Steve Neiderhauser

Prototyping tool for Mac

Axure has offered a powerful prototyping tool for the Windows platform for a number of years now. After listening to their customers, Axure has decided to create a Mac version.

Given the history of the Mac development platform and Cocoa, it's surprising there aren't more user interface prototyping tools for the Mac. It will be enlightening to see if Axure uses Cocoa as it's development framework.

If they do use Cocoa, they may be able to leverage other frameworks — Core Data springs to mind — to increase the fidelity of the models.

Analogies used for Descriptions

Several years ago, I bought a little blue book from Amazon called, The Analogy Book of Related Words. Unfortunately, it now looks like the book is only available from third parties.

When beginning to write a description, thinking of analogies or metaphors will help you paint a fresh, vivid portrait of your scene. Just flipping through the different categories in the book — from Acting to Zodiac — will help you think of your writing in the light of analogies. Who knows what clichés you will avoid, and what words of delight you will create.

Let's look at an example from the book:

His face was etched with the erosion of many years. Gray had almost overtaken his copper hair... Even before he spoke you sensed this was a man of iron. When he began to address the crowd, he words were as hot and flowing as molten lava.