Still the best IMHO for dynamic prototyping. Sometimes you need to wireframe novel on-page widgets, such as draggable search areas (in the context of map-based search), or interactive annotations on diagrams. And sometimes real data values are necessary for test participants to give good feedback. However, this is something of a niche scenario. The majority of uxers prefer xd or Figma and find that static prototypes (screen1->click->screen2) is sufficient.
I think Bidsketch would work well for any small business or freelancer looking for a low-cost, simple to use proposal software solution. It's quick and easy to set up and provides everything you need for more cases. If you're looking for something with more flexibility or features that Bidsketch does not offer then you may need to keep looking.
Adaptive views enable us to create truly responsive designs, even when they are very complex.
The platform’s many available templates and ability to create a library of reusable designs enables us to prototype faster and more efficiently than creating every single design from the ground up.
The company provides a lot of support options, from training videos to online forums. This is a pretty complex tool, so knowing that we can always look up or ask a question and get a quick answer has helped us immensely.
Axure’s comprehensive suite of tools to portray interactivity in prototypes has truly helped us show stakeholders and clients what an end product will look like, which has really helped us gain necessary internal and external buy-in.
REALLY PRICEY for a small business/freelancer that doesn't do a lot of proposals each month. Would be nice if they offered a per proposal pricing for the smaller guys.
Wish there was more customization of the design/layout to better fit in with branding.
Also would like to be able to mark a proposal private.
Axure feels like a tool that started with a simple interface that wasn't redesigned over time. Simple tasks sometimes require clicking through multiple layers. Crucial pieces of functionality are hidden under text links, or just flatly aren't discoverable. Much of the quirks of the interface only come from having screwed up numerous times, and knowing that certain things are just difficult to accomplish.
I'd say Bidsketch is very easy to use. I don't think most people would have any problem getting comfortable with this software. I was able to get up and running very quickly. Their template library is a great resource to get a professional proposal up and out the door fast.
I've never used the support for Axure but they do have an online community that can be helpful when you're unsure how to accomplish a specific bit of interactivity. Overall the community for Axure is a great benefit for the software. There are also a lot of shared library assets which can help reduce the time you spend on projects.
Although I didn't need to reach out to support much, they seemed to do a very good job. I've also heard great things about the team through people I've talked to so I wouldn't expect anyone to run into issues with regards to their support. Their support definitely was not a factor in my ultimately not sticking with the product.
I think that the online training videos cover all product features and are a great resource to point people to. The newsletter is also frequent and passes on a range of tips and techniques for users that are eager to learn more, or just want to keep themselves up to date
Since Axure RP is a desktop software that can work without a cloud connection, it is easy to have approved within a highly restricted corporate environment for a low cost with a small team. iRise is a solution that requires greater amounts of management, best service a group of designers in a corporate environment. InVision is cloud-based and, although not impossible, would require a long-term agreement to be made between the corporate and InVision. These could take years. Origami is free and desktop based and has great control of the transitions and data - but is so granular that additional time commitments may have to be made to make a prototype of this fidelity
We used DocSend to track our outgoing proposals but after testing Bidsketch we never returned back. It is simply better suited for us as we send out tens of proposals every week and the professional output and management of proposals won us over.
Axure allows for us to quickly get the entire sales team trained on a specific narrative and gives them a fool proof click path for them to use in the demo.
Axure is relatively inexpensive and allows for purchasing the software without having to pay a monthly subscription (although they do have that option).
The Sketch integration has allowed for a 10 fold increase in productivity by taking designs already created in another program and quickly adding them to Axure.
