Balsamiq is an excellent tool for prototyping interfaces, it can be expensive but if you are a not for profit it is usually free
August 08, 2021
Balsamiq is an excellent tool for prototyping interfaces, it can be expensive but if you are a not for profit it is usually free
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Balsamiq
Balsamiq is used in my organisation to assist in the development of systems. Usually in the early stages of development, we will use Balsamiq to mock up screen designs / prototype the UI / UX of the system. We also use it to mock up changes as part of a change request or new screens when the system is in the maintenance phase. It is an excellent product that makes it very easy to quickly produce high quality mock ups and prototypes. It is used in the development team of the IT services department.
- Easy to use
- Produces good quality mock ups and prototypes
- Mock ups are obviously only just mock ups (this is important as if users see mock-ups in HTML, for example, they tend to think the system is ready to use or not far off)
- Has a good selection of standard shapes that mock real world fields / controls
- Allows not for profit organisations use it for free
- Somewhat expensive for full commercial licences
- Hand drawn style wireframes
- Easy to use
- Good selection of shapes that represent real world fields / controls
- Allows you to build in a little interactivity, for example pressing a button and showing another wireframe
- Can be expensive but luckily Balsamiq granted my organisation a free licence due to not for profit status
- Integration with Google Drive as a standard feature, at the moment you have to pay extra
In the past I have just used HTML to mock up UIs, but as I've previously mentioned this can cause problems with user's thinking that the system is already built. Balsamiq is far quicker and easier to create wireframes, it is more collaborative and the resulting wireframes cannot be confused with a real system as they have a hand drawn feel to them.
Do you think Balsamiq delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with Balsamiq's feature set?
Yes
Did Balsamiq live up to sales and marketing promises?
Yes
Did implementation of Balsamiq go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy Balsamiq again?
Yes