Re: GUI mockup software

Subject: Re: GUI mockup software
From: Mike Starr <mike -at- writestarr -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2012 15:11:01 -0600

If I'm mocking up a user interface for a typical Windows application I create a form with the Microsoft Word Visual Basic for Applications editor. And if you have to, you can probably even make the buttons teal but I don't know about applying a gradient (no accounting for taste, I guess). I always use 192-192-192 for dialog box background and button color. You can also save the form as a VB form file (don't remember the file extension at the moment).

Best regards,

Mike
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On 11/12/2012 2:45 PM, Chris Morton wrote:

Thanks, everyone.

Our need is simple and we already have Visio for creating sample
flowcharts. That's not the issue. What the real issue is about is the
actual designing of various dialog boxes. While ours is a Windows-based
app, the app is totally custom and doesn't adhere to Microsoft's GUI
element design. For example, all of our buttons are oversized, are 3D and
typically use use a teal gradient. Most dialog boxes have a dark gray
(51-51-51) background.

Chris
On Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 12:34 PM, <jimmy -at- breck-mckye -dot- com> wrote:

Margaret, I think you may have made a mistake. Azure is Microsoft's cloud
hosting service. The tool you are thinking of is Axure, which does have a
30-day free trial but then costs about $300 per license (more if you want
to use its spec generator and versioning control tools).

But back to the question.

There are a few options for creating interfaces, depending on how
high-fidelity your specifications need to be. Balsamiq is cheap and has a
shallow learning curve, but creates very lo-fi mockups, so it won't expose
you to aesthetic or visual design issues. It is good for development
stories, but I'd be wary of using it when designing a new product from
scratch. For that, I would use something like Adobe Fireworks or even
Photoshop for big projects.

I would not use 'compromises' like Excel or Visio; they simply aren't well
adapted to the task at hand. Powerpoint provides some limited interactivity
but there are better ways to document flows than interactive prototypes
anyway.



On 2012-11-12 18:49, Margaret Cekis wrote:

Chris Morton asked about GUI mockup software.
_________________________
Chris:
The only one I am familiar with is Azure. (My employer uses it to mock-up
GUIs when they are working with customers who want to personalize the GUI
with their own organization names.) When I Goggled Azure, I was surprised
that it belongs to Microsoft. Here's a link for a 90-day free trial:


http://www.windowsazure.com/**en-us/pricing/free-trial/?WT.**
mc_id=azurebg_us_se<http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/free-trial/?WT.mc_id=azurebg_us_se>
m_branded_trialpage

Margaret Cekis, johns Creek GA


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Writer Tip: Create 10 different outputs with Doc-To-Help -- including
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Read all about them: http://bit.ly/doc-to-help-10-**outputs<http://bit.ly/doc-to-help-10-outputs>
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Writer Tip: Create 10 different outputs with Doc-To-Help -- including Mobile and EPUB.

Read all about them: http://bit.ly/doc-to-help-10-outputs
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Writer Tip: Create 10 different outputs with Doc-To-Help -- including Mobile and EPUB.

Read all about them: http://bit.ly/doc-to-help-10-outputs
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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References:
GUI mockup software: From: Chris Morton
RE: GUI mockup software: From: Margaret Cekis
RE: GUI mockup software: From: jimmy
Re: GUI mockup software: From: Chris Morton

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