That rates as the most frequently asked question of the last month. It’s usually asked with a bit of hesitancy, skepticism and for many, seeking a bit of reassurance that this thing will be as good as advertised.

Am I going to get one?  Most definitely.

Will I get the low end one, so I don’t feel the twinge of Apple-dickery when they release a much better one several months later, with all the things the launch model should have had? Most definitely.

I will get one for single reason I think the iPad will be amazing: I believe it will change the way I work.

I’m like so many out there that have always wanted a tablet device. I’ve wanted one for decades, noting the obvious convenience, freedom and belief that separating the heavy from lighter work would allow flexibility in how I conceptualized and created.

So this iPad thing looks to be the first of many giant changes in how I get things done. So let’s make a quick rundown of the things I need to do every day:

• Listen to Music
• Write, write, write
• Read, read, read
• Basic communication (chat, email, tweet, share files)
• Do rapid wireframes
• Refine wireframes into high-fidelity versions
• Create user journeys, flows and other various maps
• Do a little photo or comp editing
• Create presentations that describe concept and ideas to share with the world

Alright, let’s dig in…

Listen to Music
Yes this is a necessary task. I think Apple has this one covered.

Write, write, write
I’m sure the always excellent Evernote will only continue to get better on the iPad (I’m writing this in Evernote as we speak. Wordpress export would be awesome, btw). As far as I’m concerned, with the exception of the occasional code editing, Evernote has become my only writing app, it’s just that dang good. So, I’m covered there.

Read, read, read
Well, I’ve already kvetched about Socialite taking a dump, but there’s plenty of RSS readers out there in the world, and google reader renders fine through Safari. I’ll be fine.

Basic Communication
Chat is lacking for sure. The iPhone AOL client is clumsy, ugly and a bit nerdish. Fring is just not what I need, but maybe this Meebo thing is worthwhile. Obviously a native iChat with video is in the future, but dang if I wouldn’t love it in the first launch.

Email is covered, and the amazing Tweetie2 covers my Twitter needs.

I’ve been using Dropbox for a while now, and find it indispensable. But I have a whole giant question about Files and Filesystem that I’ll get to in a bit below.

Rapid Wireframes
Omni Group has committed to bringing their top five applications on the iPad in newly-designed versions specific to the device. (See: http://blog.omnigroup.com/2010/01/29/ipad-or-bust/). This includes OmniGraffle, a program I’ve always toyed with using, but never sat down and pursued. I’m pretty set with Illustrator and this dorky program called Inspriation as a Layout / Mapping combo.

But wait… Adobe hasn’t announced any plans for Illustrator to show up on the iPad. I’m not even sure they could manage that. I’m not sure they’d be financially able to sell their products for the rates that are the norm for the iTunes Store. (I could go off on an Adobe rant right now, but they’re getting kicked around a lot for Flash dickery right now, let’s just say that after years of mostly meaningless an expensive upgrades, it looks like I’m soon to be a Graffler).

Refine wireframes into high-fidelity versions
Here’s where Illustrator is going to be missed. Despite the mostly meaningless and expensive upgrades over the years, nothing can replace Illustrator in my workflow when it comes to control and drawing ability. It will certainly never leave my desktop, and I’m not sure its value would translate to the iPad.

Create user journeys, flows and other various maps
Ditto Omnigraffle

Do a little photo or comp editing
I’d love to see a Pixelmator light on the iPad, but I think it would suffer from the same issues that any image editing program would face: the inability to leave things out. Let’s lean towards our friend Brian Eno who, so perfectly, stated “That’s a form of innovation, just to leave certain things out.”

Create presentations that describe concept and ideas to share with the world
Keynote, baby! I’ve loved Keynote from day one, and am excited about the release of iWork for the the iPad. It’s unlikely I’ll use anything but Keynote, but who knows.

So it looks like I have a mobile working platform that will accelerate and encourage working in a new way… what about the downsides?

Filesystem
Does it have one, is it cloud based? Will DropBox be accessible by applications that are able to edit files? Is it a sync only system? Most importantly, what happens when I click a link to an MP3 file? Will it download? What about email attachments? Compressed files? The list goes on.

Typing
Will I be able to type on this thing with any degree of speed and accuracy? I’ll certainly invest in a Bluetooth keyboard, as I could use it for iPad, MacBook and iMac interchangeably, but natural typing on the the iPad will be a make or break factor for me.

By doing this, they also have driven software pricing down dramatically. A full copy of iWork for $30? Could not be done without full control of device and delivery.

Don’t think so? Let’s check Tweetie, one of my favorite Twitter apps. The desktop version is $19.95, the iPhone version is $2.99. The incredibly popular Things app is $9.99 for the iPhone, a fortune compared to most apps, the desktop version still claims $49.95. My favorite game Plants vs. Zombies (which I’ve purchase 3 times now in various forms) is $2.99 for iPhone, and $19.95 for the Mac.

The reason I bring this up is simple: The value of software is rising, and I’m a sucker for well-designed software that does one thing beautifully.

Rule Number Two: The grid is nice, but if you want to fuck it up.. then fuck it up.

Rule Number Three: Draw everything 3 times before you go near a computer. Describe it out loud at least twice.

The Feeble Shark
There are dinosaurs walking the halls. You probly know who they are. You’ve spotted them by their strange target-shaped marking on their back. A bit harder to spot are the Feeble Sharks. Predators that were once the top in their league, and still may be, but they have hit their evolutionary peak. They can do nothing new, they are sharks. They still are fearsome in what they do, but what they do is becoming less and less relevant. Their inability to evolve means they become more and more feeble over time. Beware, they think they are fierce and tend to bite a lot.

Tiny Dinosaurs
The Tiny Dinosaur could be thought of as a freak of nature, but there are far too many of them wandering the halls to be a fluke. These Jr account execs and designers who are being brought up disregarding digital thought are young, foolish and past their prime before they even get moving. Sadly, they will end up in the marketing department of one of your clients, and you will have to deal with their lack of vision again.

The Evolving Predator
People who understand the cycle of learning. People who accept that the wise old man concept is dead. The once lifelong cycle of craft and understanding has been reduced to a cycle that occurs more than once in a generation. Those that know they are the top of their game, and allow for a new path of learning to spawn from that are our key players. One who will accept they are a novice, and add new knowledge to their own, and let their abilities expand. Note that age is not a factor in this species, and they tend to be more uncommon than they should be.

Click for Lifesteam Poster

A while back, I worked on a pitch for a packaged energy / health drink. I put this piece together around marketing product attributes and benefits to a fully connected family.

There was quite a lot of “Big Brother” talk, (mostly from the dinosaurs that roam the halls, hiding in caves fearing the sun) but many people are starting to come to terms with the difference between private and personal.

From the pitch:
Imagine if you will, the state of advertising in the next 5-to-10 years. Today’s demographics will seem thin and superficial; methods of marketing are already skewing towards individual behavior rather than broad audience groups.

The connected device, both household and mobile, will be the main source of news, entertainment and communication; with television likely to become more of a video service through a computing device, much like radio, magazines and newspapers are now headed. Social Networking will be less a destination, and more of a transparent expectation of every device and service, with current players such as Facebook and Twitter become more open, and encompassing more and more user-based content and features.

We like these scenarios, as severe as they may seem to our industry, they are exciting for our business. As part of this presentation, we’d like to show you a view of (Client Name) in the very near future, an audacious brand play that eschews traditional advertising for a direct integration of product information and benefits into consumers’ personal lives.

Any thoughts? Is the world ready to see a marketing message in their daily data? Is it already happening, but in clumsier ways than we hoped? Anyone prepping this in their future plans?

Rule #1. If you want to catch a fish, keep your line in the water
Fishing is boring, especially for a kid who’s not catching any fish. Paga was a master fisherman, not flash or with the best gear, but the guy that brought home buckets of fish. On one particularly boring day, while I watched him catch fish after fish, I asked him his secret. He just said “Keep your line in the water.”

Be patient, keep at it, focus on the one thing you want to do.

Rule #2. Work til the job is done
Once when I was about 12 or so, my brother and I went with Paga to one of the apartment buildings he owned to clean up the yard. Rakes in hand on a hot summer day, my brother asked “what time will we be done?” Paga’s response : “When we’re finished.”

Everyone talks about working hard, I’m more a fan of get things done.

Rule #3. Play each hand like it’s a winner
Ah euchre, the game of kings and fools. Despite the hand, or the score, Paga always seemed confident in his hand. And if it turned out to be a bad hand, there was another right after it that would be better. He played them all like winners, and occasionally put the “Whammy” on the other team’s cards to mess with them.

It’s the hand you have to play, play it like you’re going to win.

Thanks for the advice, Paga!

Emanuel Moreno
1920 – 2009

This usually doesn’t slow me down, since I’m pretty confident I can turn it into something very cool.

Case in point, the shuffling block site I’m working on now. The projected behavior of the site reads like a list of UX no-no’s.

There’s a grid that doesn’t expand, despite the number of objects within, just starts scrolling downward.

The grid is filled with boxes of various sizes, interaction with the boxes makes them either grow larger, or link to other grids. No visible difference in boxes, just random behavior.

The grid re-shuffles every time a box is opened or closed, in a random order, like the system playing Tetris. Things that were there, are now over there.

Oh, but some boxes don’t move, and some boxes only have one size, and some boxes need to be marked so that on every shuffle, they get preferential treatment.

And somewhere in all of this is content.

If it turns out good, I’ll post a link. If it’s a magnificent failure, I’ll post a link.

If my worst fears come true and it’s sort of ordinary, you won’t hear another peep about it.

Centrism
The user’s current position is considered the center of the site. Wherever the user is, they are in the right place. Bring content to them, don’t use your navigation as advertisement. This only makes the user feel they are in the wrong place, and all other places are better.

Proximity
Items that are of more relevance are closer to user. This means, stop carrying navigation and global elements around the site. If the user chooses a path, their focus is on that topic or action. Leave shit behind when it’s not needed.

Volume
The degree to which items are presented and the visual and cognitive impact they will have. Not everything can be cranked to 11. A simple visual inspection of every screen should reveal the top 2-3 actions you want a user to take. These are the items with the loudest volume, the rest need to be turned down.

Workspaces
Discreet modal shifts within a current space. I call these ‘Flips’ they are nothing more than div layers that contain a complete and concise task. They are called when needed, and should adapt to user position and mindset.

Story Shaping
Arranging user opportunities through a story metaphor. If I asked you to tell me about your new camera, it’s unlikely you would organize your thoughts in the same manner as a camera maker’s site. Think about how a conversation evolves, how people will interrupt at moments of interest and change the course of the discussion. This is real time Story Shaping.

Actionable
Content will always beget an action. If it doesn’t provoke action, it is likely useless. Also, ask yourself what questions a user would have based on a piece of content. That is likely to inform your choice of actions you provide, and think ACTION, don’t always think movement.

Boldness
If it doesn’t add something, remove it. Be ruthless in your dislike for every object on the screen. Strong, single and simple actions will always beat complex, wishy-washy activities. At some point, everyone is a uni-tasker… realize the power in this.

Air Sharing
$4.99
Let’s your iPhone be mounted to your desktop like an external drive. Not sure why this isn’t normal behaviour, but this works fine.

Amazon Mobile
Free
Buy, compare, shop, wishlists… indispensable when you’re a cheap bastard like myself.

AOL Radio
Free
I’m not a radio fan at all, but find myself listening to this every so often. Stations around the world and a batch of very specific stations (Classic Punk and All Clash being two of my favorites).

Bloom
$3.99
One of two Eno-based apps on my list. This music generation app is fun and addictive, plus it keeps the kids busy when you need some quiet in the car.

Darkslide
Free
A dedicated Flickr client that also uploads to your account directly from your iPhone.

Evernote
Free
Can’t say enough great things about this app. Just get it.

Fring
Free
Multiple protocol Instant Messenger AND Skype client. Yes, use Skype on your iPhone and tell AT&T to go to hell.

NetNewsWire
Free
Very good RSS client. Syncs with the desktop version also.

Now Playing
Free
Essential if you love movies like I do. Look up movies, showtimes, etc.

Oblique Strategies
Free
Brian Eno’s mystical fortune cookies for creative thinking

Twitterific
Free
People will argue about which Twitter client is better, I think this one is pretty nifty.