Tag Archive / CSS3

• Revision of The Information Layer

  In February 2009, I went to my first IxDA [Interaction Design Association] Interaction conference in Vancouver, Canada.

  A few months later, I created a sketch, made in May 2009 that was translated to the following graphic.

  

  This model, which I call The Information Layer, has been the guiding force in my own work. It has helped me build some of the most successful sites in my career.

  To others, it may have been just a theoretical model, but it was built from observations. The observations I had about front-end work and interaction design ideas concerning mobile and data. And it has proven invaluable as a guide in trying to predict how things would turn out in the last couple of years.

  But the most important stage was reached this year when the first direct application was started – web application modeling or Project Ottawa. The project itself took The Information Layer and started the path that will eventually lead to a practical application.

  However, there is a flaw.

  For any model to work, you occasionally go back and test its parts to see what works and what doesn’t. That’s basically how Project Ottawa has been built and it is currently at its second draft (July 2012). But there was one thing that was bothering me – content. I had a better grasp of some of the other layers, but the lowest level of the model (Information Layer) was never really fleshed out. It was more of a “hand-waving” nod to content. There was really no fully defined description of this layer. In the end, it was treated just like the other layers in the model, out of consistency.

  But it couldn’t. And those flaws where shown in August and September.

  It started with a Karen McGrane lecture at the An Event Apart conference in August. She pointed out a model from the White House digital directive where they had a content model better than my own. After the initial shock, I decided that their model was better and made a revision to The Information Layer to be broken down into three parts – API, Metadata, and Content. In the end, this solves some of the weaknesses in the current Information Layer model.

  

  The other part was some of the feedback from a presentation I gave at Mobile UXCamp DC 2012 in September of Project Ottawa. One of the most important criticisms was that there was little in terms of how changes in content could affect not only a single view/template but also the whole system/application. Likewise, what would happen in the reverse direction – if a change in an application affects content (i.e. responsive design).

  So, after a hiatus of two months, I am back at work on Project Ottawa. But this same change meant that the focus on Ottawa will be on building the area that has been its weakness so far – content. With some thought during the hiatus, I have a possible solution that I will introduce next year (1/2/2013) called Content Mapping. At this point, I have only a few sketches (scans from Ottawa skectch/notebook) but I am creating a more refined demo.

  But this also means the following:

  1. I am now starting to work on the Third Draft, for 2013 as planned and
  2. Project Ottawa will not longer be one model but a collection of integrated models along the blueprint analogy. Each model visualizes each aspect of a web application’s structure and interactions.

  And so, the work begins again and Project Ottawa will be going on past its first anniversary in March.

  Later.

• Gesture-Based CSS Selectors

  [This is a short, informal proposal of a concept, with a more extensive version in the near future. However, this should be enough for starting discussion on its value/implementation.]

  What are Gesture-Based Selectors?
  

  Gesture-based CSS selectors are a combination of the current set of CSS selectors/pseudo-selectors to include new set of gestures currently being used in mobile (tap, tap hold, swipe, etc.). The main goal is to give basic interactivity to elements without JavaScript support.

  The closest analog would be the same sort of relationship with CSS3/JavaScript animation. In the current methodology:

  • CSS3 – basic/simple animations, removing the need for JavaScript resources
  • JavaScript/JavaScript Library via Events – complex animations, requiring more functionality beyond CSS3 animations

  Initially, this was just focused to touch gestures. However, this can be also be extended to other "gestures" such as the current JavaScript events "click", "mouse(over/out)", "key(up/down)", etc. This will allow for non-touch gestures → keyboard, voice/speech, inputs from any other devices, etc.

  CSS/Gesture Selectors Format
  

  The concept is to have these represented in CSS code by the following selector (in two versions, using the mobile gestures swipe left and tap hold as examples):

  1. selector:gesture-(gesture name)

     Similar to :hover, :focus pseudo-selectors (using current

     Examples:
     div:gesture-swipeleft { CSS code }
     a:gesture-taphold { CSS code }

  2. selector[gesture=”gesture name”]

     Similar to attribute selectors, introduced in CSS 2.1 but in use more with CSS3

     Examples:
     div[gesture=”swipeleft”] { CSS code }
     a[gesture=”taphold”] { CSS code }

  Constraints/Problems
  

  At this point, three initial problems appear:

  1. New Devices/Platform w/ Gestures – some sort of path/procedure needed for recognization of new gestures that is open and flexible. I recommend the following for an initial path:

     Device/Platform Support → JS event support → CSS/gesture selector available

     This will allow for the availibility for selectors mention above. However, there is the problem of device-specific gestures, which could mean that certain selectors will be available for only those devices. Currently, the touch events are only available on touch enable devices. If a [front-end] developer was writing code for a non-touch enabled device, the JS support would be non-existant -> no CSS/gesture support

  2. Gesture Uniformity – if a gesture gains support across platforms/devices, the related CSS selector should never be prefixed as we currently have for CSS3 features like animations or tranforms, ie "-iphone","-android", etc. I recommend this because unlike CSS3 features, these are OS based issues ("native"). The selectors will be device/platform "neutral" – let platforms/devices be solely responsible for interpretation.
  3. Computer Processing – if this gets implemented, how does this effect processor/power usage. How does the current set of CSS3 features (transitions/animations) deal with different computer processing power (hardware accelerators?)

     If this gets added to the current set – will there be a bigger demand for hardware processing? What would this mean for small, less powerful devices? (the drive behind iPhone design and construction).

     Overall – This is an issue that will need to be taken up post-proposal, with people more knowledgeable than me.

  In summary,

  1. Creation of CSS/gesture selectors to allow for basic interactivity, without the need of JS events
  2. Providing a “path” to allow for more gestures, not just current but for future devices/platforms and be platform/device independent.

  Flickr – Scans of hand-written notes from Polaris notebook

• To All My Co-Workers And Clients:

  I want to apologize for all the bad coding decisions that I have made during the last couple of years. A number of decisions were made with ignorance as the impact they may have made in terms of performance. Some of those decisions may have been made without consideration for the user.

  If I seem out of sort during the last couple of week, it was simply because the changes I need to make will require changing not just code but a mental process. Like anything, this will take more than a fortnight to change. It is a process of renewal and making mistakes and just throwing stuff into the trash bin.

  What I need is some understanding and some patience while this process works itself out.

  Sincerely,
  Ivan Wilson
  Front-End/UI Developer

• Endgame

  After two years this month, I have decided to end Project Charles in April. This will also mark the 10th anniversary of The Wilson Project.

  @iwilsonjr (4:59 PM · Mar 14, 2011) – https://twitter.com/iwilsonjr/status/47401561944637440

  Depending on the ever changing schedule, Project Charles will be ending this year, if not sooner. After a long two years, I should be happy.

  I'm exhausted.

  I've carried this thing around, weathering all the stuff that gets thrown at me in the course of human life. This project became the internal motor of change, reflection, and experimentation. And a number of people have really benefitted from the results.

  The basis of Project Charles was redesigning The Wilson Project with the state of the art techniques in front-end development. No, we are not talking about the dazzling canvas experiments and all the fireworks. It was about learning all this new stuff to be able, like an experienced chef, to use this wider pallette to improve their work. Well, I'm still doing that. But Project Charles brought about an urgency to the process.

  Well, that urgency has come full circle. It's at a point where this project needs to end in order to go further on with other things. And since The Wilson Project Site is a working blog (and soon-to-be) portfolio site, I needed to end this thing to start doing new projects. And basically, I just need this monkey off my back. So why am I writing this blog entry?

  Because I feel that the need to apologize [to myself].

  This project was started with the idea of using XSLT via Symphony CMS. It's a very interesting application that I am sure will grow and improve. The cast of characters over there are currently working on the third version as I am writing this.

  Now, I'm in a time crunch. I cannot, at this time, learn XSLT and learn a new CMS without some focused time and effort. Unfortunately, considering the numerous hiatus periods in this project, that will never happen. So I took the hard choice and decided to move the project back to WordPress to speed up completion. I'm relieved at be removed of this burden. But I also feel sad, as I made some sort of bad compromised to complete this project. I know I shouldn't, but I'll live. I may feel bad for not completing the project in the way that I wanted fully but I have to move on.

  The other reason for Project Charles was conceptual. The "residue" of studying and observing the work around me of interaction design and front-end development. Yes, I have a few ideas that I've squirrel away.

  It's called The Information Layer.

  Ideally, Charles would have been the best demo, especially with Symphony/XSLT. But with the external changes of the last two years, there is a real need to share something now and not wait further down the road for an actual demo model.

  So, I'm shipping now. Everything can wait.

  I need my life back.

• What I Can’t Say on Twitter Because It’s Longer Than 140 Characters

  [in a whisper] Unbeknown to the client, we’ve replaced their old Cufón font replacement with new CSS font-face licensed fonts, now with WOFF *twinkle, twinkle*. I wonder if they’ll notice the difference? #webfonts

  Yes, the limit is really annoying. But that’s why you need blogs.

• Plymouth

  After months of delay, progress is finally speeding along. The graphic comps now becoming full-fledged X/HTML5 templates.

  Presenting initial set of templates – http://www.deltatwp.com/plymouth/

  Note: these have not been sufficently tested on IE8-6 browsers. Hopefully, these templates will be finalized by next month.

• London and Back

  

  Just re-entered the country, after a week in London for the last FOWA (Future of Web Apps) conference for 2010. Take a while to settle down (not to mention get back to a regular sleep schedule). Spending a week going through all the notes and ideas from the conference. However, all this information will be slowly integrated for the remainder of this year. I was able to get some sightseeing, as well as going to The National Theatre (Hamlet) and a concert (BBC Symphony @ Barbican).

  Now, going home to DC to a stack full of work at CDG.

  Later.