
Ask HN: What prototyping tool do you suggest for non-technical users? - hysan
I&#x27;m looking for a prototyping tool for mobile apps that I can use with my two non-technical friends to iterate over design and layout ideas. None of us work in the same timezone and due to hardware&#x2F;bandwidth limitations for one of them, the traditional pen &amp; paper (+ scanning) approach isn&#x27;t feasible. So I&#x27;m looking for an easy to learn tool that we can all use. What do you suggest? Also, any tips from people with similar experiences would be very much appreciated.
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erikpukinskis
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The first step isn't design or layout, it's interaction. You should do many
interaction-only prototypes with NO design and NO layout first. When you
understand the core interaction flows, some good candidate layouts will be
self evident, and you can iterate on the design.

The most valuable thing your early prototypes can tell you is which features
you can get away with leaving out for V2. You probably only need three
features that can be built with 100 lines of code. The problem it's it's
extremely difficult to understand what those 100 lines are. Most companies
spend millions before figuring it out, but you don't need more than
pencil+paper to do it.

You really don't need CSS until after your first sale.

~~~
hysan
We're a bit past this. We do have candidate layouts in mind hence why I asked
about design and layout. But I'll definitely suggest going back a step and
seeing if we can further simplify everything. Thanks.

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vbu
Pidoco (www.pidoco.com) is a great tool for mobile apps and collaboration at
the same time. It's online based, so you can share your prototype and
simultaneously work on it and with the Pidoco app, you can preview your
prototypes on your mobile device. Also, it is very intuitive and doesn't
require any technical knowledge but still offers a bunch of different
interactions and stuff.

For me Pidoco is working best for the wireframing and low fidelity prototyping
stage.

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joeclark77
One UX design firm I know uses cheap document cameras (I believe IPEVO makes
several inexpensive and portable models) so they do pen-and-paper prototyping
during videoconferences without any need to scan things in. It's much more
interactive to see someone drawing and talk to them as they're doing it,
rather than only seeing scans of the finished product afterward.

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Mz
Do they have access to Paint or a similar program? I used this as an online
college student. I had no scanner and I had to submit drawings online as part
of my class assignment. My husband was shocked at what I could accomplish. He
called me a Paint Wizard.

Find some drawing program that is free and within their hardware constraints.

~~~
hysan
This was my first thought, but I was worried about it becoming unwieldy after
a couple of iterations. What are your experiences with doing this in a team?
Any tips on how to manage all of the back and forth?

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Mz
I have not done this as part of a team. But I would think it is not critical
for everyone to be using the exact same drawing. The drawings should be viewed
as a tool for communicating. If different people are using different drawings,
but it is facilitating communication, that second piece is the important
piece.

At the mock up stage, I think the most important piece is hammering out
effective communication protocols. Regardless of what tool you use, this will
be a process. It sounds like you may be in different countries. If so, you may
find that bridging the culture gap is harder than bridging the tech gap.

~~~
hysan
Good point. I was probably thinking too far ahead instead of focusing on the
communication aspect. No worries about culture though since we're all American
and even lived together for a while. We just happen to be spread across the
world because of our jobs.

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gamepsych
Adobe Experience Designer is great for this.

It allows you to rapidly wireframe UI / UX, and then prototype interaction
flows by linking views together.

There's also PoP, which is an app for iOS, which allows you to do the same
thing with photos you've taken on your phone.

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tabeth
Balsamiq has my vote.

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hysan
Looks interesting and will take a look into it. I saw it mentioned alongside
Pencil ([http://pencil.evolus.vn](http://pencil.evolus.vn)) when searching for
prototyping tools. Sort of reminds me of Visio. Would that be an apt
comparison?

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BukhariH
It has to be PowerPoint or Keynote!

Most people already know how to use them and you can create pretty realistic
designs using them!

~~~
sstradling
Or Google Slides - it has most of the benefits of PP or KN, but it's visible
in realtime to anyone with a Google account (ok, everyone) while giving you
notes and revision history.

~~~
hysan
This seems doable, though we might have to resort to LibreOffice instead. One
of them is based in China so no Google products work without a VPN which isn't
always very stable.

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gt565k
Invision App

[https://www.invisionapp.com/](https://www.invisionapp.com/)

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reader12312
I recommend a sheet of paper and a pencil.

