Sometimes when you have an idea you want to share with
someone, there is nothing better than a drawing on the back of a napkin. Many
a product has been created this way, and many a company built. Balsamiq
enables you to not only reproduce those back of the napkin drawings but to
share them and collaborate on them.
Balsamiq
comes with a library of graphical elements that resemble hand-drawn doodles of
things like video players, navigation panels, dialogue boxes, tabs, etc. You
merely search for the elements you need for your design and drag and drop
them. Within minutes you have a rudimentary design that allows you to share
your ideas graphically.
I've recently started using this with clients and my designer.
It saves us time by graphically showing both parties what elements are needed
and where they might be placed. Certainly the idea of using wire diagrams to
start web design is nothing new, but Balsamiq
is the easiest way I know to get started.
In cooperation with Web ORB, Balsamiq
has the ability for mock-ups to be exported and uploaded to the Web ORB
site where a Flex application will be generated on-the-fly. I don't pretend to
understand this magic, but it essentially enables you to create a functioning
mock-up from your drawings. Talk about cool, useful and powerful! To learn
more Balsamiq, please
click here.
Balsamiq
