothing to do with technology, but the practices within are invaluable. I want to read at least one per month (on average). Recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Well, that’s my starting point. They are all somewhat tech oriented, and I am sure that more will come up. But this is a nice starting point. It gives me something to move forward to.

As it is now the 22nd and I still have to finish my gift shopping, I leave now, wishing everyone a great holiday (regardless of what you celebrate) and hope to post much more frequently in the future.