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When prototyping initial GUI functionality with a customer is it better to use a pen/paper drawing or to mock something up using a tool and show them that ?
The argument against a tool generated design being that the customer can sometimes focus on the low-level specifics of the mock-up rather than taking a higher level functional view of the GUI overall.
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What is a GUI Prototype? A GUI prototype is a mockup of the user interface of a software application or website. With Pidoco, you can create GUI prototypes to share with your colleagues either by exporting and emailing your GUI prototype in various formats or by collaborating online on your GUI prototype in real time.
User interface (UI) prototyping is an iterative analysis technique in which users are actively involved in the mocking-up of the UI for a system. UI prototypes have several purposes: As an analysis artifact that enables you to explore the problem space with your stakeholders.
By creating a prototype, you can actually hold a version of your proposed product and determine what aspects do its job and which ones need refining. This is your chance to gather more accurate requirements and obtain market feedback.
Always start with paper or paper-like mock-ups first. You do not want to fall into a trap of giving the impression of completeness when the back-end is completely hollow.
A polished prototype or pixel-perfect example puts too much emphasis on the design. With an obvious sketch, you have a better shot of discussing desired functionality and content rather than colors, photos, and other stylistic matters. There will be time for that discussion later in the project.
Jeff discusses paper prototyping in his Coding Horror article UI-First Software Development
Click the "Watch a video!" link at twitter.com to see an interesting take on the idea from Common Craft.
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The "Napkin Look & Feel" for Java is really cool for prototyping. An actual, functioning, clickable app that looks like it was drawn on a napkin. Check out this screenshot:
Seriously, how cool is that?
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