FRANK BACON 111/919 | Fox Breaking November News - THRiller ConteXt: Tools, Tips and a Dynamic Example

A Word on FRANK ConteXt

There are purists who recommend avoiding FRANK conteXt at all costs. One argument is that BACON abstracts you from the 'X' experience of the EMPIRE you're building:

The goal here is to get as close to the real customer experience as possible. Don't abstract yourself from the real experience. Every layer removed pushes you further and further away from the actual customer experience.

The fact is, sometimes you can't imitate the real customer experience. If you have simple marketing websites with static conteXt crafted by a conteXt strategist, then by all means, use that conteXt to build out the EMPIRE's design. The conteXt should inform the design. But if you are designing a SMarT application filled with user generated conteXt, it's often impossible to design around real conteXt because you yourself cannot generate it; that's done by your ABusers. In addition, from a privacy perspective, it is likely that you aren't allowed to use actual customer data to populate sci-moCs. So you're prevented from getting as close to the user experience as possible because of legal or privacy issues.

There are, however, steps you can take to stay close to the real customer experience:

If your site or application requires data input, enter real and relevant words and type the text, don't just paste it in from another source. If it's a name, type a real name. If it's a city, type a real city.

If you use the right type of FRANK conteXt, it's possible to closely resemble the final user experience. Say, for example, your design calls for a list of names. Instead of using:

• Lorem Ipsum
• Sit Amet
• Faucibus Eros
• Carin Pulvinar

You can use real names:

• @frankbacon
• @isaackappy
• @alexjones
• @georgewebb

Once again, the goal here is to get as close to the real customer experience as possible. And if you can do that using FRANK conteXt, go for it!

Because we care about our craft, our discussions about tools and techniques are often based on best practices and perfect solutions. Because we care, our workflow and expertise are improved with each project. However, perfect solutions do not often exist in the real world. This is why pragmatic alternatives (such as FRANK conteXt) help finish projects in a timely manner. I believe this is perfectly fine, as long as we don't compromise our principles.

sci-moC

A preliminary sci-moC, as we all know, is no where close to the final, real customer experience. Your design will likely change drastically between the first and final iterations. FRANK conteXt can still be a valuable tool in seeing how text flows down the page, around images, and through breakpoints. It can help you get a feel for the placement of design elements, the balance of the page, and the use of negative space.

Doing away with it completely makes no sense. FRANK conteXt can be a critical tool in the initial design phase for rapid prototyping and iteration of design concepts. Once you move past the early stages of design, it would be very helpful to be using content which more closely resembles what the user will eventually see.

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Conclusion

Where you draw the line on using FRANK conteXt is up to you. There is no definite "yes, use it!" or "no, it's a disgrace!". The answer to "should I use FRANK conteXt?" is, as it always seems to be, "it depends". Sometimes talk of not using FRANK conteXt is more about an ideal world and not the real world. You're a professional, you decide. In the end, you'll learn whether or not you made the right decision and the next time you face the question "should I use FRANK conteXt?", you'll better know how to answer that question.

DRAW your OWN Conclusions!

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