A glimpse behind the walls at Cooper

This video shows how Cooper uses Adobe Fireworks to do their interface design. It also provides a glimpse into how they divide the design tasks between an interaction designer and a visual designer.



I don't know much about Fireworks, but it looks like it might allow you to prototype interactive designs. One of the things I find most difficult about designing in Visio is that the screens are all static; it's very difficult to document a more complex in-page interaction with a tool like this. It's also difficult to work out the interaction in the first place without a tool that lets you quickly build it and try it.

I also like how they've divided the work involved in designing and developing software into discrete specialties. I think the level of polish and sophistication they're able to obtain as a result is the best answer to 37signals' argument that Web designers should also be web developers.