This is a really interesting new technique for Axure 6 prototyping, it uses a dynamic panel control to act as a script controller by placing a conditional check in the OnPanelStateChange event to see what state it has been set to to call the relevant actions. Each state has actions which can be triggered individually or as part of a sequence of calls by having several state changes called at once.
The benefits of this technique are realised when the prototype needs to be modified, which typically means changing lots of things in lots of places… boring, slow and error prone. With this technique the code is one place making it easier and quicker to work on large prototypes or ones that in fast iterations – I can’t promise error prone, as humans are still involved…
As well as potentially useful for the reasons above it may also make it possible to do new interactions that can only happen as a result of this technique (if we want interactive instead of just smoke and mirrors). Some initial ideas;
- Action controller (to support ideas of prototype maintainability and easy modification)
- Timer (to provide a sense of external events – real time social apps or billing apps)
- Listener function – suggested by @mrjeffharrison – (perhaps to use for enabling buttons on a form based on complex validation checks – could be built on a combination of the first two)
See the live example or Download the Axure 6 dynamic panel action controller 01 source file (70KB)
I’m sure you can all think of some fantastic application, take a look at the example and the source code and give a shout back with your great ideas!
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