

Ask Hacker Newsies: What tool(s) do you use to "wireframe" your UI? - vegashacker

Any good tools out there for creating wireframe prototypes of web apps?  With just HTML, trying different layouts of UIs is pretty slow-going.
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dawie
Sharpie and Paper.

Its quick and it helps you to focus on the bigger picture and not the details
see: <http://gettingreal.37signals.com/ch09_Interface_First.php>

especially this part: The Orange Pen That Started Blinksale

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aston
The thing Sharpie has over pencil/pen is that it makes FAT lines. Just makes
rough sketches feel better. You can get about the same thing with a
whiteboard, as well.

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pg
The reason fat lines feel better in a sketch is that you're not forced to
overcommit about the precision you want. Another alternative (often used by
architects) is to make thin lines but deliberately make them wobbly.

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far33d
Sketch and storyboard artists for film and animation often use sharpies for
this same reason. You want to convey an idea first - people often zoom in on
the finest detail in a drawing or design, and using inexact lines makes the
design itself the thing you focus on.

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nostrademons
Pencil & paper, or occasionally pen & napkin.

At work we had a dedicated UI designer, and he'd occasionally use Macromedia
Fireworks for UI mockups. But that was primarily because our boss wanted
professional-looking mockups to show to prospective customers. For
communicating and iterating on ideas, I've yet to find anything that matches
the productivity of paper. There were times where a week's worth of Fireworks
mockups and meetings were resolved in about an hour when I brought a stack of
paper into the designer's cube, took 5 minutes to sketch out a couple screens,
and had him iterate from there.

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run4yourlives
As others have said, pen and paper... I happen to like colour so sometimes I
use coloured pencils but it's really not required.

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tipjoy
Check out omnigraffle (mac only).

