Balsamiq FTW!
March 11, 2016
Balsamiq FTW!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Balsamiq
Balsamiq is used by me, the Web Dev, in the IT department of our institution. I use it to design mockups of our external and internal websites during the review and approval process, after which I develop the sites. Balsamiq mockups has saved me a huge amount of time and effort.
- The buttons and objects are intuitive.
- Flexible, easy, and quick. Low learning curve compared to much pricier mockup software.
- Highly customizable. Ability to design with a high level of granularity, which is key when dealing with older, less-techy stakeholders.
- While I understand the comic sans font, I do wish I could use a more professional font because I usually have to explain to stakeholders that they should ignore the font.
- Stronger right-click context menu functionality would make editing box colors and fonts simpler.
- Pre-defined responsize-sized templates would be awesome. Just pick a starting screen res and 5 breakpoint templates are displayed...
- Price tag vs. time it's saved on building full sites; Balsamiq is basically free.
- Of the 6 months it took for me to single-handedly build our website, 2 were spent building mockup after mockup. Had I had to learn a more complicated piece of software to build those mockups, the project would have taken at least 2 months longer.
- Balsamiq is a one-time fee rather than the dreaded subscription. It's paid for itself multiple times.
- Axure
Axure is basically a direct copy of Balsamiq for 4x the price.
Moqups is painful to use and it's a monthly subscription.
Although I have not used Adobe Comp, the learning curve is so high, it cannot even come close to the ease of Balsamiq. And Illustrator and Photoshop for mockups is a joke if you are a designer AND a developer. I don't have time for all that nonsense!
Moqups is painful to use and it's a monthly subscription.
Although I have not used Adobe Comp, the learning curve is so high, it cannot even come close to the ease of Balsamiq. And Illustrator and Photoshop for mockups is a joke if you are a designer AND a developer. I don't have time for all that nonsense!