Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Point taken Brandon and in the same vein... one wouldnt present a concept or lofi mockup without verbally expressing the expected user interaction or back-end mechanics. As Michael just tweeted: Buxton: "There is no such thing as a low fidelity or high fidelity prototype--only the right or wrong prototype." http://twitter.com/konigi Understanding your audience is more important than the number of features used to create your mockup. /pauric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
re: To illustrate the point, with nothing more than some sand this woman was able to move her audience to tears As a composer & sound designer, I'd be remiss not to interject: "...nothing more than some sand [and a lot of music, voice-over and sound design] this woman was able to move her audience..." Cool stuff though! Brandon E. B. Ward brandonebw...@gmail.com UI • UX • Ix Design Flex • Flash Development Portfolio: http://www.uxd.me LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonebward VisualCV: http://www.visualcv.com/brandonebward A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - Robert A. Heinlein Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Tools are important, the right tool enables the craftsperson to create a quality end product for their given domain. If you're creating artifacts or interactions that will go in to production then that is one thing. Also, if your core strength is visual design then you need to consider hifi tools. That said, I would argue that a significant proportion of us are simply communicating Communicating various concepts for review or testing, communicating solutions to constraints. Pushing teams to achieve goals that are outside of the box. Selling ideas. To that end, the right tool for the job is the one which best enables the flow from your imagination & experience to the chosen medium of presentation. While it will be the tool you are most familiar with it will generally also be the most simple tool if you follow Occam's Razor. I think we put pressure on ourselves to produce detailed & complex mockups. Its a measure of effort & skill. Quite often a lofi mockup is all that is needed to get a point across, sometimes the only way your audience will see the wood for the trees. Details at the concept stage are noise in your message. Complex & powerful tools like Fireworks require a great deal of investment in time to become so intuitive as to be transparent in your workflow, and, it is often the case you needed nothing more than pencil & paper. Its not what you communicate your ideas with that will ensure good design, its simply how well & clearly you communicate that elicits good feedback. If you're wrestling with a complex and unstable app to simply draw boxes & arrows - you're not designing optimally. So, if you're struggling with your current tool and looking for an alternative remember that people will always pimp their choice of tool, a good craftsman never blames his tools (I'm looking at you, visio user(o;) and power comes from simplicity. To illustrate the point, with nothing more than some sand this woman was able to move her audience to tears http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo /pauric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
pidoco is fully browser-based and a real alternative to locally installed softwares such as the Adobe Suite. Collaboration features as well as export to html, svg, and soon MS word export is possible. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Like someone else here, this is my first post (although I've been an interested reader for a while), so hello! Glad to see such support for Fireworks for wireframing. I've been using it for many years now for such purposes and for me anyway, there is no alternative for rapid development right through to hi-fi output. It's handling of layers is for me much more intuitive than other comparable software, and the use symbols and custom library allow for easy wireframe and prototype development. Coding and build aside, apart from a dip into Photoshop or Illustrator for photographic / illustrative purposes, I use fireworks as a round trip program - particularly with the support for .png in modern browsers today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
if youre looking for a good alternative to fireworks/visio/omnigraffle, check out balsamiq. it has a decent template list, quick file save as .png, easily resize windows/components, change text and allows you to link buttons, links, whatever to show the flow of each page to page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
I have been using Fireworks since 1998. I tried other tools like PS and Illustrator, and got away from tools like Visio or Omnigrafle long time ago because they don't fit that well on the way I am used to work. Some reasons why I keep using FW today: *- Collaboration.* Most of your design process can be captured in a single file. I do off-the-track concept explorations and spikes in secondary files, but keep the approved concepts in one file to keep track of the design evolution from scanned sketches/screenboarding to wireframes to finalized production mockups. It is a great deal of help to have interaction designers and visual designers working out of a single file *- Lots of flexibility. * Since I do both interaction and visual design, I designed my FW stencil up-to-scale so that I can detach the FW symbols from the library when starting on visual design on a different FW Page and use that as a reusable starting point for graphic design, integration that saves me a lot of time *- Abstraction Management.* (Adam mentioned this already) FW has a built-in definition of views in different levels of abstraction or scope: Pages (a new level), States (formerly Frames), and Layers, which allows to easily organize your work into overall workflow, in-screen operations/states, and visual design. *- Holistic, Simplified Management of Design History. * Due to the ability to handle many design artifacts in a single file You can use a versioning system to document your design decision-making process so that your source file becomes till some extend a live-document. You can read the versioning logs to see a summary of the evolution and when changes were made, and of course you can roll back to an specific state of your design if you need to; so nothing is going to the trash. *- Rapid Prototyping and Testing. * Sometimes I want to test different interaction concepts for a apparently complex interaction in a relatively early stage of design and in a fast way. You can use the Preview view to run a quick, spike-like usability test through a clickable prototype, or you can export it to HTML as somebody else already mentioned. *- Efficiency. * Other graphic design tools seem to be too layer-centric in my opinion. I don't leverage that much on layers when working on a quick, dirty concept. FW creates a layer for each new object and groups them as I wish, I don't need to manually create new layers and name them (however, I do use layers a lot while working on the visual design later on). Since I expect a lot of changes during this part of the process it is nice not to have to worry about organizing and renaming elements that I may get rid of completely after a design review/test, plus, I reuse a lot of the stencil elements from the Symbol Library. To be fair, I don't use other tools heavily for a long while so probably my perception of this is dated Still, I go back to PS when needing advanced filters for image manipulation; and to Illustrator when tracing a complex hand-made illustration (and for some of its printing capabilities which FW seems to lack of). And I am sure lots of people can replicate most of the techniques I mentioned above in any of these tools. I just found a way to get what I need out of FW, and it fits greatly within my own design style and process (so far). And I enjoy a lot working with that tool. Hope this helps. Gilberto On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:57 PM, Michael Jones wrote: > Illustrator still rules for concepting and sketching. Fireworks for > proper wireframing, making lots of similar screens, and production > graphics. > > For those of you about to commit to Fireworks for daily use, I would > recommend downloading the Fireworks Auto-Save thingy here: > > > http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/marketplace/index.cfm?event=marketplace.offering&offeringid=10210&marketplaceid=1 > > This side program is a complete hack, but can bail you out from the > crashfest that is Fireworks CS4. > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > Posted from the new ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 > > > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org > Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Illustrator still rules for concepting and sketching. Fireworks for proper wireframing, making lots of similar screens, and production graphics. For those of you about to commit to Fireworks for daily use, I would recommend downloading the Fireworks Auto-Save thingy here: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/marketplace/index.cfm?event=marketplace.offering&offeringid=10210&marketplaceid=1 This side program is a complete hack, but can bail you out from the crashfest that is Fireworks CS4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
I've been using Fireworks since version 2 and certainly it's been an indispensable tool for creating quick-sketch wireframes that can easily be evolved into high-fidelity/final design comps. As others have pointed out, combining shared layers with symbols in CS4 allows for a great deal of flexibility in creating numerous designs for various page types. But file management can be a challenge. I've found FW's ability to manage various pages within one document to be a bit kludgy for complex projects involving numerous screens or web pages. I've also run into problems when I need to present more than just a wireframe - FW creates great comps but it's not the best tool to use for adding textual documentation, specifications or instructions. When that situation arises, I output the file as a jpg/png and included it into a tool better suited for documentation, such as OmniGraffle or InDesign. EightShapes is really on a roll with Unify, I'll be seeing how easily I can integrate FW into that workflow. There's a lot of strength for following a typical 'desktop publication' workflow when creating UI specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
On Sep 16, 2009, at 6:58 AM, Brian wrote: why would I use [Fireworks] over using Photoshop or InDesign? This is how I think about where Fireworks fits relative to other Adobe apps: - InDesign is great for creating documents - Photoshop is great for working with bitmap images - Illustrator is great for working with vectors for print - Fireworks is great for working with vectors to create bitmap images for the screen They all do other (and often overlapping things), but that's a very high-level view. Another way to look at it is that over time Photoshop has added vector tools, while vector and bitmap tools have been in Fireworks' DNA from day one. A few of the things that I find make Fireworks great for wireframing: 1. Pages, states and layers. You can share layers across states and states across pages. And you can show or hide shared layers/states in different states/pages. Not sure if this makes sense in the abstract, but it's really handy and probably the main reason I use Fireworks. 2. Styles. Update a style and you can easily update all objects with the same style. 3. Symbols. Create a symbol then drop pointers to it wherever you need it. When you edit the symbol, all the instances get updated. Symbols be very simple (a button with 9-slice guides that allow you to smartly resize it for any one instance), or they can be very sophisticated (a button with a normal, highlight and default state and variable text for the label). There are lots of other little (and big) things, but these three stand out for me as particularly helpful for wireframing (and creating final art, too). -Adam Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Fireworks is nice for wireframes and hi-res mockups. I have experienced some problems with Fireworks CS4 for example when exporting to interactive PDF large files would hang. Fireworks also allows only one master-page to be set; there are many times when I%u2019m building a hi-res mockup to test usability that I would like multiple master-pages. As an example one master-page for the top level sites another master-page for the sub-sites would be nice. I%u2019m actually looking into building individual elements in Fireworks and then move them into InDesign, because InDesign supports multiple master pages. I can then create hotspots/buttons inside InDesign and use them for navigating, that allows me to create an interactive mockup. I%u2019m happy with the results so far, InDesign seems more stable. But I still go back to Fireworks/Photoshop/Illustrator (whatever works best) to build the basic elements. Marc Truitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Try 'save as' and select illustrator- presto, it's vector. If you were using the export option it would definitely come out low-res, as Fireworks is designed to be a web graphics tool On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 3:52 AM, Shelly Cawood wrote: > currently after having a good at fireworks, my major issue is the > quality of what it exports, its quite bad, exporting from omnigraffle > or visio exports a vector file which prints well > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > Posted from the new ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 > > > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org > Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
currently after having a good at fireworks, my major issue is the quality of what it exports, its quite bad, exporting from omnigraffle or visio exports a vector file which prints well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Brian Over Photoshop because it has pages and states, because it\s faster and is made for interface design and web design. Because you can make components with it and output them either to flash or html. Because it's intutive and gives you all those nifty tools you need that make sense. Over InDesign because it's pixel precise and gives you a better idea of how much you can actually squeeze in plus all of the above mentioned reason. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Well I must say I am now really going to go out and try using Fireworks with all this support for it for wireframing. Just a quick question because I really have not used it so this comes out of pure ignorance and not argumentative, but why would I use it over using Photoshop or InDesign? I am trying to get into this aspect of the industry after being a web designer and web developer for years so now that I know how to design and code, I want to hone my skills in UX/IA so I am just trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks. :) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
I used Fireworks for all my design work: prototypes, screenshots, wireframes. * Fireworks give you ultimate flexibility as you can consider it as Photoshop Illustrator in 1 package. * It is pixel based sizing as someone pointed out. Hence, it is great for any design work for screen-based: Web, desktop, mobile-phone screens. The biggest problem I have with Fireworks is the lack of stencils, though there are some shipped with the software but they are not enough. For interactive prototypes, I prefer to export to Flash and go from there. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Hi there, my first ever IxDA post, how very exciting! I use both fireworks and visio to wireframe. The flexibity in fireworks makes it my first choice, the ablity to do low or hi fidelity is useful (depending on the audience) and lots of other reasons that have been covered by others. However no one has mentioned the ability to create AIR apps from fireworks files, and I have found this a big plus when doing early usablity testing or customer engagement. Basic protoyping in visio isnt as straightforward. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
I use Fireworks all the time for wireframing and prototyping. We have a single product that we created/rework features for, so we've created some reusable stencils (or symbols as Fireworks call them) for our most-common design elements. Fireworks has a lot of great stencils for higher fidelity prototyping, including OS GUI elements like Todd mentioned above, but for lower-fi you'll have to create some of those yourself. But it's really simple to create those. The tricky part (and I use Fireworks CS3 on OSX, so maybe Adobe fixed some of this in CS4) is, especially when using Javascript to extend symbols, sometimes Fireworks crashes and doesn't tell you why. Here's a blog post I wrote on the subject: http://development.mumboe.com/?p=43. My suggestion, if you have the Creative Suite, is to use Adobe Version Cue and Bridge to manage the files so you can version and check in regularly, just in case of a crash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Hi, I had gone through couple of sites & rich internet apps for quick & easy prototyping. I found them intuitive, easy. Apps (Balsamiq Napkee) are working for me. You can check links for details http://mockupstogo.net/ http://www.balsamiq.com/products/mockups http://www.napkee.com/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
I use both Visio and Fireworks, but for wireframes I prefer Fireworks hands-down. The advanced alignment guides and reuse tools (e.g., symbols) are fantastic, and you can't beat its key competency: bitmap and vector graphics seamlessly editable in the same tool. Depending on your project's needs and your artistry, graphic cuts from Fireworks may even be production-quality. Also, I haven't run into a serious bug in Fireworks yet, which I can't say for Visio. I wear many hats, and use Visio for engineering designs, but I always set it aside for Fireworks when working on UIs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
I have actually used Fireworks, Illustrator, Photoshop, Visio, iRise and Axure for wireframing. There are pros and cons to each of them, but I did like using Fireworks better than most. Though you don't have a library of stencils to choose from, I usually created a set of objects and just pasted and adjusted then on the layers I needed. As you can guess, once you create a set, you really don't have to recreate them. Then if you're having to show interaction and flow, you can just dummy the pages up with hot spots and throw it into Dreamweaver for a fast click-through. Good luck! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
I have been playing with this: http://unify.eightshapes.com/ http://unify.eightshapes.com/general/quickstart-on-prototyping-with-wireframes/ I have been having fun this morning wishing I was here: http://ideaconference.org/2009/Program/#day-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Hi Josh, By "stencil limitations" I meant the lack of pre-made stencils available. OmniGraffle has GraffleTopia. There is little similar for Fireworks. Not that it is hard to create your own. Scott Baldwin . Sent from my iPhone On 2009-09-14, at 7:15 AM, Joshua Porter wrote: Hi Scott, I'm curious to know what you mean by stencil limitations... Cheers Josh Sent from my iPhone On Sep 14, 2009, at 5:54 AM, Scott Baldwin wrote: I love Fireworks for wireframing, but it does have some limitations: - single Master Page can be created only - a lack of stencil options - no macros Some pros: - ability to export files quickly to PDF, HTML, JPEGS, etc and create quick functional prototypes - pixel based sizing means you are wireframing within an actual space allotment -- Visio tends to be print dimensions, not screen dimensions. Another Abobe approach of course would be to use InDesign and try the EightShapes Unify approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
I use Fireworks all the time for wireframing. I like it because it goes from quick and dirty low level prototyping through to hi-fi camera ready versions. I would suggest downloading Adobe's free trial and trying it out yourself along with some reference material such as Todd's above. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Hey Shelly, how are you? I think we're in the same boat. I've also tried Omnigraffle and Visio (currently working with it because it is a business requirement) and I'm still no happy with both. I watched some videos in Adobe's web site talking about wireframing and rapid prototyping with Fireworks. Check this one that I like very much: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/digital-design/creating-interactive-prototypes/ Now, I'm still trying to find a tool that is quite easy and fast to work with wireframes. Beside those apps, I'm also trying Illustrator, but it quite annoying for me. I don't know if you job includes prototyping as well, but I'm know you're aware of Axure and there is a pretty new and cool app called Just In Mind (http://justindmind.com), give it a try. I hope that is helpful for you. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
I love Fireworks for wireframing, but it does have some limitations: - single Master Page can be created only - a lack of stencil options - no macros Some pros: - ability to export files quickly to PDF, HTML, JPEGS, etc and create quick functional prototypes - pixel based sizing means you are wireframing within an actual space allotment -- Visio tends to be print dimensions, not screen dimensions. Another Abobe approach of course would be to use InDesign and try the EightShapes Unify approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Fireworks makes a great all around design tool for anything digital (e.g. websites, webapps, mobile apps). One of the great things about is that you can do lo-fi (like OmniGraffle and Visio) and you can do hi-fi (like Photoshop), which makes it a great round trip tool. It ships with a number of GUI libraries for MacOS, Windows, and the web. You can create new libraries, share libraries, share layers like headers across pages and more. It has real page navigation, similar to OG and unlike Visio (tabs? seriously?). It's also highly scriptable as long as you know JavaScript. And it's a fantastic prototyping tool. In fact, I wrote a whole chapter on Fireworks as a prototyping tool http://tinyurl.com/prototypingbook/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
This doesn't answer your question directly, but have you tried SketchFlow? It has all the features you mention for Fireworks, plus has the ability to show the experience (interactivity) side if needed. Its a little bit of a learning curve and PC-only so you'd have to use parallels if you're on a Mac like me. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45590 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Adobe Fireworks for wire framing
Recently I have been getting increasingly frustrated by the limitations of Omnigraffle and the complexity and bugs of using Visio, not to mention having to switching between operating systems to use Visio when i am a mac user. So I am very interested in the increase in talk of people using Fireworks for wire framing, what i read about it makes perfect sense with the ability to share layers across specific pages, making symbols to reuse across the document, so a footer for example can be a symbol, you edit the symbol and the footers across the sites pages will update, not to mention master pages that seem to work rather well. Put simply, I really like what I read about wire framing in Fireworks. Has anyone any experiences of using fireworks, and does anyone know how it compares to the likes of Omnigraffle/Visio for wire framing Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
