I’ve been using Balsamiq for web user interface screen design, prototyping and wireframe development since April and have put together a presentation to demonstrate the capabilities and use of Balsamiq:
Balsamiq: User interface screen design tool
View more presentations from Nathanael Boehm.
You might also want to read Alex Walker’s extensive review of Balsamiq Mockups at SitePoint.
// purecaffeine.com, UX, design, social media and Gov 2.0 blog by designer Nathanael Boehm, Canberra, Australia. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Just got recommended Balsamiq from one of the SlideShare engineers. Still sticking with pen and paper for now though. Just quicker and something I feel comfortable playing around with while I think. I don’t do enough mock-ups to justify trying to go into a digital solution
I wouldn’t recommend Balsamiq or any current digital tool as some sort of all-in-one replacement. I still use pen and paper, whiteboard and other quicker and tactile sketching methods. Balsamiq is just good for an intermediary between rough paper sketches and final UI specs – so when your screens reach a level of complexity that takes too long to do on paper, needs to be emailed around or would be unreadable as a rough sketch due to the number of elements and annotations in it.
Hi there,
Very nice review. Balsamiq Mockups is my second favorite after pen and paper. :-) For wireframes that resemble more closely the intended design, in both behavior and layout, allow me to point you to FlairBuilder (www.flairbuilder.com). It aims for more detailed wireframes and, especially, prototypes with basic and also advanced interactivity.
There is an online demo on the website, for you to get a better idea.
Cheers,
Cristian
Hi Christian, thanks – I got your email too. I’ve played with FlairBuilder a few times but haven’t yet had the changed to really give it a work-out … but my initial impression is that it’s less sketchy that Balsamiq … so more for high-quality final UI designs; an alternative to OmniGraffle, SmartDraw and Visio.
Hey Dan!
You’re right, indeed sketching is sometimes faster than software, since you’re not limited to the tools available.
I prefer using Mockup Magnets (http://www.MockupMagnets.com). It reserves the speed and flexibility of paper, adds collaboration and is perfect when meeting with clients. Check them out!
-E
Hi Dan!
Another tool for “sketchy wireframes” like balsamiq is http://www.pidoco.com. In addition to the sketchy look (it has also a “straight” view) there are several interesting usability testing features integrated. One is for remote usability testing where moderator and testuser are connected with a shared screen and a phone. Cool!
The software (as far as I can see) is completely web based and therefore features easy real time collaboration. May be worth trying!
Thanks!
Mood