Re: [IxDA Discuss] Anyone familiar with Balsamicq Mockups?

We've been using Balsamiq for a couple of months now and have been very
happy with it.  We are using the desktop version.  Others in our
organization have been using it much longer - they've got the Wiki plugin to
support collaboration.
We've been having great success with using the tool - it is so easy to pick
up and use.  We are working in an Agile environment where we need to crank
out designs which do not need to be high fidelity.  Since the focus is on
working software over documentation, all we need is a low-fi prototype to
start our design conversations - the details come as we iterate over the
working software.

In the past, we've done low-fi prototypes by hand, in PowerPoint and in
Visio.  Our experience has been, though, that Balsamiq is much easier and
faster than these.  The library of UI components in the tool is quite
extensive.  There are some limitations - for example, there's only so much
you can do with the tree component.  But, throw in too many extra bells and
whistles, and you no longer have a blindingly easy tool.

The other key for us is that we have many outside of the UI team who play a
"product owner" role and need to be putting designs together.  They need a
tool they can hit the ground running with - if the tool gets in their way,
they will just bypass the whole prototyping effort.  Being able to put
together a quick mock-up gets them thinking and talking about design.

One last comment - the company is very responsive to issues and suggestions.
 Hard to believe it is a one-man show!

If you have any specific questions or want more details, feel free to email
me.

--Susan



On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 1:28 PM, Robert Hoekman Jr <[email protected]> wrote:

> >
> > Does anyone have experience with this product who would like to
> > share their thoughts?
> >
>
> A related thread:
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss.php?post=32905&search=sketch+style+wireframes
>
> We talked about the pros/cons of sketch-quality designs, which is what
> Mockups does best, and specifically talked about Mockups, so it's worth a
> read.
>
> -r-
>
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