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Subject:
From:
Helmut Degen <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Helmut Degen <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 21 Aug 2003 23:01:52 +0200
Content-Type:
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text/plain (287 lines)
=======================
MY REQUEST
=======================
Hi,
recently we had a hot discussion in our user experience team whether a useful
tool exists that cover steps in the design process. We for example use Visio
for creating wireframes, PhotoShop for visual designs and Word for writing
the design specification.
 
Which tools do you prefer for which step in the design process, and: is there
ONE outstanding design tool for doing this job?
 
You can post directly to me. I will send back a summary to this list.
 
Cheers
-Helmut

=======================
SUMMARY
=======================

Unfortunetly it seems that THE design tool does not exist. All contributors work with tool mixes, the most with common tools like Visio, Word, Illustrator, PhotoShop. There are some tool that are new to me:
- Axure
- proprietary in-house tool at IBM: http://www.ibm.com/easy
- iRise: http://www.irise.com

=======================
REPLIES RECEIVED
=======================
From Ash Donaldson, [log in to unmask]

Helmut,

This past week has seen hot discussion over a range of IA/UX tools over on the SIG-IA list.  
Check out:
http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/0308/
and read the thread starting with:
[Sigia-l] And then there's Inspiration Gretchen Baybola (Tue Aug 12 2003 - 13:18:17 EDT) 

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

Ash Donaldson
User Experience Designer

----------------------------------------------------
From Peter Gremett, [log in to unmask]

i use adobe illustrator for wireframes, flow maps, templates for visual 
design.

----------------------------------------------------
From Rick Cecil, [log in to unmask]


You should check out Axure for a tool that can be used throughout the entire
development process. I've run the demo and it seems really promising.

-Rick

----------------------------------------------------
From Kent Rygiel [[log in to unmask]]

Helmut wrote: "Which tools do you prefer for which step in the design
process, and: is there ONE outstanding design tool for doing this job?"

Kent replied: "Illustrator for prototypes (I actually use it for wireframes
to), is, I have found, the ideal tool, in that the vector capabilities allow
for easy creation of and resizing of vector/path elements like boxes and
lines, which are essential in the early design phases when geometry is so
important. Furthermore, colour changes across a variety of elements is much
more manageable with illustrator. In short, illustator is outstanding."

----------------------------------------------------
From Knut Graf, [log in to unmask]

Hi Helmut,

I am aware of a proprietary in-house tool at IBM, called the user
engineering workbench, which organizes documents around their user
engineering process. Since this tool is not publicly available, it may not
be of great use to you, but I wanted to point out that it exists anyways. 

For user engineering, see
http://www.ibm.com/easy
(I attended a workshop on user engineering at IBM earlier this year...)

Greetings,
Knut

----------------------------------------------------
From Susan Ramlet, [log in to unmask]

Hi, Helmut,

We prefer the same tools as you for the same purposes.  We also sometimes
use a simple editor like FrontPage or Homesite to create basic working
wireframes, and we use Visio for process diagrams and other diagrams that
are included in the design documentation.

Susan Ramlet

----------------------------------------------------
From Sennesael Vincent, [log in to unmask]

Hi,

I have also been looking for the ultimate tool(s).
* Prototyping
Now I use Visio in combination with Powerpoint. If you have a Wacom 
tablet, you can try an intresting tool: Denim, created by the Group for 
User Interface Research of Berkeley University 
(http://guir.berkeley.edu/projects/denim/).
* Writing specifications
Word (sometimes Excell)

I got used to this way of working, nevertheless I feel that this isn't 
he most efficient way to work. Maybe I'm too utopian.

Recently, I started reading on 'object modelling and user interface 
design' and 'design patterns'. 
The design process makes use of a methodology based on UML (use cases, 
task-based design, etc.). It seems that this methodolgy may fit the gap 
between interface designers and programmers because both will be 
speaking the same language. Tools like Rose can be used for it.
A good book on this is: "Object Modeling and User Interface Design: 
Designing Interactive Systems", Mark Van Harmelen. 
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0201657899/qid=1060769770/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-7940316-6789761?v=glance&s=books)
If have not yet applied this methodology in practice but we consider it 
for an upcoming project.


-- 
greetings - Vincent
----------------------------------------------------
From Andy Dent, [log in to unmask]

Apart from paper and a scanner :-)
(hey don't knock it - very quick to put stuff on a site!)

I'm now playing with Tinderbox from http://www.eastgate.com/ as I 
prefer more freeform outliners etc. than Word.

For graphics I use Canvas because it combines vector drawing with 
Photoshop-like image manipulation and has great layered views.

In other contexts I've used a Wiki (http://www.twiki.org/) for design 
discussions and collaboration. You can even mockup sites with it 
(faster than using DreamWeaver).

----------------------------------------------------
From Pradyot Rai, [log in to unmask]

Hi Helmut,

There's probably no single tool to do the complete job, end-to-end. Can
there be one in future, hope so! Here's my list of thing -

User Research - Paper and Pen, Digital Camera (Word at max., for
documentation)
Paper Mockups and Storyboarding - Paper and pen, strictly. Freehand for
the documentation
Task Analysis, Workflow, Sitemaps - Freehand, Visio (at times)
Prototyping and wireframes - Dreamweaver, Flash
Visual Design - Freehand, Photoshop, Dreamweaver

That's just the short list of activities where I use tools. Mostly when I
am not using any of these tools, I use my mouth and brain :)

Pradyot Rai

----------------------------------------------------
From Arnold Rudorfer, [log in to unmask]

Hi Helmut:

From my professional experience the following:

a) E-business: wireframes in visio, design specification in Word, visual
design using photoshop, paintshop pro
b) Demo prototypes: storyboard as UI specification MS powerpoint serving as
requirements specification, UI specification and test case for system
testing (project had to deliver a set of features within a short amount of
time with extreme high software quality)
c) Medical web application: wireframes in visio, design specification in
word/ UML diagrams using visio, prototyping: Dreamweaver: HTML; use of
snippets (small HTML components for populating form)
d)HR Enterprise Resource Planning: wireframe in visio/ ppt; design
specification: word, visual design: paintshop pro/ photoshop; prototyping:
Visual Basic (actually was development language at that time)
e) Mobile device/ cell phone application: wireframe in visio/ ppt; design
specification: word; visual design; prototype: flash; dreamweaver extensions
for mobile devices 
f) content management: wireframes in visio, design specification in Word/
UML diagrams (Rational Rose), visual design: photoshop, prototyping: PHP/
HTML (dreamweaver/ notepad)

Facit: in my experience, there is no one design tool. It depends (as always,
we all hate this statement) on the problem, solution approach, project
constraints (time, effort, resources, stakeholder, technology, politics,
..), project partner (software engineering, product management, marketing,
senior executive, ...).

Hope that helps. If you need further deatils, I am glad to share them.

Regards, Arnold

----------------------------------------------------
From Eugene Chen, [log in to unmask]

Take a look at http://www.irise.com

The tool iRise claims to be a better way to prototype and
capture/visualize requirements. It doens't claim to do visual design.
One of our clients seems enthusiastic about adopting this tool; I
have never used it myself.

They have some nice ideas and claim on their website, but I'm a bit
skeptical about using any thing that smacks of technology for early
stage design.

From their website:
The iRise Application Simulator? platform substantially improves the
accuracy, completeness, and consistency of requirements defined for
Internet applications by providing:
- An automated method of presenting requirements in the context of
the user-interface
- An simple way of creating visual, dynamic, interactive simulations
of business applications
- A centralized, shared repository of requirements, simulations and
re-usable design assets
- A collaborative platform that allows more frequent and valuable
iterations with users during definition

Eugene Chen

----------------------------------------------------
From Todd R. Warfel, [log in to unmask]

Okay, Helmut, I'll bite.

I'm not shy about my loathe for Visio for this type of work. Here's my 
breakdown:

Diagraming, process flows, wireframes, site maps: Illustrator (thinking 
of moving to Freehand for it's multipage capabilities, although I just 
found out that HotDoor allows for multiple pages in Illustrator).

Documentation: Word, InDesign. I'm thinking of revising my workflow to 
encompass ID for more documentation as it retains links to files and 
updates the images when their updated (e.g. Updating a wireframe and 
saving it will update the image in ID). For some reason, Word doesn't 
do this correctly in Office X. For just doing specifications, I use 
Word more, but I like the flexibility that ID gives me to create 
cleaner documentation. It's easier in ID than Word. I can provide 
samples of what I'm referring to if needed.

Visual Design: Mix of Illustrator and PhotoShop. It really doesn't get 
any better than that.

----------------------------------------------------
From Dey Alexander, [log in to unmask]

I use Fireworks for wireframes and visual design, and Word for 
documentation.

There's been a discussion going on on another mailing list (sigia-l) 
about tools for the creation of wireframes and site maps and most people 
there seem to be using Visio, Freehand or Illustrator, with a few using 
a product called Inspiration for site maps.

Cheers,
Dey
----------------------------------------------------

Thanks to all of you
-Helmut

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