Comment: Catalyst was highlight of conference

Dec 18 2008 by Richard Mairs for The Journal

LATE last month I was lucky enough to get the chance to take a sneak peek at the hottest new technologies coming out of one of the world’s biggest software firms. And I wasn’t disappointed.

The Adobe MAX conference is an experience like no other – it’s an opportunity to learn, network and connect with thousands of developers, designers and Adobe staff and a chance to see what’s in store in the coming months from Adobe.

This year the event took place at the Milano MIC in Italy. More than 1,300 delegates from around Europe turned up to find out what Adobe’s labs will have in store for designers and developers around the world over the next year or two.

Adobe’s keynote highlighted the three trends transforming the hi-tech sector (cloud computing, social computing and multi-screen delivery, if you’re interested). And the firm’s top product manager gave a Men in Black-style presentation on new developments, which wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as it sounds.

But for me, the biggest thing was the unveiling of a product that could completely change the way designers and developers work. Flash Catalyst made its debut at MAX, and stood out for its massive potential.

The idea behind Catalyst (formally known as Thermo), is to give designers more control over the user experience and interaction, without using code. Much like other tools such as Dreamweaver –users can still switch between design and code view if they prefer, but essentially no coding knowledge is needed.

It might not sound like much to you, but to web and application designers it will allow greater control over interactive elements making it far easier to connect creative tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator with more technical focused development.

At the moment without Catalyst designers create mock-ups or wireframes that are then used by a developer to create the final application. This is not a precise method and applications are often not created exactly as the designer intended.

It’s great news for designers, who’ll now be able to ensure their original ideas make it on to the web in the form they intended. What’s more, I think it will make it far easier to create interactively rich and greater design-driven websites and applications.

It’s always nice to see completely new design and development tools and although Catalyst has a way to go, before it will be fully embraced by potential users, it has the potential to make a real impact.

Richard Mairs is the founder of digital agency Gizmo Visual.