During my years in an agency, I’ve seen the spectrum of tool experimentation. I’ve heard passionate user experience designers argue in favor (and equally as often, against) Axure, Balsamiq, UXPin, Invision, Photoshop, you name it. We’ve tried it. Usually, the outcome is something out of Goldilocks and the Three Bears: the tool is too robust, or too simplistic, too slow, or too buggy, and no one’s happy.
I’m not here to play favorites. I won’t insult everyone by providing yet another comparison of prototyping and wireframing tools. We all know about Axure, Balsamiq, UX Pin. And plenty of folks out there have written a ton about them. And because this is a sponsored post, you know we got paid for this. So that wouldn’t be a fair comparison, obviously.
So instead, I want to write this as a confession. I mean, you guys. There are so. Many. Tools. I’m in a love-hate relationship with the fact there are so many, and that I demo all of them and become stuck in the mud of choice overload.
I try all the tools. It’s a compulsion, a sickness. Fear of commitment maybe. This has been my realization. I’m apparently just never happy, no matter the tool. And so I keep trying. And trying.
Mockplus comes around, and I bat my eyelashes at it, wander over casually, and approach for demo. How’s it going, Mockplus?
Because that metaphor is weird, let’s move on.
Mockplus. It’s slick, as I’ve discovered with the time I’ve spent digging around. Here’s how Mockplus describes its utility:
So that’s from the horse’s mouth. But I want to back up for a second: I’m not over the moon with any of the prototyping tools I’ve used. I almost fell for Balsamiq, but found it a bit limiting, so it’s great to see a middle ground option (because Axure is way overkill for my needs, and it severely tests my patience). I’ve always been much better at sketching on paper, but my clients get far more excited about wireframes and prototypes that don’t look like they were pieced together by a 6-year-old.
Mockplus is clearly aiming to be a middle ground, a prototyping tool that actually empowers its users. For instance:
- Impatient jerks like myself can catch on to the tool without 30 hours of training.
- I can build out pages and interactions pretty quickly, without feeling like I’m going to severely disappoint a client.
- It lets me document my design decisions clearly, so when my front end developer comes on board, she’s not beating down my door with a pitchfork and a taste for blood.
- Did I mention I suck at wireframing if I’m not using crayons? Mockplus aims to accommodate for my level of skill by providing a robust components library.
- Clients really really really like the phrase “rapid protoyping.” This helps you look sexy to clients. In a UX way. SUXy? (I hate myself)
Anyway, this is all to say, Mockplus. Give it a shot. At the very least, you won’t be disappointed. It might not change your life. But it’ll show you a good time. And if you find you do love it, think how nice it will be to either a) impress your clients with your rapid protoying, b) impress your team with how on top of new tools you are, or c) impress everyone with the article you’ll pitch to UX Booth recounting all those things.
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