Comments on: Paper Prototyping vs. Balsamiq Mockups

By: Cristian

Cristian — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:55:16 +0000

I also do like paper very much. Before talking about sharing sketches and stuff (something that nevertheless very important and a digital sketch tool can indeed help a lot), paper sketching offers a whole different mental experience. You are away from the computer, as we have been for the past thousands of years. Here’s a very nice presentation about this: http://konigi.com/notebook/jane-austin-chris-neale-sketch-prototypes

Cheers,
Cristian

By: Anees Uddin

Anees Uddin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:24:43 +0000

You can’t beat paper, I think it a very important design skill to be able to sketch and note very quickly. Use any tool that undermines that skill to you own detrement.

By: Jeremy Walsh

Jeremy Walsh — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:51:08 +0000

I LOVE this idea, but PLEASE start recycling all that paper! Otherwise, your younger bro is gonna go CRAZY!

By: Efraim

Efraim — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:22:12 +0000

I’m much like Josh that I use paper first. However, paper prototyping is rapidly being replaced by Magnetic Prototyping http://www.MagneticPrototyping.com, so that’s my preference, especially when meeting with clients.

All our meeting rooms have GuiBoards.com in them, so they are mockup-ready for any client meeting. It’s always best when the client themselves figure out ‘oh… yeah… we can’t do that because…’.

-E

By: Michael Kozakewich

Michael Kozakewich — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:29:23 +0000

I use a Wacom Graphire, myself. I’ve noticed that it’s easier to set a heavy line than it is to set something you can scribble over, because otherwise I’ll start fiddling with shading or something.

By: Josh Schramm

Josh Schramm — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:38:40 +0000

Oddly enough I think i tend to do rough drafts of a mockup on paper, then translate it into balsamiq. Mainly this is because i have absolutely no skill with a pen so my “mockups” are a bit too horrible looking. Boxes have uneven sides, lines aren’t straight… its bad. However pen and paper helps me know what I was looking for, I then put it into balsamiq to clean it up just a little bit before I show it to someone else.