FLASH: Preloading Philosophy [was: [-CLARIFICATION-]]

[unique]

At the exact moment of 2000.01.17.12.58, her/his local time, Bil Chamberlin

<

bil_chamberlinthetrade [dot] com

> put forth:


> We have a new site and would like to get some feedback please.

> It' a bi-monthly flash animated magazine highlighting the best

> design shops in New York with a storie about each.

> In the summer it will include a directory of 5,000

> resources categorized and done in flash.

> 

> Any problems?

> Suggestions?

> 

> thank you very much

> 

> http://www.thetrade.com


Hi Bill,


I haven't much time for an in-depth check-out -- I really like your overall

design though!


One comment/rant/beef, well-intentioned:


I really feel that the days of "Loading ..." and thermometer bars needs to be

over!


People hate the *waiting* part of the 'net, and such preloader sequences simply

say: "*Start waiting _now_*."


Get the rotten tomatoes ready; here's my full-blown rant (from the Flash4 list):


-----


At the exact moment of 2000.01.xx.xx.xx, her/his local time, Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx

<

xxxxxxxxxxxx [dot] xxx

> put forth:


>   Hey buddy, can you send me some fla files with an intro that you made , one

> with that percentage preload.


... and that got me to thinking about preloading, its various uses and

applications, and what various people are doing with it "out there".


Well, I must admit, those thermometer bars that slowly fill up as those too-long

Flash movies load were interesting and maybe even fascinating the first two or

three times I saw them. That was 2 full years ago.


Same goes for the many variations thereof, including circles with sweep second

hands, glasses of water filling up, etc.


                              *Flash Forward*


I believe that, when considering the philosophy of designing preloader

functioning, it is important to remember how quickly a viewer will leave *any*

Web site (Flash or not) if their *interest* is not maintained. As a site

designer *and* as someone who values his time, when I go to a site that does not

give me something to hold my interest within the first very few seconds, I am

quite apt to *leave* ... not because I can't wait a few more seconds -- I

certainly can ... but because it has been my experience, having checked out

around 10,000 Web sites of all kinds (you should see my Bookmarks files!), that

sluggishly loading home pages almost always sit on top of sluggish Web sites, if

you catch my drift; the contrapositive seems true as well.


Now I wouldn't be squawking about this if it weren't for the fact that there is

an extremely easy way *around* the dreaded Thermometer Bar Departure for us

Flashers.


Look at it this way: you have your movie, and it's a fatty, or maybe even you

haven't yet mastered all the ins and outs of preloading, so you realize that you

need to stick *something* on the screen while the thing streams enough to be

ready to go.


What will you use for that "something"?


FIRST idea: simple *static* cover page. Gets old fast.


SECOND idea: simple (low-K) animated cover page. Gets old fast too.


THIRD idea: throw in a thermometer bar. At least it tells them "something" about

how long they can anticipate being *bored*! *And*, most people ("designers")

don't seem to know how to design and regulate their thermometer bars so that

they are accurate: have you ever compared the thermometer bar percentage readout

with what you can see in the lower left-hand corner of your browser window? Some

cases can be quite amusing to compare. Test yours, and see if you aren't amused

by the discrepancies ...


Okay, I'll get to the point:


YA GOTTA be confident that your viewer is drawn into your presentation from the

get-go, and is continually amused enough to stick around till she gets to where

she wanted to be when she first dropped in.


(Remember that your own personal feelings about Flash movies, and how long *you*

might be willing to sit there and wait for a fat one to load, *has to be*

significantly different from the average Jane or Joe ... otherwise, *they'd* be

Flash designers too! :-) )


So, when designing "preloaders", come up with something that will entertain your

visitors for more seconds than you need for the streaming to be ready to go. A

text message that scrolls, and thus *controls* how fast it can be read, is one

*very* easy way to do this: it doesn't take a lot of creativity to come up with

a relevant paragraph or two, and to design a way to present it that takes as

much time as you need.


Throw in even more creativity to the above, and you're more than "set". For

example, you can have a 10-second pop-up-window "eye-catcher" movie that

displays while a 60-second "intro" movie loads underneath. Then, while they

close the pop-up and are involved with the intro movie, you can stream enough of

that 800K Monster that you're so proud of, *and* you have a much better chance

that your visitor will have stuck around long enough to see it!


Let's get classier, folks!


HTH,


Ken Sherwood


p.s. First one to misconstrue this post as anti thermometer bars loses.


-----


As I've already said, HTH!


Ken Sherwood, ducking yet inviting those rotten tomatoes. :-)




                         *zenkat: the Flash trailer*

                    http://www.kensherwood.com/zenkat.htm


kensherwood.com

http://www.kensherwood.com





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