Monday 4 June 2012

Invision: Expanding the Creativity of Web Design


A Prototyping tool, provided you choose the right one, eliminates most of the tedious busywork involved with website and app creation and allows creativity to take the fore. Designing a website or app is divided into two sides – creativity and routine. The routine is the manual creation of wireframes, navigation and writing prototype code repeatedly. An advanced prototyping tool helps with the wireframes and more.

Prototyping tool
Prototyping tool

A designer will be able to create elements using their favorite design software, and drag and drop them into place on a wireframe without issue. They can set navigation with a simple click, no code writing. With a different click, the project can be shared across the entire development team.

What results is the difference between ‘creating’ and ‘building’ a website. The act of creation is a pleasure; the act of building is a chore. Invision does most of the mechanical steps for the designer, allowing them to spend their time creating. This is time well spent. It lets the developers run wild with their ideas, and the final project benefits from this freedom more than you expect.

The result is that the development team and the client both experience a fully interactive prototype. Buttons work when clicked. Apps designed to send texts will actually send texts. App projects can be accessed directly from mobile devices, allowing hands on testing. A prototyping tool can handle screen layouts and color schemes as well.

Invision makes it easy to switch from one wireframe to another. The prototype can be tested from the point of view of an actual user, and any bugs can be noted and fixed on the spot.
Wireframe tools may or may not give free updates. They may limit you to a certain number of computers. None of these restrictions applies to using the prototyping tool on the web. Pay for the subscription plan you need, and spend the money you save on more projects. You can rest assured that you’re always using the most updated version of the software.

Why Invision is Preferred over Wireframes


While Invision no doubt helps to create wireframes, its primary use is in making a fully interactive prototype. It helps to build a working model of the website or app your developers are making, be it for mobiles, iPhones or iPads. With a prototype, clients can test a hands-on version of the site that works just the way as the finished product will, and can make sure everything works the way they want it to.
prototype tool
prototype tool

Old wireframes were little more than static black and white drawings of the website under development. With this prototype tool, developers can create a fully interactive model of the site or app with full color, allowing foolproof testing and ensuring when the project goes live it does so without a hitch. Every bit of design and navigation is present in a form that's representative of the final form. The website or mobile app looks and feels like the finished product, and is a huge first step in winning over a client. When the choice is between black and white wireframes on paper or a fully interactive prototype generated by a prototype tool, how can they say no?

This new prototype tool has a number of additional features, each of which helps a developer save time and money. Everyone working on the project can work on the same project at once – allowing all collaboration and commenting to take place in a single location, which in turn saves time and money spent syncing. Designers can use whatever tools they prefer, and import their work into the prototype from a .jpg, .gif or .png file. As long as the element is ready, it can be added to the wireframe. A hotspot can be set in seconds, linking any element to another page.

Using the new prototype tool allows designers to focus on creativity instead of the tedious details of wireframes and coding. Any configuration can be made into a template, allowing easy creation of multiple pages. The tool is even smart enough to predict favorite themes for a project. Using the tool from the web, or grabbing the free trial, is the best way to keep up to date with this powerful software.