Rapid Prototype Blog

Posts Tagged ‘functional prototypes’

Forget about hand-drawn mockup and clickable wireframe. Justinmind is launching the next generation of wireframing and prototyping tool: Justinmind Protyper 3.0 Beta.

From fully functional dynamic websites to mobile applications or mailing softwares (even Street fighters-like games), Justinmind Prototyper allows you to create almost anything in record time and without a single line of coding. With many drag & drop functions (i.e import for Illustrator/photoshop), the prototyper is incredibly easy to use and so powerful it´s virtually impossible to distinguish the real thing from the prototype (for there is none, except the auto-generated HTML code behind it). With functions like database simulationsor rich interactions, many widgets and templates (i.e mobile platforms), interactive creations are limitless.

Serious about getting as much feedback as possible, Justinmind is thus launching several testing contests both on Windows and Mac, giving away free licences of its software as prizes. Check out Justinmind´s blog.

Here comes a few of Justinmind Prototyper´s features:

Real-time simulation

Test your application’s dynamic behaviour in real-time without code generation

User interface design and Information Architecture

Create fully functional prototypes per drag-and-drop

Free viewer for your software simulations
Functional scenarios

Define and simulate your application’s control flow

Data behavior simulation

Simulate your business applications with real data

Requirements and comments management

Associate comments and requirements with simulation elements

Templates and masters

Reuse elements and apply changes easily

Export/import simulation elements and share them with others

Documentation generation

generate documentation for proposals, specification documents, and more from a complete prototype

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Have you ever seen a wireframe with simulated data? Justinmind Prototyper allows the creation of much more than simple, static wireframes. You can have fully functional prototypes, with events and action as astonishing as search, behaviour changes and commenting systems.

It’s not just drawing a form. You can fill in data, and even create a login screen.

You can use widgets to create common web elements such as data inputs, buttons and such. But using datamasters, you can link these inputs to a table, where all the data is stored. So, if you want to import real information from a .csv file or type inside the program, don’t worry. Besides, changes done in the files can be exported to any other editor. Things you can simulate quite easily and you couldn’t with just a simple mockup:

filling a form searching for a product filtering data, such as bank account movements pagination of content such as posts, items in a store, etc Personalization of objects (showing things only to logged users, calling the user by his name, etc). And many other uses.

Tutorial: Creating a comment form wireframe using real data

Edit a social network’s profile just as if it was coded

What kind of changes can the users make in a prototype?

Insert data. Users can fill fields and submit this data to the datamaster, that acts like a database. For example, a sign up form can be filled and stored in your datamaster and then exported.

Modify data. Users can change a previously filled field (changing a password, for example, or editing a comment).

Delete data. Erase unwanted information with a command, just as if you were manipulating your database. All of these data manipulation commands are easy and can be configured via drag and drop.

What kind of data I can’t still use in Justinmind Prototyper

Of course, being a prototyping tool, you can’t have all the functionalities of a real website. Yet. For the moment, datamasters and datagrids only handle text and numbers. You can’t create a database of images, but you can still simulate by placing dummy images on your datagrid. Normal data, such as text areas and text lines, numbers, dates, emails, urls, percentages and money can be used normally.

Find More Prototyping Tools Database Articles

Wireframes and mockups are very useful to define websites or applications. However, in the era of web 2.0, RIAs, web apps and dynamic websites, they need to be combined with more functional prototypes to define application properly.

Along with mockups and wireframes, the new Justinmind Prototyper 3.0 allows you to create fully functional dynamic application prototypes. From highly interactive softwares to mobile apps or complex dynamic websites (i.e. Facebook, Easyjet, Blogger-like websites) you can prototype anything in minutes. Easy as PowerPoint, Justinmind 3.0 provides full drag and drop features to wireframe without any coding. Justinmind is very powerful as the prototype is, for end users, virtually identical to the final product.

Available on both Windows and Mac, Justinmind offers all the tools you need to do a prototype from A to Z. From sketching to mobile widget libraries (Iphone, android, Blackberry…), a wide range of templates, masters and widgets are available. Moreover you can drag and drop anything from images, components, to links or even functions directly from your computer and other image editing applications.

But more than a wireframing tool, Justinmind also gives you the possibility to add and attach requirements and comments directly to elements. You can also generate and customise specification documents, diagrams and navigation flows for validation.

Conception, design, development and testing, Justinmind Prototyper is a powerful, customisable wireframing tool that can be used all through the project. It fluidifies any IT project, improving communication between programmers and non-IT literate people, cutting cost, avoiding rework load and speeding up design and developement processes.

Here are some questions and answers about creating wireframes with Justinmind Prototyper.

When do we stop building the wireframe and start the real development of the project?

The answer is simple: when you won’t make any more structural changes. It’s just like building a house. When you have all the structure defined, you’re allowed to make the groundings and start rising your work. But after the groundings, you cannot move the structure. Imagine saying to an engineer: “can you please move this column 3 feet to the left?” No. That also is dangerous when you’re building software. Changing database structures, layout or even snippets of code is hard, and can lead to an enormous amount of bugs.

We always recommend our clients to change whatever they want, as many times as they need, while still on the wireframe, because changing it later can be very painful.

How detailed must my prototype be?

Just enough to let everyone understand what’s going to be built. Some don’t need final graphics, or real text, others need to have data. For example, to test an online store, you may need prices and a database of products. If you must test data, you can wireframe and simulate it with Justinmind Prototyper, or insert the real images from jpgs and pngs.

Whether you need to use real data, real images of fake images and dummy texts (the famous lorem ipsun), it’s up to you and your project. Ask your co-workers and clients to understand their needs, and decide when to stop detailing the prototype.

xWhy not just simply show static mockups of the pages?

Nowadays, web technology has evolved so much, static pages don’t represent everything we see. For example, the webs that change content according to what users do. There are Javascript codes almost everywhere, not just links, but mouse overs, text that changes, colours and properties according to the navigation. How to represent it with static pages?

Functional prototypes can show the real interactions in an easier way, and make it clearer for both clients and developers. So, the final project won’t be different to what was planned.

Simple wireframe, mockup, hi-fi wireframe, prototype. You can do any of them, depending on your objectives. But be always sure of one thing: it’s function is to improve development speed and help everyone to understand the project better.

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Google Tech Talks March, 24 2008 ABSTRACT Yang Li – RESEARCH SCIENTIST Pervasive or ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) applications can support people’s everyday activities in the physical world by leveraging advances in sensor technologies and computing infrastructures. Designing ubicomp applications is challenging because our everyday activities are more complex, dynamic and less structured than the tasks supported by traditional desktop computing. Ubicomp design is difficult, time-consuming, and requires a high level of technical expertise, especially with sensor technologies. To address this, I created a set of rapid prototyping tools and frameworks. My early work with Topiary introduces high-level abstractions, such as maps and scenarios, for designers to easily model location contexts and specify location-based behaviors. Topiary also allows a design to be tested in the field via a Wizard of Oz approach, without deploying a location sensor infrastructure. My recent work is focused on activity-based ubicomp prototyping, a process for enabling long-term activities (such as keeping fit)—a larger unit for design than the tasks that are the focus of traditional design. To support such a process, I created ActivityDesigner, a system that allows designers to create functional prototypes of ubicomp applications based on field observations, and easily deploy and test these prototypes in situ. Speaker: Yang Li – RESEARCH SCIENTIST Yang Li is a research associate in the Computer …

Google Tech Talks March, 24 2008 ABSTRACT Yang Li – RESEARCH SCIENTIST Pervasive or ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) applications can support people’s everyday activities in the physical world by leveraging advances in sensor technologies and computing infrastructures. Designing ubicomp applications is challenging because our everyday activities are more complex, dynamic and less structured than the tasks supported by traditional desktop computing. Ubicomp design is difficult, time-consuming, and requires a high level of technical expertise, especially with sensor technologies. To address this, I created a set of rapid prototyping tools and frameworks. My early work with Topiary introduces high-level abstractions, such as maps and scenarios, for designers to easily model location contexts and specify location-based behaviors. Topiary also allows a design to be tested in the field via a Wizard of Oz approach, without deploying a location sensor infrastructure. My recent work is focused on activity-based ubicomp prototyping, a process for enabling long-term activities (such as keeping fit)—a larger unit for design than the tasks that are the focus of traditional design. To support such a process, I created ActivityDesigner, a system that allows designers to create functional prototypes of ubicomp applications based on field observations, and easily deploy and test these prototypes in situ. Speaker: Yang Li – RESEARCH SCIENTIST Yang Li is a research associate in the Computer …

Google Tech Talks March, 24 2008 ABSTRACT Yang Li – RESEARCH SCIENTIST Pervasive or ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) applications can support people’s everyday activities in the physical world by leveraging advances in sensor technologies and computing infrastructures. Designing ubicomp applications is challenging because our everyday activities are more complex, dynamic and less structured than the tasks supported by traditional desktop computing. Ubicomp design is difficult, time-consuming, and requires a high level of technical expertise, especially with sensor technologies. To address this, I created a set of rapid prototyping tools and frameworks. My early work with Topiary introduces high-level abstractions, such as maps and scenarios, for designers to easily model location contexts and specify location-based behaviors. Topiary also allows a design to be tested in the field via a Wizard of Oz approach, without deploying a location sensor infrastructure. My recent work is focused on activity-based ubicomp prototyping, a process for enabling long-term activities (such as keeping fit)—a larger unit for design than the tasks that are the focus of traditional design. To support such a process, I created ActivityDesigner, a system that allows designers to create functional prototypes of ubicomp applications based on field observations, and easily deploy and test these prototypes in situ. Speaker: Yang Li – RESEARCH SCIENTIST Yang Li is a research associate in the Computer …

Google Tech Talks March, 24 2008 ABSTRACT Yang Li – RESEARCH SCIENTIST Pervasive or ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) applications can support people’s everyday activities in the physical world by leveraging advances in sensor technologies and computing infrastructures. Designing ubicomp applications is challenging because our everyday activities are more complex, dynamic and less structured than the tasks supported by traditional desktop computing. Ubicomp design is difficult, time-consuming, and requires a high level of technical expertise, especially with sensor technologies. To address this, I created a set of rapid prototyping tools and frameworks. My early work with Topiary introduces high-level abstractions, such as maps and scenarios, for designers to easily model location contexts and specify location-based behaviors. Topiary also allows a design to be tested in the field via a Wizard of Oz approach, without deploying a location sensor infrastructure. My recent work is focused on activity-based ubicomp prototyping, a process for enabling long-term activities (such as keeping fit)—a larger unit for design than the tasks that are the focus of traditional design. To support such a process, I created ActivityDesigner, a system that allows designers to create functional prototypes of ubicomp applications based on field observations, and easily deploy and test these prototypes in situ. Speaker: Yang Li – RESEARCH SCIENTIST Yang Li is a research associate in the Computer …

Google Tech Talks March, 24 2008 ABSTRACT Yang Li – RESEARCH SCIENTIST Pervasive or ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) applications can support people’s everyday activities in the physical world by leveraging advances in sensor technologies and computing infrastructures. Designing ubicomp applications is challenging because our everyday activities are more complex, dynamic and less structured than the tasks supported by traditional desktop computing. Ubicomp design is difficult, time-consuming, and requires a high level of technical expertise, especially with sensor technologies. To address this, I created a set of rapid prototyping tools and frameworks. My early work with Topiary introduces high-level abstractions, such as maps and scenarios, for designers to easily model location contexts and specify location-based behaviors. Topiary also allows a design to be tested in the field via a Wizard of Oz approach, without deploying a location sensor infrastructure. My recent work is focused on activity-based ubicomp prototyping, a process for enabling long-term activities (such as keeping fit)—a larger unit for design than the tasks that are the focus of traditional design. To support such a process, I created ActivityDesigner, a system that allows designers to create functional prototypes of ubicomp applications based on field observations, and easily deploy and test these prototypes in situ. Speaker: Yang Li – RESEARCH SCIENTIST Yang Li is a research associate in the Computer …

Google Tech Talks March, 24 2008 ABSTRACT Yang Li – RESEARCH SCIENTIST Pervasive or ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) applications can support people’s everyday activities in the physical world by leveraging advances in sensor technologies and computing infrastructures. Designing ubicomp applications is challenging because our everyday activities are more complex, dynamic and less structured than the tasks supported by traditional desktop computing. Ubicomp design is difficult, time-consuming, and requires a high level of technical expertise, especially with sensor technologies. To address this, I created a set of rapid prototyping tools and frameworks. My early work with Topiary introduces high-level abstractions, such as maps and scenarios, for designers to easily model location contexts and specify location-based behaviors. Topiary also allows a design to be tested in the field via a Wizard of Oz approach, without deploying a location sensor infrastructure. My recent work is focused on activity-based ubicomp prototyping, a process for enabling long-term activities (such as keeping fit)—a larger unit for design than the tasks that are the focus of traditional design. To support such a process, I created ActivityDesigner, a system that allows designers to create functional prototypes of ubicomp applications based on field observations, and easily deploy and test these prototypes in situ. Speaker: Yang Li – RESEARCH SCIENTIST Yang Li is a research associate in the Computer …