Hi guys,
I created a series of free videos to onboard Axure users that a just starting out and would like to get some feedback whether you are a newbie or seasoned expert. What key details am I leaving out? Should anything be stressed like concepts or teaching style?
I welcome your feedback greatly.
These look (and sound) nice and are easy enough to follow. Do take into consideration what you really mean by “for beginners” --is a beginner someone who has never used Axure, has used it for a few months? For basic web prototyping or linking comps together, or more extensively, including dynamic panels, interaction code, loading libraries, etc? Should they be expected to have gone through the training modules on Axure.com?
I watched your Mobile Menu tutorial, and would consider it more for intermediate users than beginners. Seems like you might take a little time to introduce concepts like widgets, widget libraries (including alternate approaches to making or getting icons as most any beginner would only have the default Axure library. For instance, draw 3 lines, or create your own with favorite design tool like Photoshop, or Google search “menu icon” then copy-paste a good one from there, or even how to search for and install a widget library.) I would think many “beginners” would be lost as soon as you start flipping through your extensive set of Libraries and pulling things out of “FontAwesome 4.4” --“Wait, what is that? I don’t have that! Where do I get that? What’s going on? What is he even doing?” Actually, when you start dragging in boxes, you don’t explain why… that those are going to be the screen frames for your mobile device… Then, what is a dynamic panel, why are you using that? Also, a little explanation of what “Preview” is, what it does and how to do it, could help.
I think the “Pro Tips” are a good idea, but when they cut in suddenly with an entirely different and unrelated background, its too jarring and distracting. Consider a soft overlay or a kind of sidebar that could slide in, keeping the same contextual focus instead of popping to an entirely different and unrelated screen.
At times, the CC text gets in the way of what you are showing, so consider keeping the “action areas” high up on the screen–above that “bottom fifth” area.
Brilliant James. Mobile prototyping is so exciting at the moment depending on the company you work for, of course.