Design your way

Designers sometimes fall into a trap. It’s when they decide to use wireframe, mockup, or prototyping tools during the design process.

The problem they face is that the names are often used interchangeably. All three perform useful functions.

Yet the purposes they serve, and how they can be used, are not one and the same.

A wireframe is a low-fidelity representation of a design. It is static, and it often lacks detail.
A mockup is a mid-to-high fidelity rendition of a design. A mockup can present a great deal of information about a design; but it is also static.
A prototype is a mid-to-high-fidelity representation of a design. Prototypes are dynamic. And can in some cases be indistinguishable from the final design, since they can emulate the UX functionality as well as the visual appearance.

A prototype doesn’t have to look good, but it should show key design ideas, and it must work.

A typical prototyping workflow goes like this:

1 – Sketch the page flows. Show how a user might navigate the site or mobile app.

2 – Construct a low-fidelity digital prototype. Create several digital representations of each page. Then run a few usability tests, and incorporate lessons learned or feedback.

3 – Increase the fidelity where needed to prove the look and feel of the final product. Before you add fine details, make certain that you the functionality satisfies you.

7 Best Prototyping Tools You Can Use

Any one of these tools will serve you well, and all of them provide superior results.

InVision

Twitter and Uber use it, Forbes recommends it, and it powers digital product design at most Fortune 100 Companies. InVision simplifies virtually every aspect of the product design workflow and makes collaboration a core part of the process, for everyone from project managers to designers, to developers and writers.

Collaboration can be done in-browser, in real time. If you rely on high-fidelity prototypes that look, act, and feel like the real thing; if you need a fast turnaround; if you want free, unlimited testing of your prototypes; and if you want those prototypes to be pixel perfect, join the more than 2 million professionals using InVision. All of this can be yours, and without any need for coding.

Sign up for free to try it out. You won’t be charged setup fees, and you’ll be under no obligation. Click on the website link and review the constant stream of new features being released, or check out their hugely popular blog, customer testimonials, and more.

Pidoco

If you don’t want to abandon wireframes completely, you can use Pidoco for that purpose as well. It’s main purpose and real strength however, is in creating fully-interactive UX prototypes. With Pidoco prototypes you can demonstrate and test the full range of clicks, touch gestures, device motions, and keyboard entries, making this an ideal solution for a mobile app designer.

You can test drive your prototypes in real time on iOS and Android devices, or on your web browser. Pidoco’s smart templates make prototyping super-fast and super easy. This tool is easy to learn, making introducing it to a team or an organization an easy task as well.

Since Pidoco resides in the cloud, there is no need to install software. Just log in, and you’re ready to go. It should also be mentioned that using Pidoco does not require any coding.

Proto.io

With Proto.io, you get a dedicated mobile prototyping platform from which you can build, test, and deploy fully interactive mobile app prototypes that resemble and emulate the final product. Proto.io runs on most web browsers, it features a dashboard from which you can manage your projects, an editor, and a player. You can test your prototypes on real iOS and Android mobile devices.

Use the editor to build your prototypes, and the player to view and interact with those prototypes to solicit and receive feedback. Designers at IDEO, Disney, PayPal, and other organizations, large and small, use Proto.io. By doing so, they not only speed up their design efforts, but avoid costly mistakes in the process.

Proto.io offers some great solutions if you’ve been seeking way in which to get your product or products to market quicker.

Webflow

Webflow is the complete package. Since everything you create is powered by standards-compliant HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you can go directly from prototype to producing your deliverable – seamlessly. Your designs will be responsive as well, and once a design is ready to present to others, you only need to share a link with your team members or stakeholders.

Webflow is a great team prototyping and design tool, and maintaining version control will never be a problem. Prototype, design, and develop, one thing at a time, or all at once. Not many prototyping tools can make that statement!

PowerMockup

If you’re a PowerPoint user, this is the prototyping tool for you. PowerMockup is a PowerPoint prototyping toolkit. With it, you can go beyond presenting slide demonstrations depicting your designs, and present working, interactive prototypes.

It’s simply a matter of selecting shapes and icons from the PowerMockup library (you can add your own shapes too) and dragging and dropping them onto a PowerPoint slide. PowerPoint’s slideshow and animation features can then be used to bring your prototype to life. To get started, simply try their free download version.

HotGloo

Are you looking for a prototyping tool that is easy to use, one that has all the right features, and one that provides you with an environment that breathes UX? Then try HotGloo, the award-wining prototyping tool that allows you to create prototypes for web, mobile or wearables directly in your browser.

You’ll have access to HotGloo’s 2,000+ IU elements library, a multiple-licensed account for collaborating with co-workers, and a mobile-optimized platform that allows you to test your work and add comments on the fly. Full documentation, tutorial videos, and webinars will help you get started. Explore HotGloo with a free trial today!

Lucidchart

Lucidchart offers what may well be one of the best solutions on the market for online diagramming and wireframe applications. In addition to being a useful tool to support workflow diagramming and mind mapping, the diagrams you produce can quickly be transformed into interactive diagrams to demonstrate how your designs will operate in the real world.

Creating large, complex wireframes is never a problem, and collaborating with team members and clients is easy. Lucidchart is a cloud-based app, whose power can be extended in that it is fully integrated with Google Apps, Google Drive, Confluence, Jive, and JIRA.

Summing up

If you need a quality prototyping tool, or if you want to try something different, you should find above a tool that suits you. Most are multipurpose, several are mobile app-oriented, and one is for PowerPoint users.

Most offer collaboration capabilities. Several provide project management features. And there is one that you can use for design and development as well as prototyping if you’re looking for an all-in-one package.

These are quality products with large user bases, or are used by major corporations, or both.