[IxDA Discuss] What tools do you use for prototyping?

[Todd Zaki Warfel]

On Nov 8, 2007, at 10:20 PM, Andrei Herasimchuk wrote:

> It seems you might be equating "pixel perfection" with a static,  
> immovable, print-exact, screen layout or the "px" value in something  
> like CSS meaning of the word. Pixel perfection, as I'm using it,  
> means nothing more than the prototype as rendered in pixels on the  
> screen looks exactly like the real product that will ship, at  
> minimum in it's visual presentation, including all the things that  
> will happen if you resize windows, change font sizes, etc.

So, then you don't really mean pixel perfect perfection literally.  
You're meaning it figuratively. Or do you? You're kind of  
contradicting yourself here. If equating pixel perfect to px values in  
CSS isn't pixel perfect perfection, but rendering pixels exactly like  
the real product is, then that's a bit of a contradiction.

Perhaps you mean that it should function the same, visually use the  
same colors, fonts, interactions, etc., but it doesn't exactly have to  
be pixel perfect?

Either way, if this is how you're defining prototyping, then almost  
every single prototype that I've ever encountered, even the best ones  
I've encountered, would not be a prototype, or would be a bad  
prototype. Things change over time. Between the time a prototype is  
handed to engineering and the actual launch date, things change. So,  
by your description, those either aren't valid prototypes, or they are  
simply bad prototypes. Neither of which I agree with, think is  
accurate, valid, or realistic.

Prototypes have a number of purposes, as I've stated before, and none  
of them require pixel perfection. It's a great thing to have, but not  
a necessity.

> Given the nature of web applications these days, this is very simple  
> to do. The tools are finally maturing for the desktop client  
> environment that will make this equally as easy to do there. As for  
> Flash/Flex or Silverlight types of products, the prototype code for  
> the visual presentation is often the exact same that's in the final  
> product, so tat's covered as well.

Um, I sure hope not. That would be a disaster in most cases. Code  
often generated by prototyping tools is not production level code and  
should not be used for production. I'm not saying it can't be done,  
we've done it, but I'm saying that it's often rare and for good  
purpose. Often times a prototype is a quick and dirty communication  
method and the prototyping tool isn't the final production tool.  
Prototype in Flash/Flex/HTML, build in C. Even if you are using the  
same language to produce the final piece, the prototype is a discovery  
model. You're going to make mistakes. Make them in the prototype. Once  
you've learned, recode in production to make it more stable,  
streamlined.


Cheers!

Todd Zaki Warfel
President, Design Researcher
Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully.
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