Amazing solution for quick, iterative wireframing
March 21, 2018

Amazing solution for quick, iterative wireframing

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Balsamiq

I've used Balsamiq off and on for a while. First while working on the design of a new user interface for a software system for a defense contractor. The software functionality was quite complex, and needed significant amounts of prototyping and iteration. Balsamiq allowed us to prototype the functionality and general layout on each screen without getting very attached to any particular look and feel. This helped significantly with iterating designs from a functional standpoint while separating out any distractions of particular colors and aesthetics. I'm currently using Balsamiq to prototype a GUI interface for wind speed monitoring equipment that we are using.

Pros

  • Very easy to learn to use with little previous experience using the software
  • Great design which allows you to create interface prototypes of a system functionality, in a way that it is really a wire frame and doesn't look so professional that people are afraid to critique it. This allows for gaining feedback from many stakeholders quickly.
  • New iterations of a design can be built quickly for rapid prototyping and learning

Cons

  • Easier to learn for people with a technical background. The limits of our ability to use balsamiq easily to create new iterations came when program management and business development people with little background in the software wanted to use it.
  • Complex or particularly custom functionality is difficult to demonstrate in Balsamiq.
  • Limited ability to make a mockup interactive
  • It has definitely saved time when negotiating interface changes with a large variety of stakeholders
  • Building a new layout is very quick and saves a lot of time when prototyping any clean basic interface
  • All of this eventually leads to better functionality for less money, which while hard to quantify is very useful
  • The only potential negative impact is that the design features are limited so may discourage the use of custom features which would have been particularly useful.
Balsamiq is the only wireframing software I've used. The only other thing that I've used for any wireframing is Microsoft Powerpoint, which does actually increase some customization options, but takes much longer to make a quality wireframe.

I've also used Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for more finalized designs. These have a large advantage for anything that you want to look like the final product but also take significantly more time.
Balsamiq is best suited for early mockups and interface prototyping where you are trying to define the general layout of your screen as opposed to particular aesthetics. It's great for scenarios where you want to get a lot of feedback from stakeholders and integrate the feedback quickly into a new design.

Balsamiq is less useful for final designs or designs that require a large amount of custom and interactive features to be displayed on the prototype as it will not allow for this functionality.

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