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Compared to the nifty tools that other people use, my UI work (and I've done
a lot it recently) is pretty prosaic: PaintShopPro 5. I'll mock them up -
a recent program included maybe 50 or so separate forms - and then hand them
over to the developer.
The advantage to using a program like this is that I can make an essentially
perfect fake UI. Web-based or client/server doesn't matter - they're just
drawings. The first time I showed some mockups at a meeting the developers
kept asking about the different dialogs in terms of what I mapped them to in
the DB. It took a while for them to realize it was just a drawing. I once
said in a meeting that they should consider me the Chief Forger. That
helped get the point across.
This method helps a lot with clients. We show them a mockup, explain how
it's going to be used, they make suggestions, I make the corrections they
want, and they give the OK. Visio diagrams are nice, but most clients get a
little more warm and cuddly when they see exactly what the software will
look like.
Paul Strasser
Ennovation, Inc.
2569 Park Lane, Suite 100
Lafayette, Colorado 80026
Phone: 303-468-1164
FAX: 303-926-1510
E-mail: paul -dot- strasser -at- ennovationinc -dot- com
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