Balsamiq Mockups Review

I’m pretty late this this game, but… I got here in the end.  I needed to make a few mockups recently and I wasn’t really excited about any of the options that I had before me.

Until this time around, I used my trusty pencil and paper or white board depending on the situation. This was always less than ideal and my attempts to use software to build them always took way to much time to do the same thing.  This time around, I gave Balsamiq Mockups a try.  It was exactly what the mockup experience should be.

The simple interface made the process take just about the same amount of time as using a whiteboard.  You drag and drop buttons, controls, etc right into your work space.  Double click to edit the default text and done.  While this may take a slight bit longer, it has the advantage that you can just move the items on the screen with your mouse instead of having to erase and redraw.  The resulting mockups have a hand drawn feel to them which gives the feel of mockup as well.  I was able to quickly make a few mockups of forms AND when I was done I had a nice electronic copy to share with my client.

Balsamiq Mockups runs on Adobe AIR so it runs great on a Mac, PC and in a web browser.  ( I used the desktop version on my Mac, but I did install the desktop version on my PC so I’m ready for next time.)

Disclaimer: I received a free license to this product. I didn’t need a license to do the work I did with it or to make the fine mockup you see before you, but I did get one so I wanted to be upfront.