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id8 Publishes “Rock the Room!” iBook to Help You Make Your Meetings Better

A major factor in our success has been the popularity of id8′s singularly magnetic and constructive meetings. Now with the publication of Rock the Room!, you and your company can benefit from our unprecedented integration of confabs into the digital prototyping process.

Beginning today we’ll offer our digital publishing debut on the iPad platform, at no cost.

We partnered with renowned non-fiction writer/producer Donnell Alexander to build a story as compelling as the strategies discussed inside its electronic pages. Created with Apple’s stunning new iBook Author App and designed for the wildly amazing Apple iPad, Rock the Room uses narrative writing, illustrative videos and even new rock songs to share the story of id8′s Michael Terrett and how he rose from humble beginnings to become an elite meetings facilitator.

Subtitled Facilitate Meaningful Meetings the id8 Way, Rock the Room! includes videos of Terrett arranging the optimal meeting space, as well as sound bites full of indispensable advice and anecdotes from Terrett and other key figures inside the digital prototyping firm. You won’t set out coffee or arrange a conference call the same way after sailing through this multi-media experience that you’ll want to experience again and again.

Rock the Room! will soon become available through the iTunes bookstore. Here’s how to start making your meetings better immediately:

Get the free iBook!

1. Download Rock the Room! for the iPad (iBook, 82.8MB)
2. Make sure you have installed the iBooks App on your iPad
3. Drag-and-drop the iBook to your iTunes window
4. Plug in your iPad, and under the Books settings, make sure that Rock The Room! is clicked to sync
5. If you’re having problems, watch this short video demo
6. Enjoy, share with friends, and send your feedback 

Get the free PDF!
(Sorry, but the PDF version does not have the cool videos, audio clips, and everything else. For the best experience, please view this on an iPad.)

1. Download Rock the Room! for anything else (PDF, 49.5MB)
2. Make sure you have installed Adobe Acrobat or another reader, download one
3. Enjoy, share with friends, and send your feedback <info@id8.com>

Big thanks to everyone who contributed to this. This was a big team effort.

• Co-Producer: Thor Swift 
• Designer: Jen Matos

• Moving Images: Kurt Hegre
• Music: Stagger and Fall, Loot, Rademacher

We view this as just the first edition of this iBook.
Please send us your feedback so we can make it better. Thanks!

Sign Up For a Free Digital Prototyping Consultation With id8

We’re passionate about digital prototyping. We’ve seen how the process can bring people together, help our clients achieve their goals, and help deliver superior digital products.

But it’s sometimes hard to bring digital prototyping into an organization or know where to start. Some of the common questions we hear are:

• How will it work with my current processes and resources?
• How is it better than what I currently have?
• How much will it cost?
• What will I get when it’s over?

To help understand the value and make the case for digital prototyping, we are developing a new program called, “Pilot with id8.” This is intended to help you build a business case and jump start your project with digital prototyping.

In just a few days of expert consultation we will conduct some initial interviews to understand your needs, we will create a draft plan with resources, activities, and costs, and we will design the first few screens of your digital prototype. This will give you a concrete plan and demo that you can use to build a business case and generate enthusiasm within your organization.

If you are interested, please contact us pilot@id8.com to see if you are eligible for a free digital prototyping consultation with id8.

We know that you’ll find it worthwhile, and we hope to chat with you soon!

Idea to App in a Week – Round 2: iPad App

I’m back for another prototyping challenge, this time creating an iPad application. It’s the same guidelines as before, developing a digital prototype within a week, and I chose to build upon the iPhone app idea: the AptFinder.

Although it helped to already have the idea decided and some design elements figured out, it still took time to plan and design. Working on the iPad meant having more screen real estate to work with (obviously), so naturally, some of the flow and functionality was going to be a little different than the iPhone app. I wanted the main screen to cover the primary content, and have additional information and tools shown via the side panes.

Some points to note on building the prototype in iRise:

1. Choose an orientation -  I wasn’t able to get the prototype to respond from switching between landscape and portrait view, which meant that I had to design for one (in my case, landscape view). I may need to do more research to find a work-a-round, but would suggest building for one particular view beforehand.

2. Subtract 20px from the height - Whether you’re building the page in landscape view or portrait view, you need to account for the Apple header bar which is 20px tall. If you’re looking to create in landscape view, the page dimensions will be 1024px by 748px. For portrait view: 1004px by 768px.

3. No drag & drop – I didn’t need drag & drop functionality for this particular demo, but when I was working on another project, I didn’t realize that drag & drop doesn’t work when being viewed on the iPad. A real bummer considering that’s a pretty common interaction on this device, so plan for a work-around when building your own prototype.

Here’s the final result:

Idea to App in a Week: Prototyping an iPhone application

This past week I’ve been working on prototyping an iPhone application using iRise Studio. It took some trial and error to figure out how to get it to display properly on an iPhone, but once I got that handled the rest of the process went pretty smoothly.

 

Planning out the process

For my test prototype I created an application called FindMyPad, which is an app to help you search for an apt/house to rent/buy. I designed some of the elements in Photoshop, and also used free UI Development kits I found online. Using the UI kits helped cut down on design time, which helped me focus more on the interaction.

App Splash Screen

Check out a short video of the end result below.

Have questions? Feel free to ask!