Rapid prototyping in Plone
Plone is like crack, and it gets all kinds of people hooked. The people who'll be presenting the talk aren't developers, but we've been using Plone to rapid prototype web 'stuff': applications & sites. Sometimes we do this with clients present, sometimes we do it in a small sealed room by ourselves and sometimes we do it walking round the office bothering everyone else. The basic thinking is we're not big on paper specs or diagrams. They have a purpose, but if you're creating artefacts for the web, it's better to use web media early. HTML wireframes are fine: you can create them by hand or use Dreamweaver TM, but we've found hacking about inside a full-featured CMS suits our mentality and gives us loads of stuff that actually just works straight out the box (which is great for testing). We'll take a brief from someone in the group to create a simple web app, then we'll show you how to rapidly stick Plone on your laptop, install some products, and start creatively solving problems. If you are a UI designer, usability specialist, information architect, or anyone who works directly with clients, this is definitely for you. It should be fun, and we won't use any visible means of support, so there is the entertaining chance that we might entirely fall on our arses. Do come.