Whether downloading an application from the internet or launching a CD-ROM, if the authoring source has any sense of design and user experience aesthetic, the application folder will be clean and provide clear direction in what application to open or copy. Unfortunately, since the new X operating systems were implemented, the autolaunch function for CD-ROMs and applications on the Mac platform was omitted. This mostly being due to preventing malicious software from invading a computer.

There is standard process for developing icons and folder backgrounds for Mac applications. For icon creation I use Iconographer and Pic2Icon. Although the software was created a few years ago, I still find it useful. Background images are easily made in Photoshop. Using Terminal, I create an invisible folder in the disk image. The background image is placed in this folder and the display settings of the disk image window are changed to show the background image that now resides in the invisible folder. Spending a bit of extra time when finalizing a project really can make all the difference. Catching the users attention and making their experience pleasant is crucial from the get-go.

Click here to see some background examples from another folder background enthusiast!

Yesterday, I was looking around for some coding for our Zinc software which enables us to extend the capabilities of Flash when creating applications or CD-ROMs. I happened on an interesting blog which brought me to a really cool website, where I discovered PicLens.

PicLens is a cool browser plug-in that enables a unique, full-screen image and video browsing experience. After a quick download and installation, searching for images on, say, Google images, reveals a 3d wall with panels of images, not much unlike our own DDA Video site.

Using a simple RSS feed, one can even implement this tool on individual websites. Seeing as DDA has countless projects in our portfolio and an ever growing list of online videos, it would be silly not to offer this option of quickly browsing through numerous images and navigating to different areas of the site. So be on the lookout for that little blue box with the play button () appearing soon on the DDA websites!!!

Whenever a job is quoted for CD-ROM authoring, we always offer the option of tracking the CD-ROM usage. It can be as simple as tracking how many hits a CD receives to capturing and storing test results and contact information. Of course, this tracking does require an internet connection in order to transfer the information and the user is usually informed of this process to prevent any surprises, creating a friendly user experience. (Sometimes anti-virus software may prompt the user to allow the CD-ROM internet access.)

With the currently popularity of desktop widgets on both PC and MAC platforms, one of DDA’s many side-projects is to work on similar widget applications. With CD-ROM tracking being a popular item on DDA’s menu, it only makes sense to create widgets that are able to track the usage of these CD-ROMs. The widgets would be client specific, displaying all the relevant tracking criteria and would be highly accessible, nested on the client’s desktop. So when you contact us for your CD-ROM authoring and tracking needs, request a DDA Tracking Widget too!!!