#librobox

It's been some time since I sat down and desinged a new interface for the LibroBox. That's why this past week I decided to give it another try and it was fun. Mainly because I found a new app that helps me build some quick protypes. The app is called POP and is available for iOS, Android, and via a web interface.

With POP I was able to draw out on paper what I wanted the new interface to look like. Once I was satisfied with my mockup I simply took pictures of each mockup. With POP I was able to "act" out the functionality of each link, page, and even some individual elements.

This is the result. (Hint: It's interactive!! So go ahead and click on elements on the mockup!)

As you can see the interface is for mobile at the moment. It is also very simple. Before I started creating a mockup I thought about what I wanted to see and what would be best for users. I focused on the core purpose of projects like Librobox (Piratebox, LibraryBox) and determined the content was the most important component. It's what users ultimately end up needing, using, and sharing.

With this design I wanted the content to be front and center. I also wanted it to be something obvious for new users. There are plenty of new "ideas" on how to serve the content to users. The two main revision I feel I made were the video and chat pages. The video page has a built/pop in player. The chat page has a new interface that looks more like messaging on a phone that a Chatroom.

I also built another mockup extending the idea of the built/pop video player for the audio page.

As a refresher I put up some of the LibroBox landing page design code up on Github. You can find the post here. The post was short and sweet because the Github page is where the real magic happens!

Currently I have another prototype design running on the LibroBox which I have designated as Design 3.0 ! But, that is only a temporary solution for a larger project that I have in mind.

Not so long ago the LibraryBox project started a Kickstarter campaign to raise some funds to continue development of the project. They have successfully raised the funds and even surpassed the original goal by a huge margin! So congrats to them and I wish them luck.

What does that have to do with the future of LibroBox ? Well it simple LibroBox is built on LibraryBox and any advancements in LibraryBox is a good thing for _LibroBox (whoa! that was packed sentence! :)). So full speed to them and full speed to LibroBox !!

So in the next few weeks I will be heavily concentrated on expanding the original idea of the LibroBox to really get to the crux of the project. The project needs to "connect", so people can really understand it and embrace it.

I continue to be extremely excited by this project but the goal is to change things in the RGV. What needs to change? I still do not know but there is definitely a void that the LibroBox can fill.

Share files with anyone, anywhere...off the Internet, even off the power grid...with LibraryBox.

LibroBox-Design-2.0 - LibroBox Landing Page design 2.0

I'm currently learning how to use Git and GitHub so I can begin to release some of the code I use on the Landing Pages of the LibroBox. I'm a strong believer in the Open Source software principles and I feel it is necessary to share my work with the rest of the community. Offering my humble code back to the community is something that I always aspired to do with the RGV LibroBox project. So I hope someone somewhere can take advantage of this code and use to better their community.

The Mcallen Mini Maker Faire was a lot of fun and it was great to talk to all of those who stopped by the booth. It was awesome to see so many people interested in the Maker Movement in the RGV. There's some great projects out there and some really interesting people behind them.

Make • Create • Craft • Build • Play