Through prefab interface elements (e.g. radio buttons, links, navigation items, controls etc.) interface designers can create clickable and animated web or software interfaces just in seconds. Without any programming skills, interface designers can focus on the web concept and use cases, site structures and the overall layout of the site, instead of getting lost in details that only matter at a later stage of the project.

The pidoco° wireframe software consists of three main entities which complement each other perfectly. Together, they enhance the interface design process and optimize the general workflow in all stages of interactive web design.

Clickable wireframes are quickly sketched with the Prototype Creator (just by drag&drop) and can later easily be shared and reviewed by colleagues, test users or clients. If there is need for even more in-depth feedback on individual aspects of the web concept, just use the clickable wireframes to perform a one-on-one remote usability test where moderator and test user are connected remotely by a shared screen and an integrated phone. All modules are aimed to increase productivity of the interface design process and ease communication within the team.

But even if screen designs have already been made in some hi-fi graphics software (e.g. InDesign, pidoco° can add value to the process by bringing interactivity to static screens. Adding ‘click areas’ to the finished screenshots enhance the collaboration and interaction capabilities of a former static screenshot. Colleagues, clients and test users can now easily be integrated in the developers team and online discussions can be held. Just like web conferencing, but with real-time editing never seen before!

Ever thought why websites of public services and local authorities are most of the time so way behind common usability standards and widely used UX patterns? The US government apparently wondered about the same thing and hands on as the Americans are (even in public services) put up a service website with free usability resources on the web.

Actually it is addressed to ‘for government web designers’, but in any case it’s a nice source for designers and web developers somewhat new to the field of user centered design. Besides the explanation of some usability methods, templates and articles, on www.usability.gov you will find a complete 20 MB ‘Usability Guidelines’ eBook (www.usability.gov/guidelines/) for download with much useful information on the following topics:

-    Design Process and Evaluation
-    Optimizing the User Experience
-    Accessibility
-    Hardware and Software
-    The Homepage
-    Page Layout
-    Navigation
-    Scrolling and Paging
-    Headings, Titles, and Labels
-    Links
-    Text Appearance
-    Lists
-    Screen-based Controls (Widgets)
-    Graphics, Images, and Multimedia
-    Writing Web Content
-    Content Organization
-    Search
-    Usability Testing

May be to the UX professionals with lots and lots of hands on experience in the field it might be old news, but nevertheless it’s a nice overview dealing with many important aspects of usability, user experience (UX), user centered design and usability testing. And this resource is even more astonishing considering it’s a government’s website and completely free!
Well done, US government!

The pidoco° wireframe software consists of three main components which complement each other perfectly. They speed up the interface design process and optimize the general workflow in all stages of interactive web design.

Interactive wireframes are quickly sketched with the Prototype Creator (just by drag&drop) and can later easily be shared and reviewed by colleagues, test users or clients. If there is need for even more in-depth feedback on individual aspects of the use cases, just use the clickable wireframes to perform a plug&play remote usability test where moderator and test user are connected remotely by a shared screen and an integrated phone. All modules are aimed to increase productivity of the interface design process and ease communication within the team.

Our conclusion of Rapid Digital Prototyping: It’s got the look and feel of pen and paper, but adds interactivity (making wireframes clickable) and enhances developing speed through re-usable elements and layers. Many (real-time) collaboration modules enable interface designers to new ways to work with higher efficiency, leaving more time for the creative process that really counts.

But even if screen designs have already been made in some hi-fi graphics software (e.g. Photoshop, pidoco° can add value to the work flows by bringing interactivity to static screens. Adding ‘click areas’ to the finished screenshots enhance the collaboration and interaction capabilities of a former static screenshot. Colleagues, clients and test users can now easily be integrated in the feedback process and online discussions can be held. Just like web conferencing, but with real-time editing never seen before!

Everybody who is into screen design, Rapid Paper Prototyping is old school! But ever considered doing screen design on screen?

With pidoco’s web-based prototyping software, interaction designers and screen developers can save valuable time, enhance the creative process and build better usability for the WWW.

Rapid Paper Prototyping has already been in the know for a while to get a web-application started. The basic concepts of the layout will be put on paper and discussed within the team. This design will then go through an ongoing, sometimes collaborative, design process by implementing feedback from different stake holders. This paper-built screen will eventually act as a roadmap for the whole project – from start to finish. Some screen-designers even use these basic sketches for running usability tests. Retrieving problems in the use cases in an early stage of development can save a lot of time and budget, since later alterations in the so called ‘finished’ web application are minimized.

Anyway, there are some drawbacks to Rapid Paper Prototyping.  Paper prototypes are difficult to add to the project documentation and also difficult to share between team-members. Transforming paper prototypes into clickable wireframes for web testing is also a time consuming task as we all know!

That is why many companies create their prototypes directly in MS PowerPoint or other diagramming tools and have them distributed to the relevant sources. True, that way one can share the designs more effectively but it is not really more interactive than making copies of a piece of paper handing it to the team. The Visio-type static wireframes still do not show the real functionality:  links, dynamic menus and checkboxes etc. cannot be reproduced effectively and need to be explained individually in long text. Again, more time and effort has to be invested to get the message across.
pidoco° has selected this problem and made it their task to tackle it by providing a fast web-based interface design software.

Our conclusion of Rapid Digital Prototyping: It’s got the look and feel of pen and paper, but adds interactivity (making wireframes animated) and accelerates developing speed through re-usable elements and layers. Many (real-time) collaboration components enable interface designers to new ways to work with higher efficiency, leaving more time for the creative process that really counts.

The pidoco° interface design software consists of three main components which complement each other perfectly. They speed up the interface design process and optimize the general workflow in all stages of user centered web design.

Digital prototypes are quickly sketched with the Prototype Creator (just by drag&drop) and can later easily be shared and reviewed by colleagues, test users or clients. If there is need for even more in-depth feedback on individual aspects of the use cases, just use the clickable wireframes to perform a plug&play remote usability test where moderator and test user are connected remotely by a shared screen and an integrated phone. All modules are aimed to increase productivity of the interface design process and ease communication within the team.