Pick one or more of the applications we discussed in this lecture & that you haven’t used before {Illustrator, Fireworks, Audition, Premiere}
Follow one of the introductory tutorials for a basic task
Critique the following:
- The interface
- The tutorial
- The overall ease of use
- General usability
Critique: Adobe Illustrator CS3
The interface
Definitely an expert-user's interface. The power of the tool is incredible but the novice user is both swamped with options and, at the same time, unable to find the tools they need because they are buried in tabs and menus.
The tutorial
Good instruction provided one slows down to read all the instructons - layout may have helped here by providing step summaries in a call-out box. On-screen reading tends towards scanning and can bypass critical information or miss important steps if one believes he has the knowledge to complete the action. Familiarity with other Adobe programs can lead to overconfidence and there is a slowly growing realization about the difference in interface and operations between Photoshop and Illustrator despite the vector-based tools that reside in Photoshop.
A picture "on the course website" is to be used as a final reference for what our picture should look like. This should be included in the tutorial. Ah - it is, further down the document. That is most unfortunate - I spent a good deal of time looking for that.
The overall ease of use
After the use-relationships between objects, tools and attributes has been internalized, this is actually a very easy program to use. And with every new trick, it grows more powerful. I love it.
General usability
Usability is quite high once the steep learning curve has been ascended.
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