Adobe shows Thermo, new tool for "devsigners"

By Rafe Needleman – April 23, 2008 4:13 PM PDT

At the Web 2.0 Expo Wednesday, Adobe demo'd Thermo, the code name for its new tool for "devsigners" (developer/designers), the people responsible for the look and feel of new Web apps.

Adobe Senior Product Manager Steven Heintz says that traditionally, designers need to create static pages in an app like Photoshop, which they then throw over the wall to the developers. The developers then "cut" the designs into applications. In doing so, the developers also end up doing a lot of user interaction design.

Thermo helps make Photoshop mockups into working demos.

(Credit: Adobe)

Thermo lets the designers create demo-able dummy apps where they have complete control over typography, scroll bar look and feel, and interaction behaviors like hover and click for all items.

Heintz showed me how Thermo creates "well-formed code" for Flash and AIR apps. The product can't actually create full Web apps with full logic and access to information sources, but for creating prototypes to make clients happy or get funding for a project, it looks like a strong tool.

The first public beta will be out later this year. No word on when Thermo makes its way into Adobe's suite of design and development apps.

Here's the pitch and demo:

Previous coverage: Adobe expands online services, woos designers with Thermo.