Jeff Stewart's dashboard

Jeff Stewart shared an idea in Balsamiq on August 19, 2009 18:58:

Encode mockup XML in PNG metadata

Why not have the PNGs generated by a Balsamiq snapshot include the complete XML for that mockup as metadata in the encoding of the image? That way, a PNG can be opened by Balsamiq as a bona fide, editable mockup.

I got this idea from Spore, which does the same kind of thing: when you export a PNG "portrait" of a creature, that PNG contains all the "virtual DNA" required for the Spore game to reconstruct that creature. The Spore engine is able to read this (very cleverly encoded) metadata in the PNG and manifest the complete creature. This allows players to exchange creature portraits over email (as attached PNGs), and even make them available on the web (as avatar icons in forums, as images on blog posts, etc.) for others to consume in a simple, tidy package.

I often take snapshots of my mockups and email them to coworkers for at-a-glance assessments. But if one of them decided they wanted to tweak the mockup, they could if that PNG contained everything Balsamiq needed to reproduce the mockup. Either way, all I have to do is embed a PNG in an Outlook message; no auxiliary .bmml attachments.

Jeff Stewart asked a question in Balsamiq on August 18, 2009 21:09:

"Insert Empty Space" tool

When making tall mockups, I often find the need to "move everything down" when I need to insert a shape somewhere in the middle of the mockup. It'd be nice to have an "insert empty space" tool. I imagine it behaving like this:
1) User activates the tool
2) User presses the mouse button somewhere in the mockup and begins dragging downward. Imagine that, when the mouse button is pressed, the mouse's position defines a horizontal line through the mockup; everything below it needs to move down, everything above it stays put.

All shapes whose bounding boxes are entirely below "the line" move downward with the motion of the mouse. For extra sophistication, all shapes whose bounding boxes are *partially* below the line have only their bottom edges resized downward. (This would be great for browser window shapes that need to grow larger as I push things downward.)

Microsoft OneNote has a feature similar to this.

Jeff Stewart replied on August 13, 2009 16:43 to the idea "Options for Icon text: left of icon and above icon" in Balsamiq:

See attached. Our prev/next buttons have arrows on opposing sides. To accomplish this in Balsamiq, I have to use two shapes for the "prev" button but only one for the "next" button.

Jeff Stewart shared an idea in Balsamiq on August 13, 2009 16:37:

"Back" button in Presentation Mode

When going through mockups with my boss, we both use Presentation Mode. For sets of mockups that have lots of inter-mockup links, we're finding the lack of a "Back" button sort of frustrating. Often times we'll link to a mockup only to find we can't go back to the previous mockup without breaking out of Presentation Mode and finding it among the mockup tabs.

A comment on the idea "Zoom Zoom" in Balsamiq:

Not okay for me! I definitely need to be able to edit at multiple magnifications: smaller widgets at higher magnifications and big groups of widgets at smaller magnifications. Presentation mode should still support zoom, of course, and we need not be able to edit there. – Jeff Stewart, on August 13, 2009 14:33

Jeff Stewart shared an idea in Balsamiq on August 11, 2009 15:43:

Options for Icon text: left of icon and above icon

Icon shapes can currently place text either below the icon or to the right of the icon. Why not above the icon or to the left of the icon? (I'm trying to create a "stand in" mockup that closely matches a UI we've defined, so in this case my mockup is trying to follow a UI rather than the other way around.)

A comment on the problem "Memory Jog & Boosts show past appointments" in reQall:

Right, but that's not the problem. The problem is I see entries like, "Meeting Dad for dinner on July 10th" on July 15th! I don't think there's any value in reQall reminding me about appointments I already had. Why do I need to remember that a meeting occurred? – Jeff Stewart, on August 10, 2009 23:12

Jeff Stewart reported a problem in reQall on August 07, 2009 13:06:

Memory Jog & Boosts show past appointments

I'm noticing that my daily memory jog email often includes meetings from the previous day. Why? They're not anything I can mark as "complete" and they're over and done with; why are they included in the memory jog email and the Memory Boosts section of the iPhone app?

Jeff Stewart started following the idea "Allow me to use linked mockups in edit mode" in Balsamiq.

Jeff Stewart shared an idea in Balsamiq on August 05, 2009 18:01:

"Close All But This Tab" feature

Like many of my development tools and browsers, I'd like to see a "Close other tabs" or "Close all but this tab" item on tabs' context menus.

Jeff Stewart shared an idea in Balsamiq on August 05, 2009 18:00:

"Close All But This Tab" feature

Like many of my development tools and browsers, I'd like to see a "Close other tabs" or "Close all but this tab" item on tabs' context menus.

A comment on the idea ""Most Popular" and "Recently Used" library tabs" in Balsamiq:

It'd be nice, but in my case I think my "favorite" selections would change a lot. I do mockups for iPhone, web, and desktop apps depending on the phase of the moon.

I imagine a "recently used / most popular" hybrid feature working like this:
1) When a new mockup is created, clear that mockup's "Recently Used" tab.
2) When a shape is added to a mockup, increase a counter that represents the number of times that shape has been added to the mockup.
3) If the number of shapes in the "Recently Used" tab is less than some maximum x, then add the shape to the tab.
4) If the number of shapes in the "Recently Used" tab is equal to the maximum x, *and* the added shape's counter is greater than all counters for shapes currently in the "Recently Used" tab, then replace the least-used shape in the "Recently Used" tab with the added shape.

Making this a per-mockup "smart tab" would be dynamite, i.e. every mockup has its own "Recently Used" set. That set would sort of naturally work out to represent the most common shapes in the mockup. – Jeff Stewart, on August 04, 2009 17:06

Jeff Stewart replied on August 04, 2009 16:59 to the idea ""Consolidate Dependencies" button" in Balsamiq:

That doesn't handle the case of older mockups created prior to the introduction of this feature, though. I have a lot. :)

I think of my problem's solution as "fix this broken mockup" rather than "change how images are imported".

I still prefer a global operation that inspects the mockup's document model for external references and fixes them in one fell swoop.

Jeff Stewart replied on August 04, 2009 16:54 to the problem "Lists with selected items aren't repainted correctly when switching documents." in Balsamiq:

Hm. Maybe it's an AIR/Flash thing? My version info:


Anyway, here's what I see:

Normal list with a selection, displayed properly:


When I switch to another mockup using the tabs along the bottom of the application, then immediately switch back, the list looks like this:

Jeff Stewart gave praise in Balsamiq on July 23, 2009 13:01:

l-o-r-e-BAM!

The "lorem" shortcut for text fields and paragraphs is inspired. Would have never thought of that! :)

Jeff Stewart shared an idea in reQall on July 23, 2009 13:00:

Automatic refresh for reQall website

I'd like the reQall website to periodically refresh itself so I don't have to. I keep reQall open all day long in a chromeless Google Chrome window (created using Chrome's "Create application shortcut..." feature), and have to manually refresh reQall to see my latest items.

A comment on the problem "iPhone startup time too long: 15+ seconds!" in reQall:

I have perhaps 24 items in my account. Probably less.
I have 2 places defined, both with geolocation data.
I have 244 contacts. – Jeff Stewart, on July 22, 2009 22:15

Jeff Stewart asked a question in Balsamiq on July 22, 2009 19:01:

Ad hoc links, callout links, and making [links] clickable.

I often use the [link] syntax within a table to show that an action or screen can be invoked for the data in that row. See the attached mockup.

What's hard is getting that link to actually be clickable. For fullscreen presentations, I want to be able to illustrate that flow. To accomplish this now, as shown in the mockup, I create a tooltip, make its text blank, then overlay a link shape on top of it. This allows me to navigate to the next view within presentation mode.

There's gotta be a better way! Maybe a shape dedicated to this purpose?

Jeff Stewart started following the problem "Close all, minor issue..." in Balsamiq.

Jeff Stewart shared an idea in Balsamiq on July 22, 2009 15:57:

"Consolidate Dependencies" button

To make it easier to store mockups in source control, I'd really like a "Consolidate Dependencies" button. This button would find all of a mockup's external dependencies, like images, and copy/move them all to the mockup's location on my hard drive.

Right now I'm building a mockup in my /Mockups folder, but it references imagery on my Desktop and elsewhere. Now, when I track down all that imagery and move it to the mockup's location, I have to re-link all my images because their locations changed! Argh!