The
process of wireframing can be totally non-tech stage of any app or web development,
requiring only a skeletal outline of essential elements, such as header,
navigation, content and footer area, to illustrate any possible interaction
from a user. With that said, it’s the utmost important, yet underused, stage of
any given project.
There
are more avenues than ever to sketch a wireframe, even most notably pen and
paper (the most cost-effective and easiest way), but for the sake of this
article we have focused on a new-born yet feature-rich tool - Mockplus, with
every aspect of the product covered in details. Let’s read on and prototype
away!
An
Overview of Mockplus
As a
relatively new player in the prototyping field, Mockplus has emerged as a real
stand out thus far with a smart team from the orient supported. Instead of
overemphasizing on functionalities, this agile design tool does give user
experience the highest priority, making sure anyone of every level can
prototype faster, smarter and easier. It’s user-centric interaction and
highly-intuitive interface have gained an increasing number of global
customers.
Specifications
& Feature Highlights
Though
some people may prefer to go vanilla and create prototypes by hand using paper
and pen, one thing that UX designer or researcher have in common is they keep
looking out for new technologies. No one would like to use sophisticated tool
if he/she can achieve it by a simple alternative. Following are some
highlighted features of Mockplus that may take your design process to the next
level with least efforts.
1.
Fully Visualized Interaction
Interaction
design focuses on creating engaging interface with well thought out behaviors.
It is drag-and-drop based at Mockplus, which means you can build interactive
prototypes in a totally visualized way, with no calculation or repetitive
selection required. As shown, the Link Point on each component
is all about setting up interactive components and a link between pages, no
matter in-page or cross page.
Let’s
say we need to make a movable picture when the “Adjust” button is clicked. Just
click on the button component and then drag the link point to the needed
picture. Once done, a dialog window will appear on the screen to prompt you to
define a command for your component. In this case, we choose “Move” and press “OK”.
2.
Ready-made Components
Pre-designed
and readily available components will obviously reduce the overall design time
and greatly improve quality. At Mockplus, there are over 200 ready-made
components specifically designed to fit both mobile and web apps, making
interactive design as time-efficient as possible. The newly-added components
include pop-up panel, image carousel, stack panel, scroll box and sliding
drawer, etc.
Taking
the “Scroll Box” as an example, you can achieve scrolling for a web prototype
by simple drag-and-drop. Also, there is another effective way to set scrolling
for mobile prototype with header and footer area fixed. This tutorial
illustrates how it works.
3.
New Features Wrapped in V2.19
Like
many other tools on the market, Mockplus keeps improving and evolving rather
rapidly, with a cool set of new features added in each update. As for the
upcoming version 2.19, there are four spotlights that you should never miss
out:
A. Around 3000 vector-based icons. A total of
3000 icons will be available for free use, with 2500+ vector icons and 400 flat
icons included. All of the new icons are high-quality and support
proportionally scale.
B. Auto-recovery option. This type of
interactive command allows you restore the original interaction after the first
interaction occurs. With that said, only one touch of the button can revert
back to your original interaction.
C. Export
to project tree. You have a high-level view of page flows and choose to
export to various file forms, ranging from Tree View, Mind Map, to CSV (opened
in Excel), Text as well as XML.
D. Copy
text from demo package. The ability to copy all or only the selected
text from the demo package by dragging marquee on the prototype page. It’s a
time-saver for UI designers and developers.
4.
Selectable “Wireframe” & “Sketch” Style
When
rendering your design, you can decide on a style for the mockup. The Wireframe
style adopts geometrically reduced shapes, while the Sketch style takes
on a hand-drawn outlook. Mockplus allows you to switch between the two styles
with ease.
5.
Multiple Choices to Preview on Any Device
Not
only does Mockplus let designers quickly make interactive prototypes of
their mobile, desktop or web apps, but also offers a fluid view of prototypes
on any device, in a web browser or on a mobile device using the Mockplus app
for iOS and Android.
In
the case that you need to make a mobile demo for completed sketches, there are
two flexible ways to choose: one way is by scanning the generated QR code,
another way is by publishing to the cloud. Undoubtedly, such a device preview
will give you instant feedback of how a layout works on different screens.
Pricing Policy & Exclusive Offer
The
pricing of Mockplus is “Pay as you go” with a monthly or annually plan to enjoy
rapid prototyping on mobile, web and desktop platform. The monthly subscription
is priced at $20/mo, but there will be an exclusive 50%
discount
for
yearly plan which costs $119 only. The “Group Purchase” is meant to anyone who
needs three or more copies of this software for team use, offering up to 40%
discount without tied contract.
If
you happen to be a student, teacher or educator who is engaged in UI/UX design
or other software design training related positions, you can get FREE trial of
Mockplus Pro version. Submit your request and they will be back in touch soon.
Technical
& Documentation Support
It’s always important to have reliable technical and documentation
support to guide your work. Instead of leaving customers in stranded and
helpless, Mockplus treats every user as they treat their own family with
efficiency and professionalism. It has been praised for responsive and
informative support since the first inception.
For regular users who want to address their minor issues independently,
they can search and find documentation articles from Tutorials page. Plus there is a series of
YouTube videos awaiting for your discovery.
How
about Customer Satisfaction?
Customer reviews are an increasingly important part of the purchase
journey, providing the kind of mass exposure that you might never be able to
find via traditional channels. Based on collected online reviews, a majority of
people are satisfied with Mockplus service and product, with little negative
remarks yet to discover.
Ari
Arturo Velázquez Fierro, an interaction designer, said “I have used the tool
and I love the idea that making screen view through QR code. I’m really
satisfied with what I see and even start recommending it at the office to some
of my colleagues. I love this app and it is super easy-to-use I must say”.
Shalaka
Bhagwat, a freelancing journalist & content creator said “I love what I
see at Mockplus, a rapid prototyping tool that offers template designs for
various app components, making it so convenient for the end user, especially if
they are keen on investing their time in working on other stuff that goes into
making an app: the logistics, the market survey and communication”.
Perhaps the biggest downside of Mockplus is the lack of HTML file
format, which won’t be available until mid-August. Also, it is a non-web-based
tool (in consideration of the project file security) and may take some time for
advanced features, such as adaptive design.
Closing
Notes - The Choice of Rapid Prototyping & Wireframing
About Author
Berry Sarah
Email: bleachmizu@gmail.com
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