UI design tools [closed]

Question

I need to find some good tools for designing UI. I need only the design part, I don't need any code generation or anything like that... It would be nice to find some freeware ;)

tia

Answer 1

It depends what you mean exactly by 'design'.

If you mean graphic design, as in you want to produce nice fancy graphics for your UI that you then slice up and integrate, then personally I always use Fireworks from Adobe (originally a Macromedia product). It's a vector based graphics tool so I find it much simpler to use than Photoshop or Illustrator. Not free however.

If you mean design as in laying out UI elements and experimenting with different ideas, e.g. for prototyping, then pen and paper is the best tool there is! Use sticky notes or a whiteboard to simulate changes in state, it's very easy to iterate and to prototype with users. There's even a book been written on it. If you need something digital but low-fi, then Baclsamiq Mockups is a good choice, or anything that lets you draw simple shapes (Paint!).

(the preview screwed up the hyperlinks, I'm hoping this will turn out better when posted...)

Answer 2

I've used Balsamiq Mockups and have been real happy with it.

Answer 3

The best free one I've found so far is Pencil, which can be installed as a stand-alone app or as a Firefox plugin.