What is software prototyping? Which tool is the first came into your mind when mentioned about software prototyping tool? Actually, nothing mysterious about software prototyping. It’s similar to the border term prototyping, a way for the manufacturer to get know what the final product will look like, so to evaluate how much additional resources could cost. On the other hand, superabundant prototyping tools are available nowadays, how to choose? Here I only pick the best 5 prototyping tools for your inspiration.
Software prototyping is much the same as prototyping in the border product design field. It is a necessary step involved in daily software design. Normally, after doing enough UX research like gathering ideas, data, information, demands, evaluation, then it’s time to build a prototype.
The basic software stage including:
1. Paper prototyping - this is mostly for self-usage, to record ideas;
2. Rapid prototyping - the most demanding prototypes, a wide range of application;
3. High-fidelity prototyping - emphasis interactions and user interface, for stockholders & development team;
4. Low-fidelity prototyping - emphasis interactions and thoughts, for design teams;
As you see, except paper prototyping, all the rest need to use a prototyping tool. For your better decisions, I will introduce the tool from several aspects:
Cost: How much will you spend?
Compatibility: Is the tool for Mac or Windows or both?
Key features: What can it do?
Learning Curve: How long it takes you to get started?
Usage pattern: Are you prototyping websites, mobile apps, desktop apps, or all of the above?
Speed: How quick can you finish the design on the prototyping tool?
Fidelity: What is the requirement of the fidelity of your prototype? Wireframes or low-fidelity or high-fidelity?
Sharing: Collaboration is key when it comes to design. A must consideration.
User’s feedback: See what others say.
Okay, here we go.
Cost: Basic-free; Pro-$29 per month
Compatibility: Mac, Window, Android, IOS
Key features:
Learning curve: The shortest. No programming knowledge, experienced in visual design or coding required. It’s A simple & clean tool makes you focus on the design instead of spending time on learning it. Form newbie to expert.
Usage pattern: for mobile and web apps
Speed: 5–10 mins
Fidelity: low to medium fidelity.
Sharing: excellent team collaboration. Publish your design and you will get a shareable web link, which can be sent to co-workers & clients. It also supports exporting to HTML offline.
User feedback:
“ I have used the tool and I love the idea that making real screen view through QR code. I'm really satisfied with what I see and even start recommending it at the office to some of my workmates. I love this app and it is super easy-to-use I must say. ” - Ari Arturo Velázquez Fierro at Interaction Designer at Infotec.
Cost: Free trial — 30 days; Pro — $89
Compatibility: Mac, Window, Web-based
Key features:
Learning curve: Very short. It’s easy to drag and position elements. Smooth and short learning curve, from beginner to power-user.
Usage pattern: Web App, Desktop App, Google Drive Add-On
Speed: 5–10 mins
Fidelity: low-fidelity, similar to freehand sketches.
Sharing: It’s designed for collaboration. Your whole team can come together with the right design using Balsamiq. It's so easy to learn, both clients and customers can use it to describe their needs more clearly. Sharing in Balsamiq Mockups for Desktop, you can use Mockups Project Files, Interactive PDF Document, etc.
User feedback:
“ Balsamiq is bitchin'. Pure and simple. It's rare to find a tool that both devs and non-devs enjoy using, and use productively together. Huge fan! ”—Jay Simons form VP of Marketing, Atlassian
Cost: Individual-&8.25 per month; Pro-$19.08 per month; Team-$41.58 per month
Compatibility: Web-based. Chrome is recommended for use with Fluid UI. Firefox and Safari will work but there may be issues. Internet Explorer is not compatible
Key features:
Learning Curve: Very short. Fluid UI is a prototyping tool that lets you design, test and get feedback on your app ideas quickly and without needing to know how to code.
Usage pattern: Web App and Desktop App
Speed: 10–15 mins
Fidelity: High-fidelity.
Sharing: Collaborative and real-time wireframing is work good. Design together in real-time no matter where your people are in the world. Just invite your entire team to work on the same prototype at the same time. To share your prototypes, you can view the device, share by email, or send projects to clients.
User feedback:
“ It’s a great tool for working the project from scratch, for creating a high-quality prototype. It’s very easy and intuitive. Sharing is very easy .”—John Wastion.
Cost: Free for 2 projects (16$/mo for 10 projects | 35$/mo for unlimited projects)
Compatibility: Mac and Windows
Key features:
Learning curve: Webflow allows designers to create sites in a relatively short time while using a relatively similar interface to Photoshop. Although you do not need to know how to code to work with this tool, it is possible to export and change the site’s HTML/CSS tags according to the customer’s needs.
Usage pattern: Web
Speed: 15–20 mins
Fidelity: High-fidelity.
Sharing: It has world-class speed and scalability. The moment you publish with Webflow, your site is ready to handle traffic at any scale. Moreover, Webflow Hosting gives you access to the fastest and most scalable hosting technology for your business - just one click away.
User feedback:
“In comparison to the many site designing tools we've used during our 13 years in business, Webflow is absolutely the most user-friendly and capable out there .”
Cost: Free for 1 project (15$/mo for 3 projects | 25$/mo for unlimited projects | 99$/mo for teams)
Compatibility: Mac and Windows
Features:
Learning curve: not too short. Also, it depends on different people, newbies may need more time.
Usage pattern: Mobile and Web App
Speed: 15–20 mins
Fidelity: High-fidelity.
Sharing: The most prominent advantage of this product is its project collaboration features, which allow all users to give feedback, take notes and see the product changes in real time.
User feedback: “ A lot of the products we're making are really meaty. InVision allows us to see if these really complex solutions are working ." Joshua Taylor, Evernote
The above are the 5 software prototyping tools. Each has their unique features and some cons. But in general, they are a good a tool for prototyping design. As for me, I currently use 大圣电竞软件 . I get design inspiration from their patterns, and it has various ways of presentation and share, shortest learning curve, flexible interaction and animation, and plenty more easy-to-use settings. All are good to me.
In-house UX copywriter. She is passionate about UX design, always bursting with energy and full of new ideas.
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