The Best Web and Mobile App Prototyping Tools for 2017
This article originally appeared on Keynotopia.com.
Click here for my updated review on the best prototyping tool for 2018.
Over the past couple of months, I’ve downloaded most prototyping tools out there and tried them for various projects, to see how they stack up against my two favorite prototyping tools: Keynote (Mac) and PowerPoint (PC). And since I’ve previously worked as a software engineer, a product manager, a UX designer, and a startup entrepreneur, my goal was to evaluate those prototyping tools for different perspectives, and find out which one is best for which role and tasks.
Here are my findings.
Axure RP
Axure is a great tool for UX professionals. You can create wireframes and interactive prototypes, export them to the web, and share them with your team and clients. It excels as a tool for creating product requirements and specification documents, which is why it’s loved by UX professionals working in large enterprises.
Two similar tools to Axure, which came as second runner-ups, are OmniGraffle (Mac) and JustinMind (Mac/PC)
Platform: Windows/Mac
Difficulty level: difficult to learn/master
Output quality: medium fidelity
Price: $495 or $29/month
Balsamiq
Balsamiq is a mockup tool for creating interactive interfaces that look hand-sketched. It comes with a nice library of icons and UI components. You can create links between interface screens to add interactivity, and share the mockups with others.
Platform: Windows/Mac
Difficulty level: easy
Output quality: low fidelity
Price: $89 or $12-$199/month
Invision
Invision is a great tool for uploading ready-made UI screens, creating hyperlinks to make them interactive, then sharing them with others to get feedback and start discussions around them. The web app works well with tools like Photoshop and Sketch, which makes it ideal for user interface designers.
Two other tools that are similar to Invision, and that came in as second runner-ups are Flinto and Marvel
Platform: Web
Difficulty level: easy
Output quality: Depends on the screens uploaded
Price: $15-$99/month (plus $99 for Sketch, or $20/month for Photoshop)
Keynote (with Keynotopia)
Keynote isn’t just a presentation tool, it’s also a great prototyping tool. You can layout UI screens as slides, link them together to make them interactive, create animations, and export and test them on mobile devices. With Keynotopia UI kits, you can make great looking prototypes in a couple of hours.
Alternatively, you can use PowerPoint (with this PowerPoint prototyping bundle) if you’re on a Windows PC.
Platform: Mac/Web (you can use the iCloud version)
Difficulty level: easy (Everyone knows how to create a presentation!)
Output quality: High fidelity
Price: $20 (Plus $49-$97 for Keynotopia UI Kit)
POP
POP is a clever app: you can draw prototypes on paper or whiteboard, take pictures of those screens, then create links between them to test the idea quickly. It requires you to have basic sketching skills to draw the UI components and icons on paper.
Platform: iPhone/Web
Difficulty level: easy (If you know how to sketch)
Output quality: Low fidelity
Price: $Free-$48/month
Conclusion
My conclusion was based on my experience (your mileage may vary), on choosing the right tool for the right job, on the fidelity of the prototypes created (I prefer close to the final app look and feel), and the speed of learning a new tool.
If you’re just getting started, grab POP and start sketching UI on paper to get used to the process.
If you’re a visual UI designer (or work with one), the combination of Sketch with Invision, Marvel or Flinto is ideal for you.
If you’re a UX designer working in a large enterprise, then Axure, OmniGraffle or JustinMind are great choices.
And if you’re a product manager, software engineer, teacher or startup entrepreneur, Keynote (+Keynotopia Keynote Bundle) on Mac or PowerPoint (+Keynotopia PowerPoint Bundle) on PC are your best bet.
