Category — Real Time Collaboration

The pidoco° wireframe software consists of three main modules which complement each other perfectly. They speed up the interface design process and optimize the general workflow in all stages of collaborative web design.

Interactive wireframes are quickly sketched with the Prototype Creator (just by drag&drop) and can later easily be shared and reviewed by colleagues, test users or clients. If there is need for even more in-depth feedback on individual aspects of the use cases, just use the digital prototypes to perform a easy to set up remote usability test where moderator and test user are connected remotely by a shared screen and an integrated phone. All modules are aimed to increase productivity of the interface design process and ease communication within the team.

Rapid Digital Prototyping (RDP)

Through prefab stencils (e.g. radio buttons, links, navigation items, controls etc.) interface designers can create clickable and animated web or software interfaces within minutes. Without any programming skills, interface designers can focus on the web concept and use cases, site structures and the overall layout of the site, instead of getting lost in details that only matter at a later stage of the project.

But even if screen designs have already been made in some hi-fi graphics software (e.g. InDesign, pidoco° can add value to the design process by bringing interactivity to static screens. Adding ‘click areas’ to the finished screenshots enhance the collaboration and interaction capabilities of a former static screenshot. Colleagues, clients and test users can now easily be integrated in the developers team and online discussions can be held. Just like web conferencing, but with real-time editing never seen before!

In May 2010 usability experts from all across Europe will gather in the buzzing hip city Berlin in Germany to talk about and share their thoughts on usability, user centered design and user experience.

After a very successful all German camp in 2009 the organization committee decided to go international, inviting interesting speakers and participants from all over Europe. More than 15 Country Ambassadors from 13 countries are currently under way to promote this usability event in their local (national) UX circles.

In addition to the more general topics like usability research, user centric product design and marketing in relation to user experience, the key topics of this year’s leading usability event will be:

- Information Architecture
- Interaction Design
- Usability Engineering
- Visual Design
- Prototype Engineering

It will be interesting, inspiring and fun! When you have never been part of a BarCamp, let me drop one or two sentences about what’s going on there. This sort of event tries to break with ex-cathedra teaching like one speaker stand in front of a class telling “the truth”. It’s more like a large workshop type event where there are no spectators, but just active participants. That does not mean that you have to prepare a workshop session (but you might if you want) but that you should prepare yourself a bit before attending the sessions you decided to be part of.

Everybody is invited to take part in discussions, post questions, contribute ideas and be critical on topics and other people’s opinions, since the core value of such an event is that different ideas and backgrounds meet, creating something new, bigger and better. It’s supposed to be an overall learning experience where everybody profits from the other attendee’s knowledge and experience.

And since you are part of the UXcamp, everybody would be happy when you take action beyond just the venue itself. Spread the word and mention the event in your blog, among your peers, take photos to post later on flickr and get in touch with the other campers before, during or after the event.

Looking forward to see you there!

More info at: www.uxcampeurope.org

For the people who are into screen design, Rapid Paper Prototyping is old school! But ever considered doing screen design on screen?

With pidoco’s web-based prototyping software, interaction designers and web developers can save valuable time, enhance the creative process and build better usability for the WWW.

Rapid Paper Prototyping has already been known to be the solution to get a website started. The basic concepts of the layout will be put on paper and discussed within the team. This prototype will then be put through a refinement process by incorporating feedback from different stake holders. This paper prototype will at last act as a rough guide for the whole project – from start to finish. Some screen-designers even use these paper sketches for running usability tests. Revealing usability issues in the prototyping phase can save a lot of time, since later alterations in the so called ‘finished’ web project are minimized.

Anyway, there are some drawbacks to Rapid Paper Prototyping.  Paper prototypes are only scanned to add to the project documentation and also difficult to collaborate on in larger teams. Scanning paper prototypes and making them ‘clickable’ for testing use cases is also a time consuming task as we all know!

That is why many screen designers create their prototypes directly in MS PowerPoint or other diagramming tools and have them send to the relevant sources. True, that way one can share the sketches more effectively but it is not really more interactive than copying a piece of paper handing it to colleagues. The digital sketches still do not show the real capabilities for test user excitement:  links, dynamic menus and combo-boxes etc. cannot be reproduced effectively and need to be explained individually in long text. Again, more time and effort has to be invested to get the message across.
pidoco° has spotted this problem and made it their mission to tackle it by providing a fast web-based interface design software.

Our conclusion of Rapid Digital Prototyping: It’s got the look and feel of handmade scribble prototyping, but adds interactivity (making wireframes clickable) and accelerates developing speed through re-usable elements and layers. Many (real-time) collaboration components enable interface designers to new ways to work with higher efficiency, leaving more time for the creative process that really counts.

But even if screen designs have already been made in some high-fidelity graphics software (e.g. InDesign, pidoco° can add value to the work flows by bringing interactivity to static screens. Adding ‘click areas’ to the finished screenshots enhance the collaboration and interaction capabilities of a former static screenshot. Colleagues, clients and test users can now easily be integrated in the designs process and online discussions can be held. Just like web conferencing, but with real-time editing never seen before!

Our conclusion of wireframing software: It’s got the look and feel of handmade scribble prototyping, but adds interactivity (making wireframes clickable) and enhances developing speed through re-usable elements and layers. Many (real-time) collaboration modules enable interface designers to new ways to work with higher efficiency, leaving more time for the creative process that really counts.

But even if screen designs have already been made in some high-fidelity graphics software (e.g. InDesign, pidoco° can add value to the work flows by bringing interactivity to static screens. Adding ‘click areas’ to the finished screenshots enhance the collaboration and interaction capabilities of a former static screenshot. Colleagues, clients and test users can now easily be integrated in the designs process and online discussions can be held. Just like web conferencing, but with real-time editing never seen before!

When you are into interface design, Rapid Paper Prototyping is old school! But ever considered doing interface design on screen?

With pidoco’s web-based prototyping software, graphic designers and screen developers can save valuable time, enhance the creative process and build better usability for the internet.

Rapid Paper Prototyping has already been in the know for a while to get a website started. Rapid Paper Prototyping is about sketching ideas with pen an paper to be tossed around in the team. This basic screen concept will then be put through a refinement process by implementing feedback from different stake holders. This paper prototype will finally act as a roadmap for the whole project – from beginning to the end (but is there a real end?). Some screen-designers even use these very limited paper prototypes for running usability tests. Revealing usability issues in an early stage of development can save a lot of money, since later alterations in the so called ‘finished’ website are minimized.

Anyway, there are several drawbacks to Rapid Paper Prototyping.  Prototypes are difficult to add to the project documentation and also difficult to collaborate on in larger teams. Transforming paper sketches into interactive, digital documents for web testing is also a time consuming task as we all know!

That is why many screen designers create their prototypes directly in MS PowerPoint or InDesign and have them send to the relevant sources. True, that way one can share the data more effectively but it is not really more interactive than making copies of a piece of paper handing it to the team. The prototypes still do not show the real capabilities for test user excitement:  links, dynamic menus and work-flows etc. cannot be reproduced effectively and need to be explained individually in long paragraphs. Again, more time and effort has to be invested to get the message across.

A small company from Berlin, Germany has spotted this problem and made it their mission to tackle it by providing a simple web-based interface design software.

Our conclusion of Rapid Digital Prototyping: It’s got the look and feel of handmade scribble prototyping, but adds interactivity (making wireframes animated) and accelerates developing speed through re-usable elements and layers. Many (real-time) collaboration modules enable interface designers to new ways to work with higher efficiency, leaving more time for the creative process that really counts.