Ubiquity PR and the search for the final IA tool
Information architects have long felt left out by the software development tool makers. Companies like Rational (recently purchased by IBM) base their tools on a process that is optimized for complex software development but doesn't really address the needs of information architects. We end up using a variety of tools like Word, Excell or Visio that are just generic enough to be frustrating. Keeping large and complex deliverables up to date is a challenge: make a change in the content inventory and you also need to update the sitemap. And why can't the sitemap be automatically generated from the content inventory? And exported as, say, a requirements document?
The search for the all encompassing tool is nicely illustrated by this case study. It describes how an information architect team at Razorfish used GoLive to manage their deliverables. From the article: "[...] documents tend to end up separate and independent from one another. They are often owned by different people, reside in different locations, and are created in different formats. It is not uncommon that, by the end of a project, updating something as simple as a navigation label requires updating half a dozen documents or more".
This dream goes beyond providing a central tool to manage information architecture deliverables. IBM has been working on a modelling methodology and toolset called OVID that will let you model everything (from audience analysis to use cases to interface widgets) in a UML-like visual language. When you are done modelling, click a button and a prototype of the software gets automatically generated - or that's the dream, anyway. It is the ultimate abstraction, bringing with it all the complications abstractions bring to software development. Still, the dream is hard to resist, so we keep looking for tools focussed on information architects' needs.
Enter Ubiquity RP. I interviewed Victor Hsu at Axure software, who are developing a tool that provides a central modelling and documentation environment for information architects called Ubiquity RP. Ubiquity lets you document requirements from user needs to wireframes, and automatically exports documentation and prototypes.
Ubiquity is based around a 5 step process.
In the last step you can generate a specification document and a working prototype.
Q: Who are you targeting with this product?
Victor Hsu: Our target users are people who are responsible for the functional design of web applications. Their responsibiities includes understanding user and stakeholder needs, defining how a system will be used, designing the visual interfaces, and communicating the design to clients, users, stakeholders, and development. To put it in terms of work product, we are targeting users who create prototypes, functional specifications, or proposals for web applications.
Q: Small companies?
We are finding that both small and large companies are interested in Ubiquity RP. The types of companies we are targeting include companies with internal IT organizations developing intranets and extranets, web design and development consulting firms, and web application product companies.
Q: Information architects?
Many of our target users have Information Architect titles, but others are Business Analaysts, Project Managers, Product Managers, Developers, and Consultants.
Q: Why did you develop it?
From a very grand perspective... We are after the Holy Grail of software development, the ability to create complete applications through code reuse and code automation without programming. We believe that for this to be achieved, it has to start with strong information architecture.
From a more practical perspective... We began developing the solution to help resolve many of the inefficiencies and frustrations that development faces when functional requirements are poorly defined or communicated. We quickly realized that there was an equivalently urgent need to better elicit and communicate requirements to users and stakeholders. Since we were unable to find a good solution to these problems, we saw an opportunity to create a tool that would make it possible to elicit and communicate quality functional requirements more efficiently and to make that process repeatable.
Q: What is the development roadmap for the product like?
Our first product is Ubiquity RP, "real-time prototypes, specifications, and proposals." The next release of the Standard Edition of Ubiquity RP is scheduled for Q2 2003. It will include enhancements to the diagramming and drawing functionality. The tools available in the Standard Edition will be Site Flow (currently Sitemap), Wireframe (currently Page Design), and Generate Specification and Prototype. This is intended for users who are primarily interested in prototyping.
The Professional Edition will be released shortly after in Q3 2003. This edition is designed for users who will be creating specifications or proposals in addition to prototypes. It will include all the tools in the Standard Edition plus Vision, Needs, potentially Use Cases, and enhanced features in Site Flow and Wireframe. We intend to do one release of each edition per year.
In addition, an Enterprise Edition is expected to be introduced in 2005 which will provide a more collaborative environment for teams to work together on a centralized design. Future product lines that we are considering include a product for managing the requirements that are produced from Ubiquity RP, and a product that leverages the designs from Ubiquity RP to lay the groundwork for development.
Q: What is your background? You mention information architects on your site - are you involved in that community?
My background has been primarily along the lines of project management and software development. In each role, I have assumed some information architect responsibilites and have worked closely with product managers and designers to produce specifications and prototypes. I am not currently as active in the IA community as I would like to be.
My involvement with the IA community thus far includes joining and beginning to contribute to several mailing lists for IA professionals. I have also been in contact with several thought leaders in the community who have been very supportive of our efforts. We are investigating opportunities for Axure to become more involved with the IA community. I was particulary interested in the concept of building a knowledge base of information architecture resources maintained by the community that is suggested on the Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture website (www.aifia.org).
Q: I tried the product, and I like the general idea. But I am worried I won't be able to also keep using my current tools. What are the plans for making the product work nice within my toolset? Or is it meant to be the only product I use?
We chose to develop our own suite of tools rather than try to integrate several existing tools for many reasons. Primarily, the tools on the market were not treating the designs (site flow diagrams and wireframes) as web application design data. For example, a rectangle in a Visio diagram labeled "Page 1" is a rectangle with a label. In Ubiquity, a page element in a diagram is a page object with specific data associated with it including a wireframe representation and user-defined page attributes.
In addition, it was particulary important to us to tightly integrate needs, siteflow, wireframes, etc. such that we could implement traceability in the future. I'm excited to see the day when a user can see an automatically generated diagram tracing needs to use cases to site flow to ui elements and eventually to code! I don't think use of our tools will replace the use of the Visio's and Dreamweaver's of the world for designing web applications. Each has it's strengths and weaknesses. But we are going to do our best to consolidate the strengths into our tools.
Down the road, we see potential integrations with diagramming tools like Visio, HTML tools like Dreamweaver, analyst tools like Rose, requirements management tools like Requisite Pro and DOORS, and development tools like Visual Studio and WebSphere Studio Application Developer.
Q: I always like tools like this to be customizable as much as possible. Do you plan some kind of scripting environment, where I can script importing or exporting and such? How about the stencils ('libraries')? Can I create my own? Can I share them? Are there plans for functionality like that? Any other plans for letting users customize the app to their needs?
The document format for Ubiquity RP is entirely XML based so a user with an understanding of the schema would be able to script pretty much anything they wanted to manipulate the document. We are planning some changes to the format so we are not recommending that any users do this at this time, but it will certainly be an option in the future.We would like to develop the framework such that custom tools built by 3rd parties can be added to the suite. A person could build their own Needs Manager and plug it into Ubiquity RP for example.
Customizable stencils are slated for the next release. You will be able to create your own. There are also plans to allow users to share stencils as well as elements in what we are calling the repository, which contains reusable diagram or wireframe elements.
For example, if you have designed a stock ticker that you would like to reuse across multiple pages or designs you will be able to do so.
Along the lines of a central knowledge base of IA resources, I would love to see a central repository of Ubiquity RP stencils and design elements that our users could share.
Q: Are there examples of real life projects (not just showcases) being done with Ubiquity? If so, what are the lessons learnt that might guide future development?
Several companies have already used or are using Ubiquity RP for real life projects. We have learned that the application can be used for several different purposes and that users value different aspects of the product.
For example, one IT organization primarily uses the prototyping aspects to quickly validate the requirements for the numerous development requests that they receive from other departments. On the other hand, a consulting company that is using Ubiquity RP values the documentation produced for the purpose of presenting high level proposals to potential clients.
This has impacted our plan for packaging and developing the product. The Standard Edition will be focused on prototyping. A common request for enhancing the prototyping capabilities has been to enhance the diagramming functionality for both the Sitemap and Workflow tools which we are addressing in the next release. The Professional Edition will be focused on creating proposals and specifications in addition to the prototypes. This places a greater emphasis on the types of documents and the formatting of the documents that Ubiquity RP can produce.
Q: Why 'Ubiquity'?
Ubiquity is a play on the word "ubiquitous", meaning existing everywhere. We want our solutions to be accessible, usable, and effective for anyone that is responsible for designing a web application whether they are amateurs or experts, technical or non-technical, in small or in large organizations.
I know you didn't ask, but RP stands for Real-time Prototyping. We very much want to accelerate the process of prototyping to make multiple iterations of prototyping prior to development more feasible for time and budget constrained projects.
Q: On the website it says "If you are interested in guiding future development, please email us at contactus@axure.com." - how does that work?
When people contact us expressing interest in guiding development, it opens up a dialogue to begin discussing their needs, our plans, and how we can make them meet.
Some inquirers have asked for specific features to be added to the next release and others have a greater interest in discussing our long-term goals and mission. Having that on our website has given us the opportunity to speak with people who see the potential in our solution and are excited to see it grow. We've been very happy with the response we've received.
Q: So, did you develop the axure site using ubiquity?
Yes we did! The tricky part was trying to design Ubiquity with Ubiquity :)
If you want to try out Ubiquity, you can download a 30 day trial version for free.