At Terralever we have been building some Facebook applications, and have started shifting a lot of effort into building more.
I have to say they are a challenge, but a fun challenge. One of the developers, Justin and I were chatting today about this one new app we are working on and we both realized that we are learning so much about Facebook applications during every piece of function we write. Funny. But awesome too. There is so much to learn about the platform and how to use it, its so powerful.
One of the cool things that I found out today was collecting information about a user when they uninstall an application. I have never really wanted to collect any info on the users before, but the client we are building for right now wanted to collect a bunch of info about the users when they uninstall their app.
What we really wanted was the uid from that user. So, in the facebook documentation Post-Remove URL, they list all the POST variables. But I was having a hard time getting that info. Even watching with fiddler, I could not get the fb_sig_user. Finally, we just had to believe it was there, and sure enough it was.
uid = Convert.ToInt64(Request.Form["fb_sig_user"]);
There it is the C# used in the Post-Remove page. Awesome, I wish all facebook stuff was that easy.
Next up, the Fb:dialog. YAY.
I read a good article today, Usability and UX (part 1). It got me thinking a lot about good design and good user experience. I do need to preface that I am NO UX expert in the slightest, I am going to leave the hard core UX to the experts, like Scott McAndrew. I just know bad vs. good when I use it.
A common misconception among web designers is that good design delivers good user experience by default. Too many of us focus on the visual design and so-called “accessibility”, without paying sufficient attention to what really underpins UX. mpress
I do believe that UX is one of the most important aspects of building a site or app, but I also think that good design is even more important. I do think that good design leads to better UX, in most cases. I have worked with designers that have been educated in using the tools to produce a design, BUT they don’t really have the creative eye or attention to details. I don’t think that design is a skill can be taught, I think it can be honed, but its just something that is part of someone’s makeup.
During my time at one of the greatest universities ever (U of Arizona), I spent a couple of years in the Architecture department. It was so obvious that you could not teach someone to be a good architect. Without the basic understanding of spacial relationships it just doesn’t work. I believe its the same with design. You can teach someone to be better with layout, typography, and color, but without the basic understanding and chemical makeup, they just don’t get it. Ok, I got a little bit off topic, back to UX.
I also just read a good article - The Five Competencies of User Experience Design. It talks more about the process and deliverables, but still very interstings.
Ya know those moments where you just have to sit for a minute and stare at the wall, and say ‘Duh’.
I had one of those moments today.
I have been thinking about grids and CSS frameworks a lot lately, and did not even think that ‘Wouldn’t it be a great idea to start the grid process in Phootshop’? I read this post today, and I really felt stupid for not thinking along these lines a long time ago: 960px Photoshop Grid Template - Genius!
3twenty3.com - 
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