best tool for wireframing/prototyping

[Scott Gray]

hi there

i was wondering if anyone could suggest a tool, preferably
free/opensource, that i can use to create basic wireframes and
possibly even simple prototype mock-ups?

(i'm on windows)

thanks
scott

--
scott

~ scott.za.net

[AJK]

Scott there are a few tools around, but the paid ones are better like
in most cases.

Free Mindmap Tool
FreeMind

Online partially free Mindmap Tool
Mindmeister 2.0: www.mindmeister.com

Best paid Mindmap Tool
MindJet Mindmanager: www.mindjet.com

Prototyping Tools
MockupScreen Setup - Not worth mentioning, but for completeness sake I
added it
GUI Design Studio
DesignerVista - Check my review on www.iux.co.za
Axure (Advance and Expensive)
iRise (Advance and Expensive)
Intuitect
Altia PhotoProto - plugin for Photoshop

[jh-01]

The 'industry' standard for wireframes is Microsoft Visio. If you start
getting serious at some point you will want to use this because inevitably
you'll need to collaborate and the other person will probably be using
Visio.

That said, anything from paper napkins, to Word, to Powerpoint has been used
by IA's. The important thing to remember is that wireframes are just
concepts, not graphical designs, so don't get hung up on the presentation or
sophistication of the tools to use. What's important is having good
interface ideas.

Mac users often use Omnigraffle.

If you want to go one step further you can try:
http://www.swipr.com/ allows you to 'integrate screenflows and wireframes
into one interactive HTML deliverable'. Worth checking out...

Jason

p.s. if you do end up going for Visio let me know. I have some really useful
custom stencils for drag and drop interface elements.

hi there

(i'm on windows)

thanks
scott

--
scott

~ scott.za.net

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[AJK]

Speaking of Omnigraffle, I found these interesting template and
stencils.
http://urlgreyhot.com/personal/resources/omnigraffle_web_design_template

[Anne-Sophie]

Thanks for the stencils, some nice goodies in there :)
Always nice to see how other peeps go about wireframing too,, thanks!

[Vlad Nedelcu]

What about tools in the Adobe suite, like indesign. you can design interactions inside this environment with rapid prototyping.
Plus it interacts well with illustrator and photoshop, so if you need to go from low fidelity to hi fidelity inside one environment.
Tools like smartdraw and concept draw are on par with Viso and much cheaper.

[AJK]

My friend suggested Adobe Indesign (I used it for my electronic
magazine a few years ago) and you can export the styles you create and
wella, you have a CSS style sheet for your design.

I am rather waiting for that new Prototype tool from Adobe, which
looks promising.

[Anne-Sophie]

More stencil goodness:
http://www.graffletopia.com

(Thanks Debré)

[unodewaal]

I use Axure (because the company pays for it) and I must say I really
like it. It's very easy to use, and you can quickly sketch something
out. It generates a working HTML prototype (just don't look at the
code generated - that's horrendous) which is great for interaction.

I normally make very loose wireframes and sketch around that. The
mockup work in Photoshop is where most of the business happens at the
end of the day. I've found Axure mimics Ajax quite good as well - but
you need to know how to show it (with dynamic panels).

As AJK said - it's not too cheap (about $250 I think) but it's worth
it. I've seen great mocks and concept flows been done in Illustrator
though...

And some other teams in the company use Visio as a standard and it
looks pretty good for workflows and that kind of thing.

Uno.

[AJK]

Nice one Anne-Sophie (if only I had a Mac). :)

While we are on a roll: http://iainstitute.org/tools/

[Vlad Nedelcu]

You don't need a mac to use these template files from  Omnigraf (http://www.graffletopia.com)
the template files are in PDF, you can open those in photoshop and just grab the elements outta them.
it's stone age stuff, but hey, just cos we don't drive Ferrari's don't mean we can't steal them !!!

[Nick]

We are on mac and we use a combination of Adobe Illustrator and Pages
(part of iWork). They are both quick and easy and easy to make things
look pretty.

[AJK]

Some more stencils and stuff posted over at IDXA:
http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/
http://www.userfocus.co.uk/resources/omnigraffle.html