~2008 a friend at a consulting co. showed me how they drafted UIs in Excel.
Having seen that, in 2015 I began working on a UI drafting software for that kind of technical designers. We ended up getting rid of the layout thinking overhead while drafting. They call it Content-First Design.
The overall effect of Figma is probably net-negative because people start futzing with the visual/aesthetic aspects of an interface instead of working out the functional aspect as you would in a low-fidelity/paper/wireframe prototype.
Figma can work, but you have to restrict yourself to not embellish the wireframe. Choose one font only and use basic shapes only. Use colors only if you must (warning states, primary actions, …)
Maybe Figma needs a prototyping mode that actually looks like rough whiteboard drawings or index cards. Later you can refine the designs, retaining history linking back to early prototypes.
Using rough drawings is useful for user research. Users are less likely to criticize or suggest big changes if you present a polished design, even if it is just a mock up.
I really like/use Balsamiq. Although perhaps in a not common use case.
I'm really bad at doing neat pencil sketches and handwriting. Balsamiq easily lets be draw something up on my computer that looks obviously like it's "hand drawn style" and make is clear both to me while creating wireframes and to everyone else when I shard them that it's not intended to be high fidelity. I intentionally use Comic Sans to emphasize that.
If I were better with a pencil, I'd do these in a notepad or on graph paper - and then share phone camera photos of them.
F<or anyone who's ever died a little bit inside when their PM/boss say "Those wireframes are perfect. lets just hand those off to the devs!", I _highly_ recommend using whatever tooling or personal restrictions that workj for you - to generate output that is clearly "interface ideas" instead of being misinterpreted as "finished UI/UX designs".
> Balsamiq easily lets be draw something up on my computer that looks obviously like it's "hand drawn style" and make is clear both to me while creating wireframes and to everyone else when I shard them that it's not intended to be high fidelity.
I thought this was the core value proposition of Balsamiq.
I’ve never used spreadsheets for prototyping but I’ve used slides. Those have a grid system too – you just need to toggle its visibility and enable “snap to grid.”
I love to use spreadsheets for prototyping too!
1) moving around a spreadsheet is very fast and lightweight
2) it forces you to think about layout first, before getting into imagery, colors and design
I have used spreadsheets for designing floor plans and building elevation etc. I used each cell to represent 3 inch by 3 inch area. In more detail views I used each cell for a square inch area.
Spreadsheets (specifically Excel) are the most general-purpose end-user software I have ever seen. I saw people using it for art/painting. Someone used it for demonstrating graphics shaders and ray-tracing.
Nothing wrong with something that works... I used Balsamiq for years for this type of thing, but to each their own.
Note: not a fan of Balsamiq's current rent model... I bought a long time ago when it was < $100 for a regular license/download. Been a while since I used it.
> Note: not a fan of Balsamiq's current rent model... I bought a long time ago when it was < $100 for a regular license/download. Been a while since I used it.
Me too, which is a shame, since I've found nothing that beats it's simplicity and speed of idea-to-wireframe.
I have a balsamiq license, too. But I just bought a whiteboard, and in addition to helping me with diagrams, I’m hoping to create wireframe on it too. I will snapshot iterations with the phone camera.
As an appellate attorney, when I'm dealing with my own legal writing or someone else's, I similarly break it down into the mental models of layout, structure, content, style, and the tools/software used to work with the documents.
i admire the people who are able to bend the spreadsheets to their will while i struggle with creating simple charts with it! i even created my own tool to create charts from it because i found spreadsheet interface overwhelming.
~2008 a friend at a consulting co. showed me how they drafted UIs in Excel.
Having seen that, in 2015 I began working on a UI drafting software for that kind of technical designers. We ended up getting rid of the layout thinking overhead while drafting. They call it Content-First Design.
If you'd like to try it it's free: https://uxtly.com
The overall effect of Figma is probably net-negative because people start futzing with the visual/aesthetic aspects of an interface instead of working out the functional aspect as you would in a low-fidelity/paper/wireframe prototype.
Figma can work, but you have to restrict yourself to not embellish the wireframe. Choose one font only and use basic shapes only. Use colors only if you must (warning states, primary actions, …)
Maybe Figma needs a prototyping mode that actually looks like rough whiteboard drawings or index cards. Later you can refine the designs, retaining history linking back to early prototypes.
Using rough drawings is useful for user research. Users are less likely to criticize or suggest big changes if you present a polished design, even if it is just a mock up.
I really like/use Balsamiq. Although perhaps in a not common use case.
I'm really bad at doing neat pencil sketches and handwriting. Balsamiq easily lets be draw something up on my computer that looks obviously like it's "hand drawn style" and make is clear both to me while creating wireframes and to everyone else when I shard them that it's not intended to be high fidelity. I intentionally use Comic Sans to emphasize that.
If I were better with a pencil, I'd do these in a notepad or on graph paper - and then share phone camera photos of them.
F<or anyone who's ever died a little bit inside when their PM/boss say "Those wireframes are perfect. lets just hand those off to the devs!", I _highly_ recommend using whatever tooling or personal restrictions that workj for you - to generate output that is clearly "interface ideas" instead of being misinterpreted as "finished UI/UX designs".
> perhaps in a not common use case
> Balsamiq easily lets be draw something up on my computer that looks obviously like it's "hand drawn style" and make is clear both to me while creating wireframes and to everyone else when I shard them that it's not intended to be high fidelity.
I thought this was the core value proposition of Balsamiq.
I’ve never used spreadsheets for prototyping but I’ve used slides. Those have a grid system too – you just need to toggle its visibility and enable “snap to grid.”
I love to use spreadsheets for prototyping too! 1) moving around a spreadsheet is very fast and lightweight 2) it forces you to think about layout first, before getting into imagery, colors and design
Exactly! It's hard to beat the speed of cut and paste between cells.
I have used spreadsheets for designing floor plans and building elevation etc. I used each cell to represent 3 inch by 3 inch area. In more detail views I used each cell for a square inch area.
Spreadsheets (specifically Excel) are the most general-purpose end-user software I have ever seen. I saw people using it for art/painting. Someone used it for demonstrating graphics shaders and ray-tracing.
Now that's what I’m talking about! Nice work.
You can even play a flight simulator or doom in them.
Nothing wrong with something that works... I used Balsamiq for years for this type of thing, but to each their own.
Note: not a fan of Balsamiq's current rent model... I bought a long time ago when it was < $100 for a regular license/download. Been a while since I used it.
> Note: not a fan of Balsamiq's current rent model... I bought a long time ago when it was < $100 for a regular license/download. Been a while since I used it.
Me too, which is a shame, since I've found nothing that beats it's simplicity and speed of idea-to-wireframe.
I have a balsamiq license, too. But I just bought a whiteboard, and in addition to helping me with diagrams, I’m hoping to create wireframe on it too. I will snapshot iterations with the phone camera.
As an appellate attorney, when I'm dealing with my own legal writing or someone else's, I similarly break it down into the mental models of layout, structure, content, style, and the tools/software used to work with the documents.
This is quite brilliant. Good read!
OP here. Thanks for your kind words!
i admire the people who are able to bend the spreadsheets to their will while i struggle with creating simple charts with it! i even created my own tool to create charts from it because i found spreadsheet interface overwhelming.
I love spreadsheets and use them a ton but I have to agree, creating charts is hard