Macromedia Focus Group,
It was my usual good luck that got me into the Macromedia focus group. I get wierd calls almost every day at GT Interactive. I'm convinced the receptionist transfers calls to me when she doesn't know where to send them. Or maybe my number is in some directory somewhere. So I get a call asking for a bit of my time to answer some web design software questions. Not being one who is shy to share my opinion, I participate. Once the call is done I am invited to a focus group the next week at an office on Madison Avenue, a few short blocks from my work.
I arrive a little early and get to eyeball the NYC designers who are fashionably late. We all grab drinks and snacks and head into the conference rooms. It has a wall-length mirror behind the moderator and we all eye it suspiciously. I gather that most folks here are more curious about eachother than the questions we'll be asked. Most of us function as our respective company's sole web designer, and we're curious how we stack up to our peers.
We go around the table introducing ourselves and listing the software tools we prefer. I'm pleased to see a trend. Out of the 12 of us, all are mac users and 8 list the same 6 programs: Fireworks, Dreamweaver, BBEdit, Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash.
The questions turn to the web design marketplace. What companies do you prefer? Who is the better innovator, Adobe or macromedia? At this point the "client" that's paying for the focus group is still secret, but everyone suspects it's Macromedia. A clear picture emerges. Everyone loves Macromedia. They think they're the market leader, the innovator, the true friend of the working web-monkey. Adobe is seen as necessary, slower-moving and not always trust-worthy. I think the gamma and font tool changes in Photoshop 4 and 5 did a lot of damage to the trust Adobe had built in our community.
After we've shared our various opinions on the companies and tools, the big secret is revealed. Macromedia is the client. Not exactly a huge suprise. The topic shifts to macromedia's next moves. they want to start offering Enterprise-level wysiwyg e-commerce tools to larger companies, and they're concerned they might damage the fantastic relationship they have with developers like myself. Man, I love those guys. They really care about us. We assure them that if they continue to keep the tools accessible to the working grunt, through free trials, 'light' versions, or whatever, we'll continue to feel good about recommend their products.
They thanks us, and we all file out to collect our $100, and talk pixel-pushing for a while by the elevators. It's been a good night. I feel like I've been listened to, and that I've made an impact on the future of web design. Not bad for a Tuesday night.
