How many times the client want’s the mockup to be changed and you had to redo a lot of work on photoshop to fix it ? Now with Balsamiq Mockup it’s just a matter of minutes.
Last week I had the need to have a few wireframes and mockups ready in a short time for a couple of different clients and we all know that this is a phase of design that must be taken seriously into account to avoid wasting time later.
I just thought I needed a tool that could help me focusing on the real design and content organization more than on drawing/erasing part of the process.
I did a search on the net and came to find out that many people where usign Balsamiq Mockups and were really happy with it, that’s why I decided to give it a try, see what could do for me and check out if it would really improve my workflow speeding up the wireframe/mockup phase.
Balsamiq Mockups is an Adobe AIR application that has been written as a tool to help both the designer and coder in the wireframing and mockup phase since can be easily used to do a fast wireframing sketch or a detailed and good looking mockup of almost every application, web page, web or iphone application.
Just like every AIR application it can be installed directly clicking on the icon in the download page , I have to say that I am just focusing on the Desktop version of Mockups that also comes in plugin version and web app version ( this last is now in beta phase and will be released soon to public).
As soon as you launch the application you will realize that its interface has been designed to be easy and quick to use.
The main screen is a sort of paper on which you can compose your mockup with all elements that you can find in the upper toolbar organized by categories.
You can simply drag and drop the needed element on the paper and start adjusting it as you please in both size and details using the editing box that appear for each element.
As you can see it’s quite easy to mockup a web page and you have all elements that you may need, also using square boxes you can do a simple wireframe of content areas.
Balsamiq Mockups also includes all elements to simply design an iphone application mockup in both vertical or horizontal orientation.
Every mockup can then be shown in a full screen presentation mode useful for projections and a big self orienting arrow can be used to highlight the desired mockup details.
When the wireframe/mockup is ready to be sent to the client you can save it as a png that can be easily sent by email or also as an XML that can be used as an input for thirdy-part applications like NapKee that can bring your Balsamiq Mockups to life … but that’s another story 
Even if apparently simple Balsamiq Mockups is a powerful tool and can really improve your worflow in many ways.
GIVEAWAY
Balsamiq team kindly offered 1 free license of Balsamiq Mockups Desktop for this giveaway ending on the 30th of October.
To win just you have simply to :
- twitter the following text (simply click to tweet) :
“TheLanceLife giveaway: Balsamiq Mockups : http://bit.ly/1bdhXz @thelancelife @wpstudios RT pls”
AND
- comment here writing your twitter ID and explaining why you would like to win a free license of Balsamiq Mockups and how it could help you in your everyday freelance business
The giveaway will end on Friday the 30th of October 2009 and the winners will be chosen using a random number generator.
- Twittelator Pro: power tweets on iPhone
- Twitterrific Premium : twitter made easy
- Napkee : alive mockups
Tags: apps, coding, desktop, freelance, giveaway, iPhone, switch
The Author : WPstudios
WPstudios is a graphic and coding agency specialized in web design, print design, logo and branding, wordpress customization, PHP and Javascript coding, 3D graphic.
October 26th, 2009 on 14:08
This would be a great addition to my workflow. I have a few web jobs on the go just now and the ease of use of this drag and drop app would help quicken the whole process
October 26th, 2009 on 14:16
I have only played with Balsamiq briefly, but was well impressed at the learning curve. This could become a seriously handy way to generate ideas when working with clients too.
October 26th, 2009 on 14:21
I would love to win this …. I need for my projects wireframing.
@lastwebdesigner
Thanks!
October 26th, 2009 on 15:18
Twitter id: @warstwydotcom
My RT: http://twitter.com/warstwydotcom/status/5172487142
This app is support for my projects.
October 26th, 2009 on 15:26
It could help me alot as a students I’m close to finnish the school for the professionnal world and I would like to have the time to experiments some cool softwares to get experiences and be able to develop cool things.
Quicks sketches for quick approval
@poliquinp
Thx!
October 26th, 2009 on 15:57
This looks like a great project and will really help my improve workflow. Looking forward to my new license
@jpolicano
update :
Doh! Hate typos “product” not “project”
Guess you can see my mind is always on my next projects.
October 27th, 2009 on 00:27
@sofasurfer
I want the licence because Balsamiq is the BEST wireframing tool around. If I win, I promise to encourage people to buy Balsamiq! (also if I lose)
October 27th, 2009 on 01:34
Just getting back into building webpages since I became physically disabled. Can’t afford to buy the expensive guys yet, so this freeby will certainly help me get back into the groove. In any case Your blogs and Smashing Mag amongst a LOT of others including @mlane on twitter have been VERY helpful.
Thanx for being there and keep up the good work.
@dixie451
TwittNewbie
October 27th, 2009 on 03:56
@williamli1983
I would love to win a copy of this as I am a relatively new freelancer trying to make living out of doing freelance.
October 27th, 2009 on 04:10
An alternative to this is http://iplotz.com/, which has a lot of the same features.
October 27th, 2009 on 15:25
I would love to get a copy of this program for my designs. I really like the way it was put together and it looks cool with the hand drawn elements.
October 27th, 2009 on 17:02
@reapalife working on new web interfacing and we’d love to have this tool to demo some ideas.
October 28th, 2009 on 00:13
This article has been shared on favSHARE.net. Go and vote it!
October 28th, 2009 on 11:38
@alexanderrehm I would love a copy of Balsamiq Mockups, I am a web architect and have been working with iRise, Axure and Visio, so I would love to see and experience what this new gem can do (and I am sure my clients would love to as well)
October 29th, 2009 on 17:05
@riotpixel
Would love an alternative to the good ol’ pen & paper.
October 29th, 2009 on 17:26
Wow, Balsamiq Mockups is exactly what I need! I have been using Photoshop to do mock-ups and yes, simple changes is a terrible pain in the a**! This would greatly help my workflow and my productivity. Keeping my fingers crossed! (@vladrys)
October 29th, 2009 on 17:44
I’m tired of using Visio for my mockups! Balsamic looks very interesting and helpful.
October 29th, 2009 on 18:16
I love the Balsamiq Mockup tool! Thank you so much for making this tool! Ever since I discovered it, I always head to http://balsamiq.com/ first to do my mocks to set my information architecture. Before it would always take me about an hour to lay out my info architecture in Photoshop. The graphic designer in me would want to add the details too soon and end up getting hung up on them instead of paying attention to what really matters in the beginning process, which is the information architecture. Again thank you so much for coming up with this time saving tool! I would love to win a free license of Balsamiq Mockups because it would be just lovely to not click the Demo Popup window every 3 mins… lol! Thanks again! Truly a great addition to any graphic/web designers.
October 30th, 2009 on 12:09
Would love to have dis! My twitter id is ultracooldeep . Thanks!
October 31st, 2009 on 00:33
The giveaway is now closed !
The winner is :
Bronson ( @gnuboss )
October 31st, 2009 on 19:36
Thanks so much you guys, finding out that I have won a free copy of Balsamiq Mockups has made my weekend.
You rock. \m/[o_0]\m/
I really look forward tio having time to use it on a few projects that I’m currently working on.
I think is a super useful wirefraing tool.
Rergards
Bronson.
November 18th, 2009 on 17:19
Great stuff! I like the way you work.
Personally I like to draft the UI on a whiteboard before I start, using http://www.MockupMagnets.com.
Have you used these before? Check it out!