thoughtcrumbs

Went to the WebVisions 2002 conference yesterday. And gosh darn, but Joe Shepter is cute. Aside from that, I came home inspired to redesign my website, and even (gasp) start using Flash. The conference tilted heavily toward Flash innovations and the often-maligned Flash user experience (as Erik Natzke said about novicee Flash designers, "You don't give a chainsaw to a three-year-old"). In general, I've avoided the tool, favoring HTML, Javascript, PHP, etc. for my websites, and using Flash's kissing cousin Director for interactive CD-ROM work. But the advent of Flash MX has made me realize that it's a serious tool that can be used for good, not evil. ActionScript is every bit as valid (and sexy) as PHP (although they have different applications). I think a Flash interface to something already graphics-heavy and immersive, like my currently tepid photo gallery, could fix a lot of the usability issues I've been facing. We'll see.