On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 8:58 AM, Chris Rink <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hello, i have recently been given the task of identifying prototyping > tools to test high fidelity and high functionality. Our goal is to > have prototypes that will be high enough quality to work as design > specs. > > Hi Chris! It looks like a lot of people responded, so I'll chime in by adding a second recommendation of both Todd Zaki Warfel's new prototyping book as well as Dan Harrelson's continually edited comparison of prototyping tools. It seems like you have a concrete goal for your prototype, which is great. But think about what level of fidelity is really necessary to achieve that goal. (Todd referenced my graph on visual fidelity vs. functional fidelity... if you want to check it out, look at my recent Boxes & Arrows article. There's additional info in there you might find useful too. http://bit.ly/2WtdZp ) As you reach higher and higher levels of visual & functional fidelity, the balance between the time you spend prototyping & the value you get back from that starts to decline. At a certain point, you might as well have just coded the thing yourself. : ) You need to really think about what interactions, conditions, etc. you *absolutely need* to prototype. Because if you prototype them all, you've just built your whole system. > I have looked at Axure and iRise but am unsure about their ability to > handle interactions like resizing and Drag n Drop. > > Has anyone used found a tool that handles those dynamic aspects well? > Am I just better off using a javascript library? > I am, of course, a huge Axure fan, and while resizing & drag 'n drop aren't currently (easily) possible, you do have options. It seems like you have some coding experience or have access to someone who does? If so, you can use a widget in Axure called the inline frame to seamlessly load outside code into an Axure prototype. But the big advantage I see for you with Axure is that it allows you to document your design as well as prototype it. That documentation can show up as part of the prototype or as a separate document. That way, you don't have to prototype every single interaction. However, if you do have significant coding experience (and it seems like you might), maybe you *would* want to consider prototyping with jQuery or whatever (go here for more code libraries: http://konigi.com/tools/tags/prototyping ). But you still need to handle the documentation side of things. Protonotes might be helpful there. You can use that to annotate your prototype and indicate what additional unprototyped interactions might be required. I hope this helps! F. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fred Beecher Sr. User Experience Consultant Evantage Consulting O: 612.230.3838 // M: 612.810.6745 IM: [email protected] (google/msn) // fredevc (aim/yahoo) T: http://twitter.com/fred_beecher ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
