Realized by Jason F. on February 8 2010:
When debating UI, a picture is better than a description. And a functional mockup is better than both. But debating UI without being able to look at something is a waste of time.
This is Signal vs. Noise, a weblog by 37signals about design, business, experience, simplicity, the web, culture, and more. Established 1999 in Chicago. Follow us on Twitter for more information on our products.
Jobs: |
See more on our Job Board. |
Filter posts by topic
Books from 37signals
REWORK
The new business book from 37signals shows you how to build, run, and grow (or not grow) a business.
Getting Real
The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web application. 171 page PDF ($19) or paperback ($25). Buy it now.
Web-Based Software by 37signals
Basecamp project management
Everyone's favorite web-based project management tool. Easy, fast, elegant. Free trial.
Highrise simple CRM
Keep track of who your business talks to, what was said, and what to do next. Free trial.
Campfire group business chat
Simple and easy web-based group chat for business has finally arrived. Try it free today.
Backpack information manager
Gather your ideas, to-dos, notes, photos & files online. Set email and mobile reminders. Try free!
Writeboard collaborative writing
Write, share, revise, compare. Sharable web-based text documents with simple version control.
Ta-da List, to-do list manager
The web's simplest, fastest, and most useful to-do list manager. Get things done. Free, 10 second signup.
Ruby on Rails
For developers we present our powerful yet simple open-source web application framework. Make coding easier on yourself.
Got a web design project in mind? Find a web designer on Sortfolio. Browse by visual style, portfolio, budget, and geographic location.
Over 1 million people use 37signals' simple web-based software to collaborate on projects, track contacts, and organize their business with an intranet.
10 comments so far
Ryan Arp 08 Feb 10
Agreed. I don’t even talk about a project until I have a mockup to illustrate. I’ve found iWeb to be so simple to do a basic mockup. No HTML yet, no fancy graphics. Upload and share the link. Then you have something to talk about.
Adam 08 Feb 10
Couldn’t agree more. Putting something in front of people as soon as possible that looks and acts like a real site is a must.
In fact, I believe so completely in the idea of functional mockups I’ve built a webapp around it: Mocksup (http://mocksup.com). “90% of the benefits of a prototype in 10% of the time.”
Chris Cuilla 08 Feb 10
No doubt. A picture can clear many things up very quickly. The old adage that one is worth a thousand words resonates here.
Mike 08 Feb 10
Is that really an insight?
Jussi 08 Feb 10
Some nitpicking: Not all user interfaces are graphical. Think traditional voicemail for instance.
However, your claim still stands: something to look at helps discuss even a non-graphical UI. And, as stated, a functional mockup is even better.
Thanks for the insight!
RichardR 09 Feb 10
I find Balsamiq to be great for doing mockups. Just need to get a license so I can review it. ;-)
carl myhill 09 Feb 10
What about when you are not debating, is a picture still useful?
I’ve found that sometimes, “a picture paints a thousand words, and that’s the problem” (citation anyone?)
And prototypes, as a standalone medium, can be even worse in the ways people can read the wrong thing into what they are seeing and make assumptions.
I came up with a concept called ‘ProtoTour’ duing my research, published in 1999. The idea was to pull together a directed walkthrough and explanation to accompany a prototype. These days though, that all seems a bit slow!
Steve W 09 Feb 10
@carl check out voicethread.com
SketchFlow 09 Feb 10
@RichardR Balsamiq is lame…
Eden 10 Feb 10
I haven’t tried Balsamiq, but I’ve been playing with Mockingbird (gomockingbird.com) and find it great for quick and easily shareable wireframes. Sometimes it’s nice to have that in a browser so you don’t have to worry about what machine you’re on and what software is installed.
Comments are closed