Desktop GUI prototyping tools...
22 Jan 2008 - 5:28am
14 replies
7133 reads
Pankaj Chawla
2008
Hi
Any recommendations on GUI prototyping tools specially for desktop
application prototyping. I could find a good list at
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?GuiPrototypingTools and am looking at any feedback
on the ones listed or maybe a new tool not listed there but somebody has
used and strongly recommends.
The need is to capture the paper prototypes into higher fidelity prototypes
that can be tested and reviewed before getting commited for actually coding.
Thanks
Pankaj
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What do you mean by testing? Do you mean they need to be interactive
prototypes? On both cases, I would recommended going with Visio. The
number of stencils available is second to none and being dynamic is
especially useful for desktop application prototyping. And you can
add basic interactivity to the wireframes very easily with Visio.
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Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=24884
Adobe AIR!!
On 1/22/08, Pankaj Chawla <pankaj013 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi
>
> Any recommendations on GUI prototyping tools specially for desktop
> application prototyping. I could find a good list at
> http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?GuiPrototypingTools and am looking at any feedback
> on the ones listed or maybe a new tool not listed there but somebody has
> used and strongly recommends.
>
> The need is to capture the paper prototypes into higher fidelity prototypes
> that can be tested and reviewed before getting commited for actually coding.
>
> Thanks
> Pankaj
> ________________________________________________________________
> *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah*
> February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA
> Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
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Russell Wilson
Vice President of Product Design, NetQoS
Blog: http://www.dexodesign.com
They might still accepting beta testers for http://lovelycharts.com.
I recommend Flash or Fireworks for most mockup and prototypes. They
can be converted from paper scans, whiteboard sessions or 'high
fidelity' comps from a designer than iterated out as necessary to
mockups.
I use a statemachine library and collection of state patterns to help
'assemble' rather than build common ui 'flows' such as registration,
asynchronous behavior (loading), interacting with media players.
Using Adobe AIR (damn mac for copying!) allows you to extend the
results to drag and drop, working with the filesystem.
I will assume that by "desktop application" you mean a Windows Forms
app. If this is the case, then I'd start with Visio. Since version
2003 the stencils for drawing a Windows XP have been pretty darn good.
Search Google for additional stencils should you need more. I haven't
played much with Visio 2007 to see if it has a skin for Vista.
If my assumptions are wrong, then please clarify.
...Dan
On Jan 22, 2008, at 2:28 AM, Pankaj Chawla wrote:
>
> Any recommendations on GUI prototyping tools specially for desktop
> application prototyping....
>
> The need is to capture the paper prototypes into higher fidelity
> prototypes
> that can be tested and reviewed before getting commited for actually
> coding.
>
On Jan 22, 2008, at 8:44 AM, Troy Gardner wrote:
> I recommend Flash or Fireworks for most mockup and prototypes. They
> can be converted from paper scans, whiteboard sessions or 'high
> fidelity' comps from a designer than iterated out as necessary to
> mockups.
>
> I use a statemachine library and collection of state patterns to help
> 'assemble' rather than build common ui 'flows' such as registration,
> asynchronous behavior (loading), interacting with media players.
>
> Using Adobe AIR (damn mac for copying!) allows you to extend the
> results to drag and drop, working with the filesystem.
At this stage of the game, this is a solid recommendation. Other
options include Microsoft's Expression Suite. It often depends on
what the designer and prototypers are most comfortable with.
--
Andrei Herasimchuk
Principal, Involution Studios
innovating the digital world
e. andrei at involutionstudios.com
c. +1 408 306 6422
We use flash as well. It allows us to show the entire process. The client
gets a much clearer picture.
This is a good example (not our work) - http://www.genoco.com/
I've been using Axure (http://www.axure.com) with great success.
It's quick and simple if you need to get your message across. It
will require a bit of training and some learning. It's worth the
investment.
Just note that the HTML that comes out of it - if you're using it
for web applications - is completely useless to copy. It's only a
great high fidelity prototyping tool.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=24884
On Tue, January 22, 2008 4:28 am, Pankaj Chawla wrote:
> Any recommendations on GUI prototyping tools specially for desktop
> application prototyping. I could find a good list at
> http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?GuiPrototypingTools and am looking at any feedback
> on the ones listed or maybe a new tool not listed there but somebody has
> used and strongly recommends.
If you've already created wireframes--and I've found an excellent set of
Visio shapes that really mimic desktop application functionality nicely,
then I would suggest that you use Flash.
You have some options, the first of which would be to output your screens
as image files and place "invisible" buttons over the action areas, and
appropriately link to other pages.
You could also export without all of your buttons, etc. (place them on a
separate layer in Visio) and then rebuild those in flash.
You should be able to create this type of prototype with very limited
exposure to Flash and very limited ActionScript knowledge.
HTH,
Russ
We've recently launched a new prototyping tool at
http://www.designervista.com. We've gotten some positive feedback
thus far...
Any feedback is welcome.
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Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=24884
it looks like it has a nice set of widgets but can it generate specs from
the prototypes? some people disagree about the value of specs but in the
right environment they are very useful. this is where Axure is mighty
nice...
On Fri, 8 Feb 2008 07:12:47, Kumaravel Somasundaram <Kumaravel101 at gmail.com>
wrote:
>
> We've recently launched a new prototyping tool at
> http://www.designervista.com. We've gotten some positive feedback
> thus far...
>
> Any feedback is welcome.
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=24884
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah*
> February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA
> Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
>
--
--------------------------------------------------
www.flyingyogi.com
--------------------------------------------------
Current version supports to design MS Office style applications and
Web Page designs. We will add specs generation and behaviour model in
the future versions.
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Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=24884
Here you have some tools: http://delicious.com/lsoares/prototyping%20tools
Apart from those, we also use "Pencil" (Firefox plugin) a lot in my company.
Try GUI Machine prototyping tool.
It allows to creat fully interactive high-fidelety prototypes without coding. It is one of the few tools that allows creat prototypes of desktop applications using native operating system forms (Win forms, Linux forms, Mac OS forms)