Wireframing/Storyboarding/Layout...ing on a Mac?

[FanIn80]

I think I brought up the Viso on a Mac thing before, but I can't remember...

I want to be able to storyboard a website on a global scale, and then wireframe each page individually, and I also want to be able to layout an overall design aesthetic... I also want to map out a database, complete with relationships, keys etc.

I have Omnigraffle, and I kinda like it, but I find it lacking in a lot of the things I want to do. I thought about getting some better stencils, but the ones I've found seem kind of hokey. Not to mention that every site is flooded with iOS stencils right now, and it's hard to find some decent web/data ones.

Is Omnigraffle really the way to go with this? Are there some other tools I might want to look into? There's not much in the App Store right now, unfortunately.

I don't mind installing Visio in a Windows VM if I have to. My only concern with that approach is when it comes time to demo or present it... or even just referencing it while I'm in the building stages. It seems like a waste of overhead to run two OSes for this.

Any ideas? I suppose I could do the storyboarding in Keynote or Powerpoint, now that I think about it...

[CKPThunder]

Haven't used it personally but I've heard from some that Conceptdraw Pro is pretty good.

There's a free trial so you can try it out yourself to see if it does what you want.

http://www.conceptdraw.com/

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I think I brought up the Viso on a Mac thing before, but I can't remember...

I want to be able to storyboard a website on a global scale, and then wireframe each page individually, and I also want to be able to layout an overall design aesthetic... I also want to map out a database, complete with relationships, keys etc.

I have Omnigraffle, and I kinda like it, but I find it lacking in a lot of the things I want to do. I thought about getting some better stencils, but the ones I've found seem kind of hokey. Not to mention that every site is flooded with iOS stencils right now, and it's hard to find some decent web/data ones.

Is Omnigraffle really the way to go with this? Are there some other tools I might want to look into? There's not much in the App Store right now, unfortunately.

I don't mind installing Visio in a Windows VM if I have to. My only concern with that approach is when it comes time to demo or present it... or even just referencing it while I'm in the building stages. It seems like a waste of overhead to run two OSes for this.

Any ideas? I suppose I could do the storyboarding in Keynote or Powerpoint, now that I think about it...

Are you using Konigi wireframe stencils? I use them all the time in Omnigraffle and I can push out site wireframes in no time.

I've been getting into rapid grid-based HTML prototyping lately. It really is the ultimate tool in communicating site flow and layout to a client in one shot. I don't have my prototyping times down as low as my wireframing times just yet though.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

Are you using Konigi wireframe stencils? I use them all the time in Omnigraffle and I can push out site wireframes in no time.

I've been getting into rapid grid-based HTML prototyping lately. It really is the ultimate tool in communicating site flow and layout to a client in one shot. I don't have my prototyping times down as low as my wireframing times just yet though.

Wow, that's exactly what I'm looking for! Also, now you've got me taking a look at that grid-based thing...

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Wow, that's exactly what I'm looking for! Also, now you've got me taking a look at that grid-based thing...

Here's a couple good articles on it:
http://www.hallofbrightcarvings.com/html-wireframing/
http://www.uxforthemasses.com/rapid-prototyping/

They don't mention grid-based HTML prototyping specifically, I just find it much faster to build layouts in.

A lot of places list "evolution of prototype to implementation" as a benefit of this approach, but I've found that I don't bring my grid-based HTML prototypes into my final designs all that often.

For simple sites I still use wireframes, but HTML prototypes are much better for complex sites or particularly obtuse clients.

[Barnes]

I have used:

Firefox add on:
http://pencil.evolus.vn/en-US/Home.aspx
More of a mockup tool...

and

Balsamiq
http://balsamiq.com/

I typical don't present wireframes and only do enough with a pen and paper to push me quickly into mockup stage. I don't do a lot of web stuff, mostly desktop so I don't have to design controls, interface elements, etc just rely on UX guidelines, exisiting controls and various conventions.

[maverickstruth]

For that sort of thing, I use a whole variety of tools, a lot of Adobe just because it's convenient. Note that I use a tablet instead a mouse, which also makes a difference.

For pure wireframing and basic storyboarding I usually go with something like Illustrator (with the Interactive Sketching Notation symbol set: http://www.linowski.ca/sketching); Fireworks / Photoshop on occasion
For prototyping, Axure (http://www.axure.com/) is nice, and I've also used Balsamiq. Omnigraffle is very good as well, although since we use mostly Windows machines, I tend to use cross-platform options more often than not.