A picture is worth a 1000 words

On the whole I agree with this saying - however it helps if you have a bit of Picasso's ability, when trying to draw your fantastic new software idea on the back of a beer mat in your local bar. Now you may already be wondering where on earth this blog entry is leading... but before you close your browser, you might be interested in learning a little about a very useful process/tool we use use in software design; its called Wire-framing and it makes the job of mocking up ideas/interface screen designs a breeze and it's fun too!

In most software there is a user interface, or UI for short; its the main part of the application that the user interacts with and one of the most important aspects of the software design. An application UI will make or break an application, its as simple as that. When building a software application or product it pays to get this important part right, or as close to right as you can the first time. Otherwise the chances of your products success are reduced considerably; as if its not easy and fun to use, then people just won't use it!

Have you ever used an application that had a bad UI design, do you remember it, are you still having the nightmares about it now?! Poor UI design leaves a lasting impression, its hard to forget these kind of experiences and chances are if you've been through it once you don't want to go back there again. Do you remember the Microsoft Office paperclip help system.... wow, now there was an interesting UI design solution, one that created a considerable outcry and stream of complaint back to Microsoft. In later products this was first hidden and later phased out, never to come to light again!

To be continued....