Tips for Twits

An important component of my role as UI designer and Project Manager at Savant Degrees involves prototyping application concepts for clients, as well as in-house product ideas. Ever since Savant Degrees started out, we have been working with people from all walks of life – partners who are graphic designer, client who play an active role, new experience team members, etc. I have to admit that working with someone new can really be a pain at times. Especially when the different groups speak in different languages (the design team, the HCI team, the development team and the project managers, etc).

I’m sure many of us know what a wireframe is, but how many of us use a proper software to work on a wireframe? For the benefit of people who are new to the term, it simply meant a visual presentation used in web design. Previously, I build simple HTML or drew simple shapes in word document and run through the process with the web developers. After some time, I turn to mockup softwares. I was happy with some but not as much as with Axure.

Before I talk about the tool, I like to explain why it is so important to use mockups.

1. Designing wireframes the right way the first time, cost no more than doing it the wrong way. Creating a paper prototype adds no cost, either- simply print out the wireframe diagrams for the pages a visitor will use to complete the tasks most closely related to achieving his goals and meeting the site’s business objectives.
2. Web Prototyping saves costs of any marketing communication that may be necessary to undo brand damage resulting from poorly functioning web site and a frustrating user experience. Expensive site redesigns are often undertaken to correct those kinds of problems. Adding a few days to create a wireframe and test a prototype ensures that the redesigned site won’t introduce any new causes for user frustration or further erosion of brand equity.
3. Using simple shapes lets you focus on the information design first, to make sure it meets users needs, before moving on to the pretty pictures. For an existing site, wireframes are abstracted from screen shots, with new content, functional, and navigational elements sketched in.

Usually, your client will want to see visual designs as early as possible in the project. If possible, try to delay giving them a design, not before them the mockup.

Why?

One very important reason is to save money and time. Why spend on graphics before the underlying information design is complete?

Equally important, colors, fonts and stylistic treatments of logos and other graphical elements can invoke emotional responses (“I hate this pink”; “I love that blue”; “That version of the logo makes me ill”) that distract from the task of determining the best information design for the page.

A wireframe diagrams lets everybody focus on what’s important at this step: clearly understanding what goes on each page, where it goes, and why it goes there, so you can achieve the best overall balance and structure for each page. A wireframe is a sketch of a page-layout idea. The sketch may be rendered in the computer using an illustration application or hand-drawn on paper. Either method is fine, as long as it clearly communicates your ideas.

The information design will evolve as wireframe diagrams change, incorporating results from the usability test at the end of this step, to reflect placement of page elements in ways that better meet user needs. Keeping the information design flexible at this stage will help you create a more positive brand experience over the long term, so you don’t want anyone to develop partisan attachments to a particular look this early in the game.

Despite all that was said. Its sometime hard to say no to your clients request when they have more power over you. Hence, how you manage your project depends on the type of project, your relationship with the client, and your company’s work culture.

Note for Visual Designers

At this point in the process, visual designers should conduct exploratory meetings to understand the client’s visual preferences and the visual elements of the client’s brand. Wait until wireframes are set before showing visual-design treatments of the pages to the client.

Note for Clients

For clients who insist on seeing visuals earlier rather than later, you can ask visual designers to design page mock-ups representing possible colors, imagery, and look and feel – possible styles of what is being considered – at this stage. However, you should do this only if absolutely necessary – that is, if they won’t take no for an answer – and be sure to emphasize that these mock-ups in no way reflect the final designs (repeat this warning early and often).

Caution the people in the site-owning organization against developing any attachments to these mock-ups, because such attachments will make it difficult it change the visual design later on. Chances are these people will not be happy when they see the final design with text, links and information added to it. Focusing only on wireframes at this stage helps you avoid building unrealistic expectations about the site’s final look and feel, guarding maximum flexibility to evolve the site’s information design as necessary.

What I use

Now, let’s go on to why I personally choose Axure and what it can do for you. Do check out their website, www.axure.com for some videos. Do note that there are many mockup software out there and you should check them out before making a decision. For a good list, check out http://www.sitepoint.com/print/tools-prototyping-wireframing/

Axure RP Pro

* Price: USD$589 – Single User License (Discounted to $539 for 5+ Licenses)

* OS Compatability: Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server or Vista

Axure allows the tagging of elements with functional specifications, which is excellent when a wireframe itself will not provide adequate information to allow a programmer to code the feature. Having said that, a programmer will normally prefer to receive specifications whether they be tagged to an element or written in a wiki, rather than code based on an interpretation of a wireframe.

I use Axure when I am planning a medium to large scale application which requires documentation (Axure exports all tagged specifications into a neatly laid out document – a big time saver!), functional specifications and HTML prototype (Axure will generate an HTML prototype for you – another time saver, however if you take a look at the code you’ll realise that there is no way it could be used as a basis for the actual production application. Use the prototype to display UX concepts and provide clients with a realistic and tangible model for feedback.)

I could go on for pages about what the product accomplish, but I believe their website, www.axure.com, do a better job in selling their products than in I do. Furthermore, it is not the purpose of this article to review this particular software.

By the way, did I mention I got my copy of Axure for free back when I was a student? Axure gives out free licenses to “good student”. Just email Axure and show them your transcript. See http://www.axure.com/learnMoreBuy.aspx for more info.