Sketching tools & methods for UI concept, visual design, flow of interaction
Bill Bernstein
2009
Hello, Pittsburgh community. There have been a number of successful threads on the main IxDA discussion forum, debating the merits of different prototyping tools, or at least mentioning the existence of many. What do you find to be the best, or easiest-to-crack-into, tools for designers to create interactive prototypes? For articulating concept; communicating behavior to developers, clients, or other stakeholders; and testing for success?
Here are just a few mentioned in threads on the main forum within the past year.
RunRev LiveCode Mobile (this one's for those who code. Seems to be oriented towards actual production code, but has been mentioned in the context of prototyping)
Balsamiq (see "Linking Mockups Together" section)
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Comments
At first I thought Balsamiq was clunky but once you realize HOW to use it, it's pretty awesome, fast and ez.
This has been discussed ad nauseam, but every time the final answer comes down to a few things:
1. use what tool(s) you are most comfortable and productive with
2. use what tool(s) that suit the needs to properly communicate what you need to in the design
I personally always start with pen and paper, then work to higher fidelity as necessary.
Aside from paper&penci I absolutely love Balsamiq. it's easy, fast and sets a positive tone at the reviews.
For higher fidelity prototypes I use PowerPoint. It's surprisingly powerful.
Paper and pen still rules. For doing high fidelity prototypes or low fidelity mockups you could use Mockuptiger (made in pittsburgh)