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Subject:RE: GUI design tool From:Dan Hall <Dan -at- cooper -dot- com> To:"Techwrl List (E-mail)" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 13 Oct 2000 06:20:39 -0700
ASHU:
I'm assuming that what you want is a tool to draw a "prototype" GUI, and not
actually create the interface itself. <g>
With that in mind, here at Cooper we use Macromedia's Fireworks. It seems
like a good choice, because it's a capable tool in both vector and bitmap
formats, and allows the creation of simple animations that can provide a
preview of how different interface components work together. We've also had
some designers use Director for the same thing.
Other shops I know of use Adobe's Photoshop and Illustrator, or the Corel
tools for this purpose. For really rough drawings, almost any graphics tool
will do. It just depends on how detailed your drawings need to be.
One thing that's important to keep in mind is that it's best to do your
design at the same resolution you expect your users' displays to be set at.
For example, creating an 800 x 600 bitmap for a Windows application allows
you to see if everything works, and is readable. If you find out at the end
of your work that the fonts are too small, it can be difficult to re-jigger
interface elements, especially after you've designed the other elements
around them.
If you need more information, you can e-mail me off list.
HTH,
Dan
dan -at- cooper -dot- com
Against stupidity the very gods Themselves contend in vain.
Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller, The Maid of Orleans
