Comments on: Best Usability Mockup Tools

By: Shane Frederick

Shane Frederick — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 02:45:38 +0000

Check out iRise for the most functionality with regards to fidelity (data,business logic,look/feel). The most bang for your buck might be Axure, but many find it to be ‘clunky’ and lacking the ability to model complex apps.

By: Matt Gay

Matt Gay — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:45:31 +0000

As you say, the ability to quickly communicate and iterate over requirements visually, rather than through reams of text, can’t be undervalued.

For any user-facing development, I’m a big fan of jumping straight to the mockups. It’s far easier to model problems, explore interaction and experiment with solutions through rough sketches than by trying to capture everything in exhaustive requirements and spec documentation. It’s also a cheaper method: sketches and wireframes can be abandoned and redone, but discovering that a solution doesn’t make sense or is difficult to use when the interface is delivered _after_ the code has been written is crazily expensive. How many times is that mistake made?

The spec generator in Axure looks like a great compromise between mockup-first and requirements-first analysis. We should request something similar for Balsamiq… but only if it can print the docs on napkins or beer-stained bar coasters.

A couple of other handy & free (but not as sophisticared as Axure) UI mockup tools that I’ve used:

– Pencil (http://www.evolus.vn/Pencil/Home.html), available as a firefox extension as well as a standalone xulrunner app; slightly more geared towards desktop app UIs, but still workable for web wireframes.

– GUUUI (http://www.guuui.com/issues/02_07.php), almost the equivalent of Balsamiq but as a template pack for the ubiquitous Visio. This can be useful for introducing the low-fi UI mockup technique to businesses and teams that are skeptical about the value of apps like Axure, baby steps style.

By: Best Usability Mockup Tools | Scott Savage’s Blog | www.toolworld.ca

Best Usability Mockup Tools | Scott Savage’s Blog | www.toolworld.ca — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:32:18 +0000

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By: mark vernon

mark vernon — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 05:55:01 +0000

Have you seen iplotz.com yet?..This is an online web app (wtih an AIR version coming out shortly), that allows anyone to create navigable wireframes and mockups – only just been launched in January, so we have a lot more features to add which will allow it to compete head on with Axure…

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 05:34:36 +0000

I'm glad you asked! Yes you can enter specifications against elements in Axure. It will even generate a specifications document for you. You can see a demo of the specification generation process on the Axure website.

By: Mike Salway

Mike Salway — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:25:28 +0000

I agree they are great tools and definitely have their place as a prototyping tool. Often a developer had to spend days away from their current tasks to develop a prototype, now these can be mocked up fairly easily by a BA or similar role.

The only problem I see with them, is that they don’t document the business rules for you. They’re great for a developer to see the look and feel, but the business rules still need to be documented both for the developer to code, and for the QA resources so they know what test cases to write.

I guess what i’m saying, is that they’d be even better if they could be extended to cover documentation of business rules as well – can they do this?