Visual Inception 2012
February 24, 2012 12:37 PM Subscribe
Having trouble communicating complex programming topics to your coworkers and clients? Microsoft has the solution: Visual Studio 11 will allow developers to embed Powerpoint presentations in their development projects.
This post was deleted for the following reason: You appear to have posted this because you think it's a bad idea and yet your post is sort of written in this way that does not indicate why you are writing the post. People who knows what is going on find it misleading and leading to more OS Wars discussions on this, the site that is deathly tired of these OS Wars arguments. Maybe rephrase this and try again tomorrow if it's really important, with new phrasing? -- jessamyn
Well, hold on, that's... a little bit misleading.
It'll embed a specific Powerpoint add-on that's designed to allow rapid wireframe prototyping of interfaces, and the like. Unless my quick impression is wrong - and it may be - this isn't "lulz, instead of comments you have a freaking powerpoint deck - it's more like "Here are some tools to build wireframes for design purposes, which you can embed conveniently into a project. They were first created for PowerPoint, but now you can use them here, too."
posted by Tomorrowful at 12:43 PM on February 24, 2012 [6 favorites]
It'll embed a specific Powerpoint add-on that's designed to allow rapid wireframe prototyping of interfaces, and the like. Unless my quick impression is wrong - and it may be - this isn't "lulz, instead of comments you have a freaking powerpoint deck - it's more like "Here are some tools to build wireframes for design purposes, which you can embed conveniently into a project. They were first created for PowerPoint, but now you can use them here, too."
posted by Tomorrowful at 12:43 PM on February 24, 2012 [6 favorites]
While this sounds like a step in the right direction, when will Visual Studio just create the code directly from power point presentations? then we could return marketing to it's rightful place in the development process.
posted by Dr. Twist at 12:43 PM on February 24, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by Dr. Twist at 12:43 PM on February 24, 2012 [5 favorites]
I think your phrasing is a bit misleading. Basically, it's a plugin to let you do UI mockups using Powerpoint's drawing features (which people are already familiar with). It's not a bad idea...
posted by spiderskull at 12:43 PM on February 24, 2012
posted by spiderskull at 12:43 PM on February 24, 2012
I appreciate my working environment so much right now.
posted by phrontist at 12:44 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by phrontist at 12:44 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
Yeah, PowerPoint and Pencil are really commonly used for wireframing by human factors folks and developers, in my experience. The description in the post is not accurate at all.
posted by KGMoney at 12:45 PM on February 24, 2012
posted by KGMoney at 12:45 PM on February 24, 2012
HISSSSSSSS
posted by trunk muffins at 12:45 PM on February 24, 2012
posted by trunk muffins at 12:45 PM on February 24, 2012
The Hot Pocket Hot Pocket. It's a Hot Pocket with Hot Pocket inside it.
posted by swift at 12:47 PM on February 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by swift at 12:47 PM on February 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
I think your phrasing is a bit misleading. Basically, it's a plugin to let you do UI mockups using Powerpoint's drawing features (which people are already familiar with). It's not a bad idea...
...
Yeah, PowerPoint and Pencil are really commonly used for wireframing by human factors folks and developers, in my experience. The description in the post is not accurate at all.
Fair points. I suppose what had me staggered was the fact that Powerpoint is apparently such a commonly used piece of software that it's the go-to tool for simple drawing and wireframing tasks unrelated to "presenting."
Then again, we've received design mockups for print work in Powerpoint format, so...
posted by verb at 12:54 PM on February 24, 2012
...
Yeah, PowerPoint and Pencil are really commonly used for wireframing by human factors folks and developers, in my experience. The description in the post is not accurate at all.
Fair points. I suppose what had me staggered was the fact that Powerpoint is apparently such a commonly used piece of software that it's the go-to tool for simple drawing and wireframing tasks unrelated to "presenting."
Then again, we've received design mockups for print work in Powerpoint format, so...
posted by verb at 12:54 PM on February 24, 2012
Then again, we've received design mockups for print work in Powerpoint format, so...
This is how scientific conference posters are designed by every researcher I know who isn't me. (I use Scribus)
posted by gurple at 12:56 PM on February 24, 2012
This is how scientific conference posters are designed by every researcher I know who isn't me. (I use Scribus)
posted by gurple at 12:56 PM on February 24, 2012
We once used VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) inside Powerpoint to completely write modules... just to prove how stupid it was... it went to production.
I also once got a presentation for a complete re-write of an application with one relevant slide it said make it look like the last one.
I hate powerpoint and it can just go away now please.
posted by mrgroweler at 12:59 PM on February 24, 2012
I also once got a presentation for a complete re-write of an application with one relevant slide it said make it look like the last one.
I hate powerpoint and it can just go away now please.
posted by mrgroweler at 12:59 PM on February 24, 2012
Dr. Twist: "when will Visual Studio just create the code directly from power point presentations?"
Someone call the guys behind Brainfuck and Whitespace, stat. I think we accidentally discovered the killer app for esoteric languages.
posted by idiopath at 1:03 PM on February 24, 2012
Someone call the guys behind Brainfuck and Whitespace, stat. I think we accidentally discovered the killer app for esoteric languages.
posted by idiopath at 1:03 PM on February 24, 2012
The Bag Of Dicks Design Pattern -- My name for the tick of filling a clean interface with 90% useless items because you think they'll be needed all the time.
Examples of the BoDDP: Microsoft Word, old IE, 3D Studio Max, and often any piece of UI designed by a programmer for too long without UX oversight.
Using PowerPoint to prototype your interface isn't a bad idea. But, I think sticking anything inside of VS which is not directly related to the efficient development and debugging of actual code is clutter. And besides, does this mean that non-technical designers need to be running VS as well? That sounds expensive and pointless.
posted by hanoixan at 1:12 PM on February 24, 2012
Examples of the BoDDP: Microsoft Word, old IE, 3D Studio Max, and often any piece of UI designed by a programmer for too long without UX oversight.
Using PowerPoint to prototype your interface isn't a bad idea. But, I think sticking anything inside of VS which is not directly related to the efficient development and debugging of actual code is clutter. And besides, does this mean that non-technical designers need to be running VS as well? That sounds expensive and pointless.
posted by hanoixan at 1:12 PM on February 24, 2012
Such a missed opportunity for a "Yo Dawg" headline.
posted by zombieflanders at 1:12 PM on February 24, 2012
posted by zombieflanders at 1:12 PM on February 24, 2012
when will Visual Studio just create the code directly from power point presentations?
That's Visio you're thinking of.
posted by Artw at 1:12 PM on February 24, 2012
That's Visio you're thinking of.
posted by Artw at 1:12 PM on February 24, 2012
The explanation in the post is completely backwards and misleading. You're not explaining "programming topics" to non-developers, you're showing them what the thing you're about to code might look like so they can decide if that's what they want or not. Let me explain how this works and why it's not a stupid idea.
You have an idea for some feature for your product. You want management to sign off on you doing that work, but management isn't sure what the user value will be. They tell you to go talk to users and see how the users want the workflow of the feature to work.
Talking to users in abstract terms ("There'd be a screen... then another screen...") is confusing to users and doesn't get you very good results. Ideally, you'd like the user to be able to see a realistic mock-up of how the feature would work, and be able to choose between several different workflows based on seeing these realistic storyboards.
After talking to the users, you've narrowed down from three proposed workflows to one, and you go ahead and implement that. Users are happy because they got the feature they wanted. Management is happy because users are happy. You're happy because you wanted to implement the feature.
Now, without the Powerpoint storyboarding, you had to either actually go implement fake UI, which can even be the most expensive part of implementing a feature, or use some other sketch-up software that won't have the same look-and-feel as your current UI, thus confusing users (you'll get feedback like "I think this is okay but it needs to look like the rest of the app!" "Yes, it will" "But this button is gray, it shouldn't be, the buttons aren't gray in the app" "Yes, I know, we will" "But!").
Letting developers (or quasi-developers) quickly make realistic storyboards is a great time savings and, if used properly, will result in better software made more quickly. It's more common than not for users to sign off on one thing based on a verbal design, see the final UI, and ask for it to be completely redesigned (at a far higher cost than if you were working off a realistic storyboard). If you think this is a bad feature, you either don't understand what it is, or don't understand how development works.
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:17 PM on February 24, 2012 [4 favorites]
You have an idea for some feature for your product. You want management to sign off on you doing that work, but management isn't sure what the user value will be. They tell you to go talk to users and see how the users want the workflow of the feature to work.
Talking to users in abstract terms ("There'd be a screen... then another screen...") is confusing to users and doesn't get you very good results. Ideally, you'd like the user to be able to see a realistic mock-up of how the feature would work, and be able to choose between several different workflows based on seeing these realistic storyboards.
After talking to the users, you've narrowed down from three proposed workflows to one, and you go ahead and implement that. Users are happy because they got the feature they wanted. Management is happy because users are happy. You're happy because you wanted to implement the feature.
Now, without the Powerpoint storyboarding, you had to either actually go implement fake UI, which can even be the most expensive part of implementing a feature, or use some other sketch-up software that won't have the same look-and-feel as your current UI, thus confusing users (you'll get feedback like "I think this is okay but it needs to look like the rest of the app!" "Yes, it will" "But this button is gray, it shouldn't be, the buttons aren't gray in the app" "Yes, I know, we will" "But!").
Letting developers (or quasi-developers) quickly make realistic storyboards is a great time savings and, if used properly, will result in better software made more quickly. It's more common than not for users to sign off on one thing based on a verbal design, see the final UI, and ask for it to be completely redesigned (at a far higher cost than if you were working off a realistic storyboard). If you think this is a bad feature, you either don't understand what it is, or don't understand how development works.
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:17 PM on February 24, 2012 [4 favorites]
Or, as a user/client, think of it as a "Print Preview" feature, except instead of a printer it's a development team, and instead of saving a sheet of paper and 30 seconds, it's two weeks and $10,000.
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:20 PM on February 24, 2012
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:20 PM on February 24, 2012
I suppose what had me staggered was the fact that Powerpoint is apparently such a commonly used piece of software that it's the go-to tool for simple drawing and wireframing tasks unrelated to "presenting."
As a software engineer who works in an environment where very few people don't have access to the core Microsoft Office products, this plugin sounds great. The problem is, tools like Visio, Project, and even Visual Studio are not included in the core set of Office tools that everyone has installed. Some examples: I was recently asked to produce a schedule in Excel because the customer didn't have wide access to Project. As a gantt chart, no less. In the past, I've had to do diagrams in PowerPoint where Visio would work better, too. The same problem exists for mocking up GUIs for customers.
Using PowerPoint to prototype your interface isn't a bad idea. But, I think sticking anything inside of VS which is not directly related to the efficient development and debugging of actual code is clutter. And besides, does this mean that non-technical designers need to be running VS as well? That sounds expensive and pointless.
From what I gleam, this is not inside VS, but rather, a plugin for PowerPoint. Which comes to your first point: Using PowerPoint to prototype your interface isn't a bad idea.
posted by mysterpigg at 1:41 PM on February 24, 2012
As a software engineer who works in an environment where very few people don't have access to the core Microsoft Office products, this plugin sounds great. The problem is, tools like Visio, Project, and even Visual Studio are not included in the core set of Office tools that everyone has installed. Some examples: I was recently asked to produce a schedule in Excel because the customer didn't have wide access to Project. As a gantt chart, no less. In the past, I've had to do diagrams in PowerPoint where Visio would work better, too. The same problem exists for mocking up GUIs for customers.
Using PowerPoint to prototype your interface isn't a bad idea. But, I think sticking anything inside of VS which is not directly related to the efficient development and debugging of actual code is clutter. And besides, does this mean that non-technical designers need to be running VS as well? That sounds expensive and pointless.
From what I gleam, this is not inside VS, but rather, a plugin for PowerPoint. Which comes to your first point: Using PowerPoint to prototype your interface isn't a bad idea.
posted by mysterpigg at 1:41 PM on February 24, 2012
Burn it! Burn it with FIRE!
Yeah, I haven't seen something this bad since Clippy for VI. ;)
posted by Celsius1414 at 1:48 PM on February 24, 2012
Yeah, I haven't seen something this bad since Clippy for VI. ;)
posted by Celsius1414 at 1:48 PM on February 24, 2012
What do Mac and iOS designers use to sketch out UI designs? Linux nerds have Emacs artist mode, whose ASCII graphics are state of the art for Linux on the desktop.
posted by Nelson at 1:49 PM on February 24, 2012
posted by Nelson at 1:49 PM on February 24, 2012
Looks like they are doing a lot to simplify the UI. Probably that will produce a bunch of complaints but I like it, I couldn't tell you what half of that clutter current;ly in the toolbars does.
posted by Artw at 1:51 PM on February 24, 2012
posted by Artw at 1:51 PM on February 24, 2012
Nelson: Mac and iOS developers can sketch stuff out with paper and pencil. IT'S IN THE BIBLE PEOPLE!1ONE.
Actually, I've been known to sketch them up in XCode itself with Interface Builder. Even if I don't intend to use IB's xibs and storyboards, it still makes mock-ups that work surprisingly easy.
posted by chairface at 1:58 PM on February 24, 2012
Actually, I've been known to sketch them up in XCode itself with Interface Builder. Even if I don't intend to use IB's xibs and storyboards, it still makes mock-ups that work surprisingly easy.
posted by chairface at 1:58 PM on February 24, 2012
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posted by MikeKD at 12:41 PM on February 24, 2012 [8 favorites]